# What is wrong with me now?



## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

It seems my goal to make myself from someone who had a bowel movement maybe every few days to someone who WILL have a bm every single day has made me a little obsessive!Well late last week I went I think two days without a bm and didn't want to let it to any longer so I began taking two tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia every night. I took it for three nights and had diareah every morning. Never anything solid for some reason. The milk of magnesia didn't really cause as many side effects as it usually does also.So I don't take the mom the first night and the next morning nothing. No bm. The next day same thing so I decide that I need to have a bowel movement and wasn't satisfied with the size of my diareah bowel movements after the mom. During these two days without bowel movements my stomach is rumbling and I feel like I need to have a bm but just won't have one.So yesterday afternoon I decide to do a fleet enema. I don't know why I decided to do this. Fleet enemas don't really help me like they used to. So I have one of those fleet extra enemas and decide to only use half for some reason. I do the enema and don't really have a good bowel movement.First just the enema comes out and after a while I have a very small bowel movement. The stool is very very soft though. I assume from using the milk of magnesia for those three days. I am also worried that not all of the enema came out and thats why I still feel crappy.Well right after I do the enema I stat getting these pains in my left and right sides like I have had before. I just feel like total ####! My head hurts and my stomach starts bubbling. I figured this morning I might have a delayed reaction to the enema and have a bowel movement. No such luck. Still have pain in sides and just feel like ####. Wish I would of never done the enema. They used to work great but now they make me feel terrible for some reason. These past few months I thought my bad reactions to the fleet enemas might be my kidneys. I had some blood work done and all was fine. Doctors also assure me it's not my kidneys. Emergency room doctors.So a few hours ago I began to experience a pretty bad pain in my lower abdomen. It feels like I'm totally full of #### and constipated but I can't be right? Is this pain from the enema I took yesterday? The pain is in my colon area. It started after I drank a good bit of water. Could that have something to do with it? I know enemas can dehydrate you so I'm trying to keep hydrated. What could these enemas be doing to me where I feel so terrible? Are they messing up my electrolytes or something? Maybe the enema or the mom use is causing a vitamin or mineral deficiency?Since I feel like I need to have a bowel movement I'm gonna go back to the milk of magnesia tonight and see what happens. I'm very afraid it could make this pain much worse!! Especially if I don't have a bowel movement. Could I be not having bowel movements because the stool in me is too soft from the milk of magnesia? If so what could I do? I have some glycerin suppositories that I have never used before. I'm thinking of trying those tomorrow if I don't have a bm. Is this a good idea?


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

You shouldn't be concerned about having a bowel movement everyday - the majority of people don't fall into this pattern. Its better not to use laxatives everyday - my gastroenterologist says that the goal isn't to have a bowel movement everyday but to produce a painless, relatively soft bowel movement and not to get caught up on how often it is, every 2-3 days is fine. In fact many normal people only go this often and think there's nothing wrong with their bowels - if they move without too much pain and without too much straining then you shouldn't be overly concerned. Being obsessed with going everyday is what turns people into laxative abusers - they should only be used to relieve discomfort from constipation if you haven't been for more than 3 days. If your stool is hard, take a stool softener - if after 2 days you start having a lot of pain and discomfort maybe that's the time to take a stronger laxative. Having diarrhoea when you have a bowel movement isn't ideal because over time it can deplete you of electrolytes and fats. You might think way hay ... fat loss but you need fat in the diet for healthy brain functioning and for insulation. And the loss of electrolytes can start to make you feel very weak. Fleet enemas are even worse for depleting electrolytes. I've never heard of them causing damage to people that don't have underlying kidney disease but they can cause kidney problems in people who have underlying kidney damage, which is why people with such conditions are advised not to take Fleet for colonoscopy. You need to replace the fluid you are losing through a Fleet enema by drinking PLENTY of fluids - it tells you this on the instruction leaflet. This is more important in your case since you are losing so much with the milk of magnesia. I would advise you lay off the enemas completely - only use in an emergency, like if you haven't been in a week. Ideally you shouldn't be using the MOM more than every 3 days, every 2 at most. Your head could hurt because of the electrolyte depletion - take a couple of paracetamol and plenty of water throughout the rest of the day. The cramping should get better with plenty of water. If you want to eat, eat lightly. The probem with laxatives, if they don't work completely they can leave you feeling very crampy and sore until they have their full effect - so take it easy. This is what I've found in my experience anyway. The pain is probably bad because of all the laxatives you've used as opposed to not having a bowel movement. If I were you I wouldn't take the milk of magnesia tonight, but that's totally up to you. I doubt a glycerin suppository would work because it sounds like the stool is higher up, not down in the rectum. If this is the case you either have to be patient and wait for it to descend or take something like a stimulant which will help move it, but I really wouldn't advise it since you've taken so many laxatives and you're feeling so rubbish. Taking MOM is unlikely to work because it might just make the stool even softer but not actually descend low enough for you to pass it just causing you pain.


