Caregivers Support Group
A voluntary caregiver is a spouse, relative, friend or neighbor of a disabled person or child who assists with activities of daily living and assists those unable to fully take care of themselves. The challenges of a caregiver are unique and sometimes it's hard to find people to talk to who know what you're going through. Join the conversation and find others who...
As many of you know Opiates and non steroidal antiinflammatory drugs are associated with constipation.
I wanted to post about why this happens AND discuss some treatments of medication induced constipation:
1) Opiods affect all segments of the stomach and intestine (particularly the colon) altering GI neural input, inhibiting motility and increasing fluid absorption. Additionally opiates may increase the absorption of electrolytes and water, increase anal sphincter tone and reduce sensitivity to the presence of stool = all contributing to constipation and hard stools
2) FIBER AND BULK LAXATIVES (psyllium, bran, citrucel, etc) are GENERALLY NOT EFFECTIVE FOR THE TREATMENT OF DRUG INDUCED CONSTIPATION
3) STIMULANT LAXATIVES (senna and bisacodyl... which is dulcolax) increase intestinal motility and help with the efflux of water IN to the bowel which improves constipation. SENNA is more commonly used and slightly more effective than BISACODYL (Dulcolax) for opiod induced constipation.
4) OSMOTIC LAXATIVES: These include Magnesium or Phosphate containing laxatives and nonabsorbable sugars (lactulose, sorbitol, glycerin) and polyethylene glycol (Miralax).
They increase fluid accumulation in the colon and small intestine which improves constipation and ARE EFFECTIVE FOR TREATMENT OF OPIATE INDUCED CONSTIPATION. Some data show that lactulose is better than sorbitol and that PEG is better lactulose....
5) EMOLLIENT LAXATIVES: This includes colace (docusate) or mineral oil and are inferior when used for the treatment of drug induced constipation than the osmotic and stimulant laxatives
Hope this helps
Dr O.
I wanted to post about why this happens AND discuss some treatments of medication induced constipation:
1) Opiods affect all segments of the stomach and intestine (particularly the colon) altering GI neural input, inhibiting motility and increasing fluid absorption. Additionally opiates may increase the absorption of electrolytes and water, increase anal sphincter tone and reduce sensitivity to the presence of stool = all contributing to constipation and hard stools
2) FIBER AND BULK LAXATIVES (psyllium, bran, citrucel, etc) are GENERALLY NOT EFFECTIVE FOR THE TREATMENT OF DRUG INDUCED CONSTIPATION
3) STIMULANT LAXATIVES (senna and bisacodyl... which is dulcolax) increase intestinal motility and help with the efflux of water IN to the bowel which improves constipation. SENNA is more commonly used and slightly more effective than BISACODYL (Dulcolax) for opiod induced constipation.
4) OSMOTIC LAXATIVES: These include Magnesium or Phosphate containing laxatives and nonabsorbable sugars (lactulose, sorbitol, glycerin) and polyethylene glycol (Miralax).
They increase fluid accumulation in the colon and small intestine which improves constipation and ARE EFFECTIVE FOR TREATMENT OF OPIATE INDUCED CONSTIPATION. Some data show that lactulose is better than sorbitol and that PEG is better lactulose....
5) EMOLLIENT LAXATIVES: This includes colace (docusate) or mineral oil and are inferior when used for the treatment of drug induced constipation than the osmotic and stimulant laxatives
Hope this helps
Dr O.
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My 6mo twin DD's are EBF and just started rice cereal on the first. Everything has been going fine except this morning one of them had a diaper rash (lots of redness around her anus). I read this as one of the signs of an allergy. BUT I did just buy a different brand diaper yesterday (which they have used randomly before w/no issues). Do you think its the cereal or the diaper? Im ready to start...
Thanks for posting this. When I saw the thread title, I thought someone was posting about their problem and I thought "I'm going to post about how well magnesium worked for me" and when I read your post, I thought, well, there it is in #4!
I was taking mine inadvertently, I think it was a potassium/magnesium combo I took and I wanted the potassium for my achy legs and got a bonus from the combo.
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.
It s irritating that Drs. can prescribe meds and get away with not knowing how to treat the side effects they may cause. I don't believe it is right that I have to consult other Drs. or medical personnel to get help with this. Wish I knew who to contact about this. I think it's bad medicine when this junk happens. rocasi