My mother lost all awareness of needing to go and the ability to push when she was on the toilet, her brain and colon seemed to be totally disconnected. I went through h3LL alternating various laxatives, suppositories and even digital stimulation trying to get her to empty her bowels at least every 5 or 6 days, her stool was never hard it just didn't. come. out! The time came when mom had to go into a nursing home and guess what, they didn't do ANY of that and she still managed to eat and eliminate for her remaining 18 months of life. The moral of my story: maybe stop trying so hard?
I would speak to a medical professional, doctor or nurse. If her doctor isn’t available due to retiring can you use a temporary urgent care doctor for now until you find a new one?
There are other things to do and to use before you try to give an enema. The enema probably should be last resort as it does remove some dignity and is a pretty invasive way to solve a problem. Discuss with her doctor but.. Higher fiber foods can help stimulate and keep the digestive system moving. There are foods that will help, I used a mixture of pureed pineapple and papaya for my Husband. He loved Prunes and when he could not chew them I would puree them easier than juice because juice I had to thicken pureed I could make them as thick or thin as I needed. MiraLax when needed. Daily stool softener helped. There is a Herbal tea called Smooth Move that works very well. When I had to I used "The Bomb" a mixture of 1/4 Cup prune juice, 1/4 Cup Milk of Magnesia and 1/4 Cup orange juice warmed up...within 30 to 40 minutes it would work. And there were always the bottles of Magnesium Citrate that I kept in case I needed a bottle. Less than $1.00 and a variety of flavors this is pretty much the same stuff used for a colonoscopy prep. With some of these it is a be careful what you wish for cuz once you open the floodgates watch out! Keep in mind if she is not as active as previously her bowels will be slower as well so expect a "new" routine you may not get a BM daily it might be every 2 days. Just monitor firmness, amount and see what this "normal" is like.
You really need to talk to her health care provider about this. There is information that they have that they would use to determine how to safely deal with this situation.
The enema probably should be last resort as it does remove some dignity and is a pretty invasive way to solve a problem. Discuss with her doctor but..
Higher fiber foods can help stimulate and keep the digestive system moving.
There are foods that will help, I used a mixture of pureed pineapple and papaya for my Husband. He loved Prunes and when he could not chew them I would puree them easier than juice because juice I had to thicken pureed I could make them as thick or thin as I needed. MiraLax when needed. Daily stool softener helped. There is a Herbal tea called Smooth Move that works very well.
When I had to I used "The Bomb" a mixture of 1/4 Cup prune juice, 1/4 Cup Milk of Magnesia and 1/4 Cup orange juice warmed up...within 30 to 40 minutes it would work. And there were always the bottles of Magnesium Citrate that I kept in case I needed a bottle. Less than $1.00 and a variety of flavors this is pretty much the same stuff used for a colonoscopy prep. With some of these it is a be careful what you wish for cuz once you open the floodgates watch out!
Keep in mind if she is not as active as previously her bowels will be slower as well so expect a "new" routine you may not get a BM daily it might be every 2 days. Just monitor firmness, amount and see what this "normal" is like.
need to re-read your response and try. Thank you so much.