Aren't I such a lady? Sorry folks but it must be addressed. This is not for the faint of heart. Since I have quit drinking, I can't. I don't. Coffee, veggies, salad, fruit, fiber one... nothing makes a difference. Now I realize wine can have a laxative effect but I didn't realize how much.
Now I would probably keep quiet about this, except that this poses a particular problem for me given my whole eating disordered history. Most people don't know this but most people with a history of eating disorders have abused laxatives at one time or another, or if they haven't they sure wanted to, or came close. I fall into the latter category. I only ever took laxative tea, (not the kind with alcohol someone mentioned in my other post, senna tea. Serious stuff if you're not used to it.)
Anyhow, I noticed I was using it too much and cooled it. That was last year. Then I quit drinking. After a WEEK of, well, nothing happening I figured I'd try some tea. And... nothing. So I made it really strong. Nothing. So, despite some mild forboding, I went and bought some regular old laxies. And? NOTHING! Day two? NOTHING! So what do I do on day 3? Oh yes, genius that I am, I pretty much eat the rest of the box. Only about 3x the recommendation, but seriously folks. My clothes didn't fit. I was literally full of s***. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) So yeah. That dose worked, and how. Part of me really wants to get more as we are back to the same problem, and I'd really rather not go another week and a half. However, laxies are incredibly addictive and I have friends who have to take around two boxes of the stuff and then can't leave the house for a couple of days. That does not sound like my idea of a good time.
Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do? I am scared to buy more because I know the danger, especially because this can lead to electrolyte imbalance which could technically lead to a heart attack if done too much. (I have a heart condition from too many diet pills once upon a time.)
Doctor, and now. Dr. Bob was a proctologist, imagine that!!! Yet another miracle of HP putting the right people in the right places at the right time.
Please get to a doctor right away. We screwed up our bodies more than we think while we were relying on alcohol. Our bodies fought long and hard to reach homeostasis WITH alcohol flowing in our venis and through our organs. Post-abstinence, it often takes medical help to try to get things "going in the right direction", forgive the pun. Taking that alcohol away has been a shock to your homeostasis. Time to see a doctor, and preferably one who knows about alcoholism, and how to help with the aftermath of years and years of drinking.
Take care and please keep us posted! This is sooooooo RELEVANT to our recovery.
(((((hugs))))) Joni
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~Your Higher Power has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.
I had the same problem. I have a jar of metamucil and I take a good strong dose of it (mixed in water of course) every night. It took a few days but it finally worked. I still take it every day and now I'm going like twice a day. It's great.
It's ridiculous but I'm so used to lying to doctors about one thing or another I'm afraid to go to them now! Even though I have nothing left to lie about!
"We have to let go of our old ideas Absolutely". Start a new trend, go and tell the Doc the truth. Recovery is all about learning to do everything over again, without mood altering substances.
This family is sooo versatile!! I love it!! No Sh**!! Only one thing that helped me was relaxing...so there is a crossword puzzle always in the basket next to the "toytoy" and no timer on the wall in front of me or anywhere around. We have a 2nd bathroom and if JerryF is in one you better go to the other or go wait whenever. Diet for sure I know for me that water and fiber work for me. You may not have Taro Top or Leaf in your garden but a soup made from my own is like the best gut cleaner and it also taste good is full of iron and I can also cook other stuff with it that will give me a reason to poop.
Well at least you aren't alone! I ditto the doctor comment, and if you can, try to find one who understands alcoholism and eating disorders. Maybe a treatment center can recommend one for you.
Otherwise, I'd say time, patience, diet and maybe some other natural remedies like metamucil, prune juice, lots of water...I'm sure you know all those suggestions (this coming from a pregnant woman and a mother of a toddler, I've had lots of conversations about similar issues recently!). But just remember that once you are through this, you are through this! Take care and good luck.
3. Relax - take the Big Book in there, a big mug of tea, a couple of smokes if you like.
4. Don't hold onto it. Nothing worse than touching cloth and not going, other than turtles head and not going. It makes you ill. It makes a mess of your pants.
