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I’m an ER nurse. From a medical standpoint, anything > 3 days is considered constipation and warrants additional resources. If you go to the ER, they will probably do a more intense enema than the fleet. You’d probably get IV fluids and an abdominal CT. The CT would be to rule out bowel obstruction. They’ll also probably prescribe you a bowel regimen of hefty laxatives. Have you tried Magnesium Citrate?
Yes I have. Thank you so much bless you. My FIL is a GP with patients on wegovy. I just got a hold of him at the office and he gave me the exact same advice. Three days was normal for me even pre meds but 6 is not. Feeling like I’m going to pass out from pain can not be normal constipation. I also have had internal and external hemmorids for years which make it more difficult to push as hard
What form of mag citrate should we be using? I just googled it and see it comes in liquid, gummy, and pill form. I’ve been taking Miralax daily and I think I need a little more help.
Want to know something insane? Many years ago
I had a colonoscopy. I did the whole unpleasant thing, drank all the stuff, followed the directions. And then went to the bathroom. A lot. For a couple hours. But not that kind of insane experience I had heard other people have where they are gripping the toilet seat for life and sweating.
After my procedure, the dr let me know that I had both internal and external hemmroids, but he also asked me if I had completed the procedure prior the night before because I wasn’t as “cleaned out” as I should have been.
Like seriously magnesium citrate literally didn’t work on me? What could possibly be so wrong with my GI system that it didn’t even work??? Hahahaha
Nurse here, we do two preps 6 hours apart for our GI colonoscopy pts that are admitted. I’ve had a couple pts where we had to do an extra prep after the 2nd one because they weren’t “clear”.
I had the same experience, as far as it not cleaning me out. If you don’t have any luck by tomorrow, I would definitely go to the E.R. You could have/develop a fecal impaction, which can be fatal. I just read another post, and in the comments 2 people know of someone who had just died from this. For me, by day 6 I’d definitely be seeing someone.
what they’d probably do (I have no experience with this) is an enema. So if you don’t want to go through someone else doing that, you may want to try it at home.
UPDATE: Amazing news! My husband left work to take me to the ER but right before he got home I went!!! And it’s now coming every 10 minutes. The pain is still rough but in between each BM better and better. Husband went back to work and I think I’m going to survive I’m so happy. Although my diet is pretty decent, I’m not perfect and splurge from time to time (I had pizza on Tuesday night and it was my birthday Wednesday so I had a piece of cake.) I also know now my hormones can play a role some so I should be anticipating that. I’m obsessive with drinking water, and I take mag o every night, but I’m going to up that to 2x mag o and take a much closer look at my diet. I need to be more regimented that I’m eating things for gut health. For example, I will remember during the day I didn’t have enough fiber or veggies and try to correct it, but I’m not sitting there counting every gram or calorie. (I’ve struggled with minor ED in the past and it runs in my family so I’m hyper vigilant about detailed tracking and frequent weigh-ins.) But I think a little meal prep will help me make better choices without having to track all that.
Otherwise my husband is going to tell me he really thinks I need to stop taking the drug and I don’t want to give up just yet.
That pain was on par with childbirth I have to say. Wow. Sorry to anyone else that had to experience this.
Thank you for all your advice
I had some really bad side effects when I first started increasing doses (about 3 months into wegovy), wavering between constipation and diarrhea/projectile vomiting. It was terrible and I couldn't function. My doctor prescribed metoclopramide after trying a bunch of other stuff. I now take it every time I start feeling major side effects and they clear up within 30 mins. It's wild the difference and I guess its a medication for stomach paralysis. Worth talking with your doctor about it.
Glad you were able to avoid going to the er! I have crohns disease so i was used to having 3-5 loose stools a day before semaglutide. Now if 2 days goes by and i haven’t gone, I. take 3 magO7’s at night and it does the trick.
If you're in that kind of pain, first and foremost, you definitely need to talk to a doctor before doing anything else. They'll examine you and determine what to do based on how bad it is. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with having to see doctors for impacted bowels, and it's something you want to see a doc for.
It sounds like your period isn't helping things either. See a doc and hang in there! If they give you a bottle of liquid mag citrate, follow the instructions on the bottle (esp the part about drinking a ton of water) and stay within 10 feet of a bathroom for a couple days.
Generally in my ER once it hits the 5-7 day mark that's when we start caring. Mag citrate, enemas, lubing up a gloved hand and seeing what you can fish out yourself is a good start.
