by JudyC » Mar 27, 2005 12:10 am
I'm glad I got to read your stories. Sometimes I wondered if I was the only one who suffered such severe constipation from Zofran. It was so bad that I remember wondering if anyone had ever died of constipation! How weird is that!!!
I've had 2 HG pregnancies and when I first started taking Zofran during my first pregnancy, I was completely unaware of the possibility of constipation. Suddenly after about a week of not having a BM, I had the sensation that I need to have a BM. However, it just wouldn't come out. The pain quickly became worse and worse. I started to panic as I couldn't even stand up straight. Pardon the description, but it felt like I had a brick up there. Then I felt that my bladder was full. For some strange reason, I couldn't urinate. It was as though all that constipation was also blocking off the outflow of my urine. It was so painful. I really paniced and ended up in the hospital. They gave me pethadine to relieve the pain and a muscle relaxant. Then they stuck a catheter up into my bladder so that I could urinate. Then they gave me some enemas. Then I waited for several hours. With a catheter hanging out of me, an IV and being drugged out, I wasn't about to go anywhere. After a few hours, a doctor told me that I had "fecal impaction", and if the enemas didn't work soon, they'd have to sedate me, then go in there manually and scoop it out. At that point I just wanted to die. There was absolutely no dignity left in me. I cried for a while and then waited a bit longer. Suddenly, to my great relief there was movement and relief. What a nightmare.
With continued use of Zofran, with this and my second pregnancy, I made sure that no more than two days went by without a BM. I used enemas, usually 3-4 enemas to get things moving. I couldn't stomach any type of laxative.