Dealing with opiate constipation?

[keats]

So SWIM finds this a bit of an embarassing subject, one which he has never discussed with his opiate using friends, but this site seems like a good place to talk about it. SWIM loves opiates and used to do them a lot, but now does them pretty moderately, once every week or two. After a short period of snorting heroin (which seemed to cause less constipation) SWIM found it too addictive and since then has stuck with hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and most of all oxycodone. When he used to use opiates to a much greater degree he was basically chronically constipated. But during that period he was also using large amounts of stimulants, so it evened out, and beyond that he was too fucked up all the time to care.

Now though, SWIM lives a pretty normal life and is much more bothered by "little" things like being constipated. SWIM finds when he uses ~20mgs of oxycodone with low tolerance he can't shit for a day or two, and when he uses 40+ it takes several days and causes significant discomfort. SWIM is aware of the typical constipation cures: fiber, laxatives (though he has little experience with these) and so on. But he is curious to here how SWIY personally deals with this issue, which I'm sure many here have experienced. Any thoughts on minimizing discomfort from opiate constipation?

[tayo]

fiber pills, as directed or twice the amount directed depending on amount of opiates. or a few bananas and apples. fluid is very important as well, drink alot of water along with the fiber.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Avoid using laxatives too much,this can actually worsen the problem.It can teach your bowels to become reliant on these and actually cause constipation.

[keats]

Yeah SWIM has heard that before, Orchid, that's why he's never used them. SWIM takes fiber anyway because his stomach has always been a bit of a mess, and while it helps it doesn't fix the problem.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Laxatives are perfectly fine if taken for a short time and only as needed.At one time swim was taken them regularly and found they actually did his digestive system and how his stomach felt a good deal of damage.Be very careful with laxatives people.

[tayo]

hey!, and fiber is good for you, a low fiber diet is one of few nutritionally based links to cancer, along with black charred things, and chinese salted fish to name a couple.

[Jatelka]

Be careful with extra fibre if one is already constipated! It can make matters much worse.

Making sure that SWIY is well hydrated is an essential first step

SWIY doesn't say where they are, but if they're in the UK, Movicol is effective, and less likely than older laxatives to cause a lazy bowel. It is prescription only though

Reputation Comments on this post:

Jatelkas posts are always informative,she knows what she is talking about when it comes to pharmacology and other scient...

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Hydration is a must!Jatelka is right.Swim has found one important thing to do is drink plenty of water.

[tayo]

oh and sitting on your ass doesn't help much, walking seems to loosen things up.

[Alicia]

Swia prefers to curl up while sucking on mints to wait til it goes, instead of playing with other things. hydrated swia see's as a must... other then that roll with the cramps in tiny balls til it goes away.. maybe swia just loves the pain..

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Walking and exercise can be very helpful aswell,surprisingly helpful that such a cheap cure can be that effective.

[Laudaphun]

Prune Juice!!! Swim swears by this miracle juice as it has cured his chronic constipation. It works far better than any other form of fiber swim has tried. Even those fiber powders that you mix into a drink do not work nearly as well for swim as prune juice although they are supposed to contain more fiber than the prune juice. Swim suspects there is something more to the constipation relieving effects of prune juice than just merely fiber.

Swim has never had the need to do so but supposedly if you warm prune juice up a bit in the microwave (not hot, just warm) it will facilitate the bowel movement. Swim's grandma reported to swim that after being horribly constipated some warmed up prune juice was said to have caused explosive diarrhea in short order...

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Prune juice can definitely work,swim finds it to be a horrid tasting concoction.Definitely one that works though.Or simply eating prunes.Either way.

[Laudaphun]

Swim has worked out a system where he consumes 1 glass of prune juice everyday when he gets home... Swim doesn't measure the ounces but a full glass ranging between 8 and 12 ounces keeps swim pretty regular.

It should also be noted that without prune juice, swim might shit once a week and has gone up to 2 weeks before without taking a dump. Those are the kind of bowel movements that make you cry.

[tayo]

so the moral is... if you need to... steal your neighbors television, sell it to the pawn shop and buy some prune juice?

[VincentVan]

Well, I guess that when an opiate user starts worrying about these subjects it means that he has already overcome most of his problems.
Anyway, here my 2 cents: have you tried lactolose (lactolosium) ? It´s so safe that it´s used on babies.
Our pediatrician prescribed it for my daughter when she was well under one year old, and she took daily for more than a year.
It can be bought without prescription; and take my word: it works.

