Get some high quality organic prune juice and eat prunes. Find a “dose” to take daily. Ex: one cup of juice in the AM snack on 10 prunes during the day.
I had to laugh when I read the statement "Although most people prefer not to talk about their bowels..." because we recently had a string about how some older people bring up this topic anywhere and to anyone who is forced to listen!
Many years ago, my widowed 83 y/o grandfather came downstairs from the bathroom and said "I was constipated, so I had to get my tools"--and he had a crowbar in his hand! My mother and I broke out laughing, but it turned out that what he meant was that he had had "success" but then had to unblock the toilet!
Okay, now on a more serious note, incorporating fruits and vegetables along with sufficient liquids in the diet will prevent many of the problems. Sometimes allowing one's bladder to get completely full will apparently provide "pressure" to the colon and make a bowel movement more likely. (Of course delaying urination should not be done routinely--that's best left to the omorashi culture.)
My mother experienced something similar to what Featheredfriend described, although not as severe. She was taken to the hospital, and given a Fleet-type enema, and that took care of the problem, She stayed overnight and was fine the next day. It's frightening to realize there are some medical "professionals" who are so grossly incompetent to treat this the way Featheredfriend described. As I've said before, regardless of how famous or prestigious a hospital is, the care one receives is only as good as the specific individuals involved in providing that care.
I almost lost my mother because of a bowel obstruction which developed and did not have to happen. Luckily we discovered what caused it & are making sure that never happens again. It started in her 80s when mom's arthritis in knees & hands became especially painful. Her doctor prescribed her narcotic pain medicine called "Norco". This slowed her bowels until in a couple years mom was in crisis with a bowel obstruction & had to be taken to the emergency room at the hospital. The hospitalist never acknowledged what I later discovered on my own of what was REALLY wrong with mom. The hospitalist simply told me mom was probably not coming home this time! He said part of mom's intestines just weren't working any more and she was too old to risk surgery to install a colostomy bag. He actually had a surgeon back his story based on ambiguous xrays.. and he also had a GI specialist do a small colonoscopy to validate his story as well. I was to learn on my own that this was all BS!!! He was simply going to let my mother die without responsibly trying to save her life ! He never admitted she had actually developed a bowel obstruction, despite clear evidence pointed out by one of the emergency room nurses that this was very likely the problem! Nonstop green vomit and green diarrhea which the ER nurse said usually happens with a bowel obstruction. The fluids were simply going around the obstruction in the intestine, and backing up on the other end, causing her to vomit up the green bile colored liquid. The hospitalist just put mom on antibiotics and IV fluids (which were running into her at too fast a rate!) This went on for a week and then he transferred mom to a nursing home to continue this useless regimen. Mom was too weak to eat or drink much and was getting dehydrated from that and the constant diarrhea. But the same hospitalist now started to refuse to give mom enough IV fluids! I had to beg for them and he would only allow 3 days worth then say she had to drink on her own! But she was too weak! The nurses' aides were too busy to monitor mom's water intake or output accurately. The dehydration caused fevers and fast heart rate. After three weeks of this I was convinced that hospitalist was trying to CAUSE my mother to die! I got permission to take mom home to care for her myself. I got lots of fluids in her (strictly smart water which is steam produced distilled water with electrolytes). I softened up whatever was clogging her inside by giving lots of yogurt and warm prune juice daily to break it down, and kept her off narcotics. After about a week I got the ok from her primary doctor to give her a half bottle of magnesium citrate and a strong laxative (movantic) plus a bit of mineral oil. Since I have medical training I was able to dislodge the obstruction & manually disimpact her. Mom only weighs about 100 pounds, but about 5 fist sized balls of hardened stool came out of her! And that was what was wrong with mom! The hospital or the nursing home could have done that!!! Why didn't they I wondered!!!? After mom was cleared out, I started giving her Miralax (Polyethylene glycol) every day which is a clear tasteless powdered laxative type substance that can be taken daily stirred into cocoa or even water. A soft diet, at least a liter and a half of smart water per day, and abdominal yoga exercises along with her daily exercise regimen prescribed by her therapist, and she has been fine for two years now! As an added bonus we discovered the smart water for some reason caused her arthritis pain and inflammation to completely go away. In addition, the electrolytes in the Smart water also made her ferociously painful night time leg cramps to completely disappear as well! Nothing short of a miracle of God's grace! I can not believe that the hospitalist told me my mother was not going to survive and wasn't coming home this time! Imagine my agony & heartbreak hearing this along with having to make arrangements! I had to save mom myself!
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Caring for a Senior With Chronic Constipation
Many years ago, my widowed 83 y/o grandfather came downstairs from the bathroom and said "I was constipated, so I had to get my tools"--and he had a crowbar in his hand! My mother and I broke out laughing, but it turned out that what he meant was that he had had "success" but then had to unblock the toilet!
Okay, now on a more serious note, incorporating fruits and vegetables along with sufficient liquids in the diet will prevent many of the problems. Sometimes allowing one's bladder to get completely full will apparently provide "pressure" to the colon and make a bowel movement more likely. (Of course delaying urination should not be done routinely--that's best left to the omorashi culture.)
My mother experienced something similar to what Featheredfriend described, although not as severe. She was taken to the hospital, and given a Fleet-type enema, and that took care of the problem, She stayed overnight and was fine the next day. It's frightening to realize there are some medical "professionals" who are so grossly incompetent to treat this the way Featheredfriend described. As I've said before, regardless of how famous or prestigious a hospital is, the care one receives is only as good as the specific individuals involved in providing that care.