Embarrassing ? - How do you deal with the constipation???

[Stephanie]

With my first preg I took Zofran and became so terribly constipated that I had to see a surgeon and do many awful things only very old people should do. Last preg I did frequent enemas, stool softners, laxatives, etc. and nothing helped a lot. I guess I'm one of the rare few that Zofran paralyzes the bowel (per my dr). Anyway, now I'm pregnant with #2 and trying hard to avoid a repeