I'm so sorry to hear about your loss
my best friend killed himself recently and in the past two years a few other friends have died.. I wasn't as close to them as my best mate but close enough to be devastated.
Life can be so tragic sometimes it's too much to deal with.. anyway.. I wish you peace, prosperity and happiness!
If you ever need someone to talk to just send me a message and we can link up on social media messaging and I truly mean that and it's an open-ended offer.. please don't ever feel like you're alone or have no options.
Thanks friend!
Sorry to hear about your best friend as well!
Life's been unusually cruel the past few years for me.
Whoa, that's crazy!
I'm so sorry about your mom, man. I had no idea it could be dangerous. It works wonders for me, but I can see how if you were stopped up, and it didn't help to eliminate the stools, it could lead to a rapid increase in the amount of backed up material.
My problem was that my stools were rock hard. But also slow... I was shitting every 3 days on average. When it was time, they were like bricks, and there was bleeding and lots of pain and then massive discomfort which finally started getting better just before it happened all over again. Before psyllium, I was taking a handful of stool softeners (ducosate sodium) twice a day, and then adding a stimulant laxative (sennosides) to move things along, which worked, but I didn't like that I was taking handfuls of over the counter drugs every day. From there, when I was already more regular, I switched to psyllium, and it was like night and day, suddenly everything was like it was before opiates. I cut out the other things and it's always stayed perfect since then. I like psyllium because it's a plant, and works because it's a bunch of dietary fiber, with the added benefit of creating a mucilage which binds to your feces and makes them a soft, but intact, and yes, bulkier, mass that just slides right out.
Hey, if it definitely works for you, then stick with it!
I actually gave it another shot last summer. It was a pill with senna & psyllium husk mixed. And I ended up not being able to go to the bathroom at all the next morning.
It was really bad when I first got on subs. Exactly like what you described. Having to wait 3 days just to have a bowel movement. I had to tell my doctor & start taking Propylene glycol powder. Which seemed to help for awhile. But then I heard that PEG is really bad for you to be using long term as well, so I quit that.
I can usually go to the bathroom every morning now and have for the past year. So technically I'm not "constipated" but it still feels like my intestines are incredibly slow some times.
And even when my stool is soft, it still feels like I have to push hard to get it out. Along with just this general sensation that my large intestine & colon are not contracting & pushing like a normal person's would anymore.
But yeah, psyllium husk can be good for some people & depending on the type of constipation, but definitely keep an eye on that.
My mom went into the hospital like 3 or 4 times with fecal impactions before she finally tore her colon & I was just amazed that absolutely none of the doctors made any connections or even asked if she was taking anything that could be bulking up her stool. If she had been living with me & I had seen her taking the metamucil, I would have told her not to & it might have saved her life. She had already beaten the cancer once & it returned but only at 30% But of course there were no warnings on this generic equate brand metamucil warning people that it could lead to worse fecal impactions or hard stool, which is not what you want if you're already constipated with hard stool. Especially for some one her age.
I had taken care of her for the first year & a half and she didn't have any fecal impactions then. Whenever she complained about constipation, I'd hook her up with milk of magnesia.
But then we got kicked out of our apartment & she went to live with a sister of mine & I moved in with my ex. It wasn't until after she moved that she kept ending up in the hospital with fecal impactions. And it wasn't until she died & I spent the night in her bedroom at my sisters & noticed the giant bottle of psyllium husk that it finally clicked in my head why she was having so many fecal impactions.
I think things that speed up intestinal contractions is the best way to deal with opioid & chronic constipation, but the only drugs OTC that do that would be stimulant laxatives, which can cause dependence unfortunately. And also mess up your stomach. Osmotive laxatives are good too & don't cause dependence (I think).
And peripherally acting opioid antagonist would probably be the best, but I don't think there are any out there that can outcompete with bupe.