Don´t forget to keep us posted on the activity of your bowels.

VV.

[Diapuch]

I would imagine, from non-drug related personal experience, that walking, and err, "spreading" in the shower, and letting hot water in the area, works wonders.

[donnie]

I know of a med that stops constipation when using opiate based drugs.

The name of it is MOVICOL.

When you use opioids, your body sucks the moisture from your bowels making the stools hard, large and impacted. This can put you in a right mess and is very painfull and not healthy in the long run. It can cause piles right through to bowel cancer!

So, using Movicol prevents this. Its not a laxitive but it mixes with the crap and stops your body from sucking out the moisture and thus making you have nice healthy shites!

Ask your doctor about it. Its the best med I use, even before the MST & Oxy's.

[Laudaphun]

Originally Posted by Diapuch

I would imagine, from non-drug related personal experience, that walking, and err, "spreading" in the shower, and letting hot water in the area, works wonders.

In theory SWIM too thought this was a good idea, however in practice, SWIM found it... for a lack of better word, lacking. Perhaps SWIM didn't have enough patience, but she can only stand in the shower "spreadin em" in the necessary position for so long.

By the way... has anyone ever heard that song by Alkaline Trio called "My Little Needle?" One line in the song is "...my guts have dried up and died, but every night I water them back to life." SWIM gets its now, and finds it mildly amusing. It's a true but funny song.

[samuraigecko]

Originally Posted by VincentVan

have you tried lactolose (lactolosium) ? It´s so safe that it´s used on babies

VV.

Errr . . have you ever heard of Lactose intolerance? it is quite common in adults and is usually a condition that one develops as one gets older so the phrase "so safe that it's used on babies" is not necessarily good advice for an adult.

It is also spelled Lactulose for people who want to google it. Here is a quick description "Lactulose is a complex sugar like laxative derived from lactose."

One would also agree with other posts though, seems like a fairly regular (excuse my pun again) intake of fruits as well as staying hydrated are the most important thing.

[BakaBilly]

SWIM eats alot of ice cream and takes Metemucil daily.

When SWIM gets extra consipated the BEST thing he has found is FLEET enemas. Kinda troublesome and kinda embarrasing to some, but the stuff works wonders.

[beentheredonethatagain]

swim will suggest Docusate sodium 100mg - 200mg daily or as needed the brand name is Colace and it functions as a stool softner, better by far than a laxitive for constipation from opiates

[Swing]

This isn't probably the most healthy idea.... but swim usually takes a couple cups of highly caffeinated coffee with a good 20 mg dose of dextroamphetamine to see if he can bring his opiate slowed bowels back to life... after a short 2 day or so break from the dillies and cotton this recipe seems to clean the past couple of weeks of sludge build-up right out of him ( kinda tears up swims ass tho kinda gross seeing all the blood on the toilet paper lol). After that it's time to party again tho!!!

[Laudaphun]

Man, you gotta stay ahead of the buildup... If SWIM slacks from his high fiber diet for only a few days, little pebble-sized turds will start falling from SWIMs butt when sitting on the throne. Not only that, but as the stools get harder they begin to clog the toilet everytime SWIM goes #2, and this is a clog that can not easily be undone... This pisses everyone else in the house off. Thus far, the opiate related constipation is SWIM's only health concern about his bad habits... Well that and those rotten little plastic morphine pills he used to melt and boot several years ago when SWIM was younger, but that's water over the dam.

Seriously though, all joking aside, you can save yourself a lot of misery by just adapting your diet to your opiate intake. Granted, when dealing with opiates your diet is not always your primary concern, but fiber and fluids work wonders. SWIM's diet still leaves much to be desired but even a minimal effort has a very noticeable effect. Though, just like one does not get all bound up over night, it can take several days to begin to notice improvement in one's bowel functions.

[sarbanes]

Hydration, hydration, hydration. And when going, don't push, just let your self relax (no matter how long that takes). You may have a "Stone Golum"esque, looking turd. As your addiction progresses, shitting won't be such an issue, but peeing will become a bitch. Actually, one of the reasons you are shitting less is you are probably eating less as well.