5. when you get straight and regular, then you learn the pure unadulterated joy of being able to pass gas (as I believe it's termed in the US) without following through.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
Hee hee. I knew this would spark lively conversation. I will try as many of these as I can. All at once. Heh, nah maybe not. I tried that gross yogurt that Jaimie Lee Curtis hawks on tv but it tasted too gross. Gotta figure something out soon though cause I am starting to look pregnant. I think people are getting suspicious too with the sudden not drinking and protruding belly!
I do not have a problem, thank God. But I did learn after about 6 months sober that Id better change my eating habits or I would be a fat sober drunk.
I now 'graze' all day long. Eating approx every 2-3 hours. I eat good stuff and very little junk food. Lots of water and plenty of regular exercise keeps me regular.
please see a doctor if you are blocked up, a week is a very long time isnt it! also if you have bad stomach pain and a temperature or chills with blocked up then you need urgent medical attention as you could have an infection. my husband recently was in hospital from no pooping, stomach pains and chills, they ran tests and he had infection so he had to stay in hospital for a week. He is OK now.
Ive not been constipated since i went vegan, i recommend it as i have found it very healthy. It almost falls out now lol, no really, no straining etc. When I was vegetarian it was ok but when i went vegan it was like wow it almost falls out LOL a few times a day, i don't mean the runs i just mean its very easy! If i eat processed foods it will go a bit on the blocked up side though. I try stay off the processed foods though as they also mess with my blood sugars, so I eat wholefoods as much as possible and lots of yummy fruit and vege are good for their fibre(and grains too plus i scoff probably too much bread tut tut cause i guess it is processed hmm) . I graze also having snacks every few hours is good for my sugar and energy levels.
-- Edited by slugcat on Wednesday 28th of April 2010 12:21:18 PM
-- Edited by slugcat on Wednesday 28th of April 2010 12:22:23 PM
For some reason after reading your Post yesterday, I have been thinking about a friends father, a man that was diagnosed with MS in his forties, he started losing his muscle ability, and took a job at a desk, he had worked in the Marin County's Sheriffs Dept. most of his adult life.
So lets fast forward to the advancing stages, now he has lost all ability to use muscles, a full quad......and I would visit him a few times a week, he was an absolete joy to see, always with a smile and a funny joke, laying there in his special bed.
Well he had a full time attendant, and to get to the point. he had no use of any muscles, so then how then could he Poop????
What he did was eat breakfast lunch and a complete dinner, taking 2 or 3 stool softeners with each meal, then between 8 or 900 am every morning, like clock work, his attendant would put him in his Hoyr Lift, and roll it over the toilet...and he would have a regular BM every day......
Dont know if you have been adding those to your diet, ever, but if I feel like I am going into that direction, I will take a couple of stool softeners with 2 meals a day, light lunch and dinner, and wait and if that does not work, I will repeat, and take only one tiny little laxitive pill. and then I am go to go for a long time.......I like starchy foods, I love veggies too, and I have a ton of yogert, I buy the big tubs of it, add some fruit to the top and that large tub will last only two or three days.
So that was the story your Post made me think about, so thought I would share it.
And just another thought, about going to a Doc.....all docs will send you, in my opinion, to a Proctologist, and he/she will automatically have you schedule yourself for a Colonoscopy, to be sure that you do not any colon blockage...and worth the stuff to get to an answer, but afterwards feel very relieved.....
and if you are looking pregnant, I would make that a thing to do today.......Please do call a Doctor, nothing to fool around with.....
I experienced that same thing about two years ago.
Awe, we are indeed powerless.
Wishing you the best....
Toni
-- Edited by Just Toni on Wednesday 28th of April 2010 12:48:51 PM
But BEANS! Good ol' BEANS! That will build up the pressure you need to move it right on outa there! It works for me every time. Make up a big pot of them and dig right in. Most any kind will work. They're full of fiber.
Metamucil is also good. Like the other post said, it might take a little while, but it will work! And then just keep using it every day. It's not laxative, it's fiber. Drink plenty of water every day as well. Your body can't produce what it doesn't have and if you don't have fiber and plenty of water, it can't work right.
But again, also go to the doctor.
-- Edited by Ellen E on Sunday 2nd of May 2010 10:51:29 PM
