Hello -
You're constipated, and you describe very precisely how bad that can feel after a few days. The inability of the bowels to move can be caused by certain foods, certain medical conditions, and by the use of certain prescription drugs (usually opiod
pain medications). Sometimes the stool softeners don't work well or right away, and can be supplemented with prune juice (and other fluids), fruits and fiber tablets such as Metamucil. Of course, because of the slow emptying and bloating, you'll want to advance these slowly, and you may have to ask your doctor if you should use a laxative. While
constipation isn't normally an urgent matter, it can start to feel pretty awful in a relatively short time. A laxative may be required if you don't manage a movement within a week. At that point it becomes pretty well intolerable.
Don't try taking a laxative without first consulting your doctor. If you get the green light then, by all means, that should work. You'll also need to try and figure out what set off this problem so it doesn't repeat. Be certain you're getting sufficient fiber in your diet, not getting too much of the harder fats, and of course if you're taking any sort of opiod
pain meds routinely, you'll definitely need to take extra care to keep things moving.
Hopefully all this will help soon enough that you don't have to resort to asking for a laxative. If you do, at least you can be pretty sure this episode will end soon after. Let your doctor make the call on this, though.
Best of luck to you.