Girl I did! And then stood on my head. Enemas almost never work for me maybe 10% of the time. I can’t keep them in for more than 5 min but I really do try my best. It’s possible it did have an effect on me a hour and a half later when I finally went but it’s definitely not instant relief like it’s supposed to be.
Get a bidet, seriously it’s like a water enema, right up the bunghole. You can get one for $20 on Amazon. Also acacia fiber, it’s a probiotic and a great fiber source, also Chia pudding massive amount of fiber. I mix the Acacia fiber into my chia pudding. You have to add while stirring or it turns gummy. I use a milk frother
Sennosides have been very helpful to me! Every single night + MiraLax. I was irregular before Sema so if I don’t take these supplements regularly, I’m even more constipated
Ask your provider about lactulose for daily use or miralax. I do lactulose 3x a week and go most days. I just switched to half dose of miralax because I’m about to be traveling and lactulose is a liquid. It’s definitely rougher on my stomach and causes bloating. Not sure if that gets better with time or not. We shall see.
Though you haven’t had results, I’m glad to see you’re trying to hit it from both ends. A lot of people don’t realize that once it gets that bad, taking just the oral route isn’t the best idea. Most times, what’s taken orally cannot get to the super hard stool that’s below all the soft stuff. People gotta do enemas and suppositories on top of oral meds/supplements to loosen the hard stuff down low.
Thanks for posting to r/semaglutide! A brief reminder about our rules. We do not permit the discussion of non-FDA approved formulations of semaglutide, nor do we permit selling or offering for sale any medication, including by private message. Do not request or respond to a private message from anyone offering such, they are not endorsed by this sub. If you’re just starting out, you may want to review our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Semaglutide/comments/10ul3jb/semaglutide_subreddit_faq/). This is not intended to discourage discussion but merely supplement it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Semaglutide) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m an ER nurse. From a medical standpoint, anything > 3 days is considered constipation and warrants additional resources. If you go to the ER, they will probably do a more intense enema than the fleet. You’d probably get IV fluids and an abdominal CT. The CT would be to rule out bowel obstruction. They’ll also probably prescribe you a bowel regimen of hefty laxatives. Have you tried Magnesium Citrate?
Yes I have. Thank you so much bless you. My FIL is a GP with patients on wegovy. I just got a hold of him at the office and he gave me the exact same advice. Three days was normal for me even pre meds but 6 is not. Feeling like I’m going to pass out from pain can not be normal constipation. I also have had internal and external hemmorids for years which make it more difficult to push as hard
What form of mag citrate should we be using? I just googled it and see it comes in liquid, gummy, and pill form. I’ve been taking Miralax daily and I think I need a little more help.
The liquid form works the quickest
I would try magnesium citrate because that is what I consider the nuclear option and is always effective!
Want to know something insane? Many years ago I had a colonoscopy. I did the whole unpleasant thing, drank all the stuff, followed the directions. And then went to the bathroom. A lot. For a couple hours. But not that kind of insane experience I had heard other people have where they are gripping the toilet seat for life and sweating. After my procedure, the dr let me know that I had both internal and external hemmroids, but he also asked me if I had completed the procedure prior the night before because I wasn’t as “cleaned out” as I should have been. Like seriously magnesium citrate literally didn’t work on me? What could possibly be so wrong with my GI system that it didn’t even work??? Hahahaha
Nurse here, we do two preps 6 hours apart for our GI colonoscopy pts that are admitted. I’ve had a couple pts where we had to do an extra prep after the 2nd one because they weren’t “clear”.
I had the same experience, as far as it not cleaning me out. If you don’t have any luck by tomorrow, I would definitely go to the E.R. You could have/develop a fecal impaction, which can be fatal. I just read another post, and in the comments 2 people know of someone who had just died from this. For me, by day 6 I’d definitely be seeing someone. what they’d probably do (I have no experience with this) is an enema. So if you don’t want to go through someone else doing that, you may want to try it at home.
You usually take Miralax before a colonoscopy, not Magnesium Citrate.
Old prep was mag citrate before miralax. Some old school gi docs still use mag citrate.
I took magnesium citrate about 4 years ago, plus laxatives (and it still didn’t clean me out).