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## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

Good reply!Too bad I didn't read it until this morning. I took the milk of manesia last night. Nothing has happened this morning like you said. The pain in my lower abdomen seems to be not as bad or even gone for right now. Maybe it's because its early though.So you say the mom won't really help this? I should take a stimulant laxative? So tonight I could take exlax and not take the milk of magnesia?What your saying makes sense so I might try it. It has to be the laxatives that are making me the feel the way I do. I technically had a bm on Monday and today is Wednsday. I used to be able to go a whole week or longer and not feel pain but now I feel pain after one day! I just feel so much better if I can have a bm every day. I know today is going to suck because I didn't have a bm. Thats why I'm always tempted to take a enema.Another thing that has started for me is I am no longer passing gas. If I do it is very rare. A lot of the pain I feel must be from that.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about taking the MOM, at least the pain is gone. You could take a stimulant laxative such as Senokot, Exlax or Dulcolax. Unfortunately I've no experience of taking any of them, I have a prescription laxative called sodium picosulphate which is available here but not in the US. Maybe you should just avoid taking anything tonight, a lot of your pain seems to arise because of laxative use. I really would avoid using an enema, they interfere with the way the bowel works and you don't want to become dependent on them and laxatives!I don't pass gas either, it usually means there's stool down at the bottom end ready to come out. Sometimes you can have a build up of gas behind it which can be very painful. Sometimes I find taking a bath can sometimes help passing gas or there's a yoga pose, which I always heard referred to as dog head down or downward facing dog, which is notorious for people passing wind when doing.Here's a link: My link You might be more comfortable with a bowel movement everyday but it might be that your body's natural rhythm just doesn't conform to that - every other day might be as best as you'll ever get.Hope something works!


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## Sean (Feb 8, 1999)

Matt,You might want to lay off of both the MOM and the Fleet enemas for a while. They are both saline laxatives and you may have overloaded your poor colon at this point. It might be time to try a stimulant laxative like Dulcolax. If you don't have a bowel movement of any kind for three days, take two or three tablets at bedtime with a couple of glasses of water. It is pretty much guaranteed to clean you out the next morning. I know what you mean about Fleet enemas. I sometimes use the Fleet extra size. They work and work fast, but leave me bloated and rumbling for at least the next 24 hours. Have you tried doing a simple tap water enema? You need to get an enema bag at the pharmacy and put a liter of body temperature tap water in it. Inject it slowly by gravity and try to hold it in for five minutes. That should work as well or better than a Fleet without the irritation. They have definitely worked for me at times. Just don't overuse them. I hope this helps.


Matt b said:


> It seems my goal to make myself from someone who had a bowel movement maybe every few days to someone who WILL have a bm every single day has made me a little obsessive!Well late last week I went I think two days without a bm and didn't want to let it to any longer so I began taking two tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia every night. I took it for three nights and had diareah every morning. Never anything solid for some reason. The milk of magnesia didn't really cause as many side effects as it usually does also.So I don't take the mom the first night and the next morning nothing. No bm. The next day same thing so I decide that I need to have a bowel movement and wasn't satisfied with the size of my diareah bowel movements after the mom. During these two days without bowel movements my stomach is rumbling and I feel like I need to have a bm but just won't have one.So yesterday afternoon I decide to do a fleet enema. I don't know why I decided to do this. Fleet enemas don't really help me like they used to. So I have one of those fleet extra enemas and decide to only use half for some reason. I do the enema and don't really have a good bowel movement.First just the enema comes out and after a while I have a very small bowel movement. The stool is very very soft though. I assume from using the milk of magnesia for those three days. I am also worried that not all of the enema came out and thats why I still feel crappy.Well right after I do the enema I stat getting these pains in my left and right sides like I have had before. I just feel like total ####! My head hurts and my stomach starts bubbling. I figured this morning I might have a delayed reaction to the enema and have a bowel movement. No such luck. Still have pain in sides and just feel like ####. Wish I would of never done the enema. They used to work great but now they make me feel terrible for some reason. These past few months I thought my bad reactions to the fleet enemas might be my kidneys. I had some blood work done and all was fine. Doctors also assure me it's not my kidneys. Emergency room doctors.So a few hours ago I began to experience a pretty bad pain in my lower abdomen. It feels like I'm totally full of #### and constipated but I can't be right? Is this pain from the enema I took yesterday? The pain is in my colon area. It started after I drank a good bit of water. Could that have something to do with it? I know enemas can dehydrate you so I'm trying to keep hydrated. What could these enemas be doing to me where I feel so terrible? Are they messing up my electrolytes or something? Maybe the enema or the mom use is causing a vitamin or mineral deficiency?Since I feel like I need to have a bowel movement I'm gonna go back to the milk of magnesia tonight and see what happens. I'm very afraid it could make this pain much worse!! Especially if I don't have a bowel movement. Could I be not having bowel movements because the stool in me is too soft from the milk of magnesia? If so what could I do? I have some glycerin suppositories that I have never used before. I'm thinking of trying those tomorrow if I don't have a bm. Is this a good idea?


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