My doctor suggests senokot with softener. It can be used long term if necessary.

Wow, my post ran away. :(

I will try again.

I know mineral oil has red flags on it so I would look for safer alternatives.

Miralax used to be a prescription, but is over the counter now. It is a daily powder to mix in anything and is not addictive. My son was on it at age 12 so I feel it is very safe. I use it daily and add a stool softener like Kelley if I take full doses of my pain meds & muscle relaxers. If you start with a full capful until you get the results you want then you can work down to 1/2 of a capful for maintenance and use the stool softener as needed.

Best wishes. -RJ

My doctor also suggested senokot-S, or pericolace as safe and effective. I have used the regular senokot, but realize that the addition of a stool softener is needed ( the "S" part). If this doesn't work, I'll try Miralax and Kelley. Hope you find these suggestions helpful, too.

Yes take it from a man who has worked around oils all my life. Yes mineral oil can contain some pretty mean ingredients. Knowing how it is refined there is quite a few ways it can be cross contaminated with other petroleum products. None of which are safe to ingest. Now if you know for a fact it is pure filtered oil then I wouldn't worry too much. But as others have mentioned I would try a safer alternative. But in the long run probably no worse than the air we breathe and the crap we eat in processed foods. Take care.

Miralax is what I use also and it's always worked well. I was ecstatic when it went to OTC because it was not cheap.

It mixes well also, unlike some of the oldies that kind of felt "slimy".

Kat

Due to my meds this is an long term issue. I use Aloe Vera juice 1 tablespoon daily and it works well. Plus has other health benefits too.

Thanks everyone for the input. Seems like a lot of people do well with Miralax. I took it twice with some not pleasant experiences, but that was before I added more fiber and water to my diet, so maybe it would work better for me now. Might try the aloe vera juice route first.

Aiksnpains, yikes! I actually started taking mineral oil since I was about 2 years old, but started hearing about the dangers very recently. I will definitely only be taking it only in emergency situations from now on. Especially since there are many other alternatives.

No problem Lisa hope you find something that helps. I have found oatmeal and grain bread helps me considerably.

My "process of elimination" was negatively affected by my aquired hypothyroidism. Like majorly affected.

I have been eating oatmeal three times a day which works well. It wouldn't be so bad if my doc would give me enough replacement thyroid hormones.

Caught between the rock and the hard place...story of my life...

See i've been so fluffbrained from all the dang snow I forgot to mention that part. Keeping your diet as high in Fiber as you can makes a big difference also. I pretty much live on Nutri-grain bars, greek yogurt, brown rice, white chicken and broccoli.

I find that if I just eat some meat and drink extra water, things work themselves out. I don't get enough protein but if it gets bad I have my DH bring home a special sandwich from a famous deli here. It has so much roast beef on it and it SOOOO delicious that I forget all about the constipation and it always works things out within 12 hours. So far it's worked out well. Now if I just liked more meats, I could stay regular! ;)

Interestingly, coffee drinks like a Starbucks Frapaccino or caf latte used to make me go every time, but I guess I built a tolerance to the coffee even and also the methadone isn't helping in that department. "Process of Elimination," ha ha, I like that description, that's what I'm going to call #2 from now on.

Mineral oil should not be used for more than a week or so because it prevents other necessary vitamins and minerals from being absorbed by the intestines.

Other choices would be olive oil or caster oil , which can be used long-term and many different ways.

Fiber in the diet is the ultimate remedy. Flax seed is a great way to get fiber into your diet. Other great fiber providers are corn (78%), rice (75%), and wheat.

Hope this helps.

Since this is the Chronic Pain Board I assume that most of us that are having constipation issues are being caused by taking opiate pain medications. Opiate Induced Constipation (OIC - a real acronym) is a serious problem that most doctors are clueless about and can even recommend dangerous solutions (unknowingly). You can do a search on OIC (but spell out one of the words because there are many "OICs" if you just search on that acronym). OIC must be treated differently than standard constipation or you are putting yourself at serious risk of a hospital visit.

Below is a link to my website where I have placed a very important document that is used for Canadian Pharmacist continuing education. I found it by accident one day while searching for OIC. I can no longer find a direct link to the paper because I assume that it was never supposed to be openly available in the first place. In any case, it gives a very good lesson on OIC and how to prevent it (it does get technical, but you will get the information you need). I promise that if you read this paper you will know more about OIC than your doctor (not saying much). If you do a search for the OIC, you will find many similar sites/documents/instructions so there is nothing new presented here, just very comlplete.

Note; anyone taking a narcotic medication will have constipation regardless of the strength of the medication, or the dosage. Opiates do the exact same thing to your colon as it does to your brain; shut it down

Highly recommended reading (or searching)!

https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6773425_7182626_9880639

Last time I checked, my brain was fine. 17 years on opiods and wow- I'm still reading, conversing, interpreting, and living. I wonder how I'm doing all that with my brain shut down?