Hello all.
I've been suffering with chronic constipation for almost a decade thanks to my Oxycodone prescription. I've tried all of the conventional laxatives with little success. I've been doing some research into "Peripherally Acting Opioid Antagonists" like Naloxegol and they look promising! Has anyone tried any of these drugs? Thanks in advance.
I'd like to know this too as I was given a load of this stuff by a friend.
After reading there's a small percentage (Something like 1%) risk of induced withdrawal I never risked it cause I don't have extremely bad constipation that often.
The best tips I can give you as a long-term opioid user are as follows :
1. Walk about and/or exercise. Walking causes certain muscles and/or bones to massage the bowels, which helps constipation.
2. Add fibre and seeds to your diet.
I bought some ispaghol/psyllium husk/Plantago Ovato husk (Basixally a powder.) from an Asian ship and add it to yogurts, soups, cereals and other stuff.
It was far, far cheaper to buy it this way than buy it prepackaged as a fibre supplement or constipation aid in capsules.
I also use flaxseed/linseed, either whole or ground.
Ground is good in that it makes the nutrients far easier to absorb as the whole seeds can pass through you undigested.
They contain a lot of protein and Omega 3 fatty acids but with the ground seeds you don't know how fresh they are and the fats could have spoiled.
So try and buy from a decent company if you buy the ground type and make sure you try and find out how old they are.
3. Make sure you get plenty of fluid.
I tend to drink more so tea and cocoa cause they're not only healthier but with the caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in them they help make you wanna go for a #2, similar to how people say nicotine does too.
Fruit juices and smoothies are a good option too, just don't have smoothies all the time cause cause they're apparently chock full of sugar that normally wouldn't all be available as it'd be locked away in cells wrapped in fibre or at least released a lot slowly.
4. Magnesium supplements :
Magnesium helps draw moisture into the intestines and bowels, the opposite action of opioids.
Not all forms of magnesium are created equal.
Some like magnesium oxide are a waste of time to buy, it's only any good as a pill/capsule filler and for constipation as only 5% is bioavailabe but I'd not even use it for that.
Since the 1950's magnesium levels in soils around the world and in our food has plummeted by a massive amount.
Grains only contain about 10% of what they did back then and obviously we don't absorb all of that.
Magnesium is very good for depression, anxiety (It can be as effective as prescription drugs for them.), pain, sleep, muscle relaxation, PMS, migraines and many other conditions. It's used in over 100 different reactions/enzymes in our cells and also works on the NMDA receptor as an antagonist like ketamine and PCP does, it's assumed this is one way it helps anxiety, depression and pain.
It's also an electrolyte.
Magnesium Threonate has been found so far to be the best form for getting magnesium into the brain but unfortunately it is expensive compared to other forms.
So I use a 2/3's magnesium bisglycinate and 1/3 magnesium threonate.
If you have a choice between magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate go for the latter as the Mg is bound to two glycinate amino acid molecules and glycinate also like magnesium helps to relax and calm a person down.
The glycinate and bisglycinate forms have good bioavailability and help constipation too.
I've seen Magnesium citrate recommended for constipation too but as far as I'm aware the bioavailability isn't as good as the (bis)glycinate and obviously the threonate form.
I know magnesium hydroxide is used for constipation and I think upset stomachs as Milk of Magnesia but the bioavailability isn't that great if you're wanting it to help other stuff.
Epson salts, which is magnesium sulphate is another form especially used in baths ans foot baths for aching muscles and feet and for constipation but I don't think that it has a great bioavailability either.
As the majority of people are deficient in magnesium I'd definitely go for one with a good bioavailability.
5. Another route is ultra-low dose naltrexone. Similar to the Naloxegol but other than ordering the naltrexone online or getting a very understanding doctor to prescribed it to you I'm not sure how you'd get it but when I tried it via volume metric dosing it seems to be a bit more effective than double dosing magnesium and having a glass of fluid with it.