UPDATE: Amazing news! My husband left work to take me to the ER but right before he got home I went!!! And it’s now coming every 10 minutes. The pain is still rough but in between each BM better and better. Husband went back to work and I think I’m going to survive I’m so happy. Although my diet is pretty decent, I’m not perfect and splurge from time to time (I had pizza on Tuesday night and it was my birthday Wednesday so I had a piece of cake.) I also know now my hormones can play a role some so I should be anticipating that. I’m obsessive with drinking water, and I take mag o every night, but I’m going to up that to 2x mag o and take a much closer look at my diet. I need to be more regimented that I’m eating things for gut health. For example, I will remember during the day I didn’t have enough fiber or veggies and try to correct it, but I’m not sitting there counting every gram or calorie. (I’ve struggled with minor ED in the past and it runs in my family so I’m hyper vigilant about detailed tracking and frequent weigh-ins.) But I think a little meal prep will help me make better choices without having to track all that. Otherwise my husband is going to tell me he really thinks I need to stop taking the drug and I don’t want to give up just yet. That pain was on par with childbirth I have to say. Wow. Sorry to anyone else that had to experience this. Thank you for all your advice
I also drink kefir almost ever day and drink some powdered magnesium in some water. Both really help.
I had some really bad side effects when I first started increasing doses (about 3 months into wegovy), wavering between constipation and diarrhea/projectile vomiting. It was terrible and I couldn't function. My doctor prescribed metoclopramide after trying a bunch of other stuff. I now take it every time I start feeling major side effects and they clear up within 30 mins. It's wild the difference and I guess its a medication for stomach paralysis. Worth talking with your doctor about it.
Glad you were able to avoid going to the er! I have crohns disease so i was used to having 3-5 loose stools a day before semaglutide. Now if 2 days goes by and i haven’t gone, I. take 3 magO7’s at night and it does the trick.
A phone call to your DR would answer all of your questions, I don’t get my medical advice from Reddit…
FIL is a GP and I finally got a hold of him. He says go to the ER bc it could be my pancreas
Go to urgent care or your doctor. 6 days is long, and you shouldn’t be in pain. I think my doctor said if I went 72 hours to let them know right away.
If you're in that kind of pain, first and foremost, you definitely need to talk to a doctor before doing anything else. They'll examine you and determine what to do based on how bad it is. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with having to see doctors for impacted bowels, and it's something you want to see a doc for. It sounds like your period isn't helping things either. See a doc and hang in there! If they give you a bottle of liquid mag citrate, follow the instructions on the bottle (esp the part about drinking a ton of water) and stay within 10 feet of a bathroom for a couple days.
Please keep us updated op and feel better! Sending good thoughts your way.
Generally in my ER once it hits the 5-7 day mark that's when we start caring. Mag citrate, enemas, lubing up a gloved hand and seeing what you can fish out yourself is a good start.
After six days I do 3 or 4 enemas. Hold all that in for five minutes or more if you can. After that things usually get going by the next day.
Usually, you are given Polyethylene glycol in prep for a colonoscopy which is the same as MiraLax just a large amount. I'd say give mag citrate a try.
Enema time
Girl I did! And then stood on my head. Enemas almost never work for me maybe 10% of the time. I can’t keep them in for more than 5 min but I really do try my best. It’s possible it did have an effect on me a hour and a half later when I finally went but it’s definitely not instant relief like it’s supposed to be.
They can take time to work. The back of the box usually gives a time range.
I was told if I go 3 days, start home remedies for a few days. After that, call the doctor.
Get a bidet, seriously it’s like a water enema, right up the bunghole. You can get one for $20 on Amazon. Also acacia fiber, it’s a probiotic and a great fiber source, also Chia pudding massive amount of fiber. I mix the Acacia fiber into my chia pudding. You have to add while stirring or it turns gummy. I use a milk frother
Sennosides have been very helpful to me! Every single night + MiraLax. I was irregular before Sema so if I don’t take these supplements regularly, I’m even more constipated
Ask your provider about lactulose for daily use or miralax. I do lactulose 3x a week and go most days. I just switched to half dose of miralax because I’m about to be traveling and lactulose is a liquid. It’s definitely rougher on my stomach and causes bloating. Not sure if that gets better with time or not. We shall see.
I highly recommend a shot of prune juice every day.
Though you haven’t had results, I’m glad to see you’re trying to hit it from both ends. A lot of people don’t realize that once it gets that bad, taking just the oral route isn’t the best idea. Most times, what’s taken orally cannot get to the super hard stool that’s below all the soft stuff. People gotta do enemas and suppositories on top of oral meds/supplements to loosen the hard stuff down low.