constipated

does anyone have a solution??? its driving me mad and its incredibly frustrating. am drinking heaps of water and bought some metamucil. any other ideas?

Buy some Coloxyl with senna from ur chemist!!! it works wonders.... I use the metamucil fibre caps.... i find it works better then the powder u drink

thanks so much ill be trying the fibre caps.

My midwife also recommended the caps, but still need to maintain your water intake in order to get best results from metamucil. Also eat some fruit with the skin on it and perhaps some prunes if you like them!

If your not prone to consitipation it might help to consider what the cause could be?

Are you taking iron tablets or a pregnancy multi-vitamin? Often these can cause consitpation.

Dates are a good natural solution to consitpation. In general reducing your carb / meat intake and replacing it with whole fruits and veg will help relieve conspitation too.

Good luck.

im taking folic acid and elevit at the moment? but have been since the beginning. would this be the cause of it?

the preg vitamins can def cause it.
i have been using linseed/flax seeds sprinkled on my cereal. work for me.
psylium also works (thats in metamucil) and you can also buy that by itself and have in a drink.
important to have lots of fluid. its awful isnt it, but i have used linseed from the start and not had much of a prob.

Hi Sarak - sorry to butt in (no pun intended). How long do these things take to work? and does it hit you all of a sudden? Just worried that i might be out taking the kids to school and need to go lol.

Yeah prunes are ggggreat when you are having trouble... just don't have more than say 6-8 prunes on a given morning as you will get the opposite effect if you do! :redface:

ok i have taken 2 tablets of metamucil and nothing. this is sooo frustrating. how long does this last for? this is something i def need an instant cure for LOL

Hi Sarak

Coloxyl & Senna are probably the best thing to use. They contain a bowel stimulant and an irritant. Take 2 in the morning and 2 at night they can take up to 48 hours to work. If nothing happens after 2 days then take 3 in the morning and 2 at night. You can also continue with your Metamucil. Pear juice is also good. Lots of fluid is very important.

The cause of constipation in pregnancy is a hormone called progesterone. This is one of the hormones that help to loosen smooth muscle (amongst other things). When the progesterone levels build up it slows down peristalsis (small movements that move the food along) of the intestine and bowel. Your body then removes more water fron your stools making them hard and dry.

tks Alan :)

i take elevit and haven't suffered from any constipation during my 1st pg or my 2nd one so it woudln't be attributed to that, besides which you & bubba need all the vits & mins contained in elevit. Do you eat many green leafy veges? If not, try to increase these as they are full of natural fibre and much better than laxatives - you should try a fresh vege juice with celery, cucumber, apple and spinach. I have these every day and they are great.
Good luck as being constipated is awlful and I hope this helps

I tried all of these suggestions and nothing worked - then i discovered NUX VOMICA frm the health stoe - it is a homeopathic remedy that also helps nausea ... within 3 days of taking it i was back top normal .

You take 10 drops under the tongue 3 times a day until the remedy sets into your body and honestly i cant tell enough people about it ... it was fantastic.

Hi Sarak

I was taking Elevit aswell and found it to be very constipating (it's cause of the artificial iron it them, they also made my stools black). I tried metamucil and it didn't seem to help much. I switched to Blackmores pg multivit and have been heaps better since. I have also noticed a difference since I changed my brekky cereal to Sultana Bran.

HTH

Julia

I am taking elevit as well and had constipation on and off.
I stopped taking it in the morning and now take it at night time just after dinner.
I also make sure that I have 3 pieces of fresh fruit a day and high fibre cereal (sultana bran) or bread for breakfast.
I am now as regular as clockwork.
Hope these simple steps help.
They only problem now is making sure that i don't need rennie within 2 hours of taking the elevit!!!

My midwife suggested I change from Blackmores to Fabfol because in Fabfol the iron is chelated so it doesn't cause constipation like the others do. It has made a difference to me.

Also I now sprinkle psyllium on my sultan bran which is alot cheaper than metamucil!

Also try dried apricots, prune juice or prunes, figs, and jacket potatoes!