Faecal Impaction

[barry1010]

The heading should be enough to warn you that this is not going to be a pleasant post, certainly not smelling of a bed of roses. Those who are tickle tummed should avoid.

I had my first experience of this last night. I hadn't realised I was constipated and had not been feeling uncomfortable. I woke around 1am and went to the toilet. I was stuck on that loo for nearly 4 hours, unable to get off and in a lot of pain. I had to resort to asking my wife to bring me the disposable gloves and a bowl of hot soapy water.

The websites tell me I should not have done this myself. I hope it doesn't happen again but if it does, what should I do? There is no way I could have sat down anywhere but the loo.

[jennyjoan]

it's happened to me quite a few times over many years tho, I have always taken the matter into my own hands with great success.

the way things are at the moment if you were waiting on a GP or anything else you would be far too uncomfortable, whatever you done it worked -

TMI - I tried to go one morning at 10 am but nothing - I drank loads of pure orange juice and water and at 2pm I was able to perform the operation LOL.

[teacake44]

^^ Did you have PPE?

[CrapAtCryptics]

Sometimes on this diet I get that problem but psyllium husks always grease the path so to speak.

[woofgang]

pasta yes! if you are hiking fibre content, you must either hike liquid intake massively or eat "juicy" fibre that has its own liquid. Bran type stuff alone may make matters worse

[pastafreak]

Danny...yes, first hand. I have never eaten the amount of fibre suggested as "correct". But, I'm nice and regular. I know others who eat little in the way of grains, beans or even veg...but are regular.

[dannyk13]

Pasta, not everyone's constitution is the same and there are many instances that can cause constipation.My advice was to Barry who seems to have a dietary problem.

[pastafreak]

It's only happened once according to Barry...I'd not call that a "problem". Obviously his diet has been working for him up until now.

[dannyk13]

Pasta, an impaction like that does not suddenly appear, it must have been building up for a while,

[dannyk13]

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322150#causes

[Buenchico]

I had constipation for the better part of a week after my first chemotherapy session. The pharmacist supplied me with a box of Laxido
http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/laxido-orange-powder-30-sachets, telling me that the normal dose was two sachets per day but that could be adjusted to one or three per day, as needed.

However the powders didn't seem to be working and, following a bit of googling, I realised that I'd got faecal impaction. The leaflet that comes in the box of Laxido says that the dosage in such a case is 8 sachets over 6 hours. So, from midnight to 6am I took a dose roughly every 50 minutes.

Nothing seemed to happen for several hours, apart from me feeling rather ill and feverish for about half an hour around noon. That quickly cleared though and, at about 2pm, things started to move very quickly - literally! Over the next couple of hours I had several visits to the loo, at the end of which I was at least 6 kg lighter than I'd been before! Probably understandably, I felt a bit weak for a while but by mid-evening I felt really great.

So my suggestion is to keep a box of Laxido handy. It will come in useful in future both for normal constipation and for faecal impaction.

[dannyk13]

Chris, would not prevention be better than cure.

[Buenchico]

^^^ Agreed, Danny.

In my case I now take 'normal' doses of Laxido for the first few days after my chemo sessions (because I know that it's the drugs that I have to take during that short period of time which are causing the problem).

Obviously Barry needs to think about his diet, etc, but it still wouldn't do any harm to have some laxative powders 'on standby', just in case they're needed again.

[dannyk13]

Yes, probably good to be prepared.

[jno]

prevention's always better than cure, dannyk, but if you don't know you're getting it till you've got it... Like barry, I've had constipation just the once in my entire life; I didn't know there was anything to prevent, and in fact I still don't. Lots of fluid eventually did the trick.

[daisypotter]

What about a district nurse? I know someone who had this problem and a district nurse was called who gave an enema. Worked after a couple of hours.

[dannyk13]

jno, but surely , once you have suffered with it ,you should think about how to prevent it recurring.

[douglas9401]

Quite a problem. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

[Sqad]

Just a couple of questions.

I presume that you are passing wind as normal.
HOw long has it been since you have been to the toilet before this episode?

You haven't done any harm with your manual evacuation.

There is no point in sitting on the toilet for hours....if you have t passed a stool within 30 mins, then give up and go back to bed.

My further comments will depend upon your reply.

[barry1010]

Sqad, I hadn't realised I was constipated, I hadn't been in the least bit comfortable. I do not recall not going to the toilet but don't particularly recall going, if you see what I mean.

There was no way I could have gone back to bed. I had a large solid mass protruding from my bottom. I accidentally caught it on the edge of the toilet seat and one point and it was pure agony. For those three hours I was having spasms both in my rectum and my stomach (I suppose it was my bowels really).

[Sqad]

O. K barry,no big deal for the moment just put it down to experience.
Monitor the situation for the foreseeable future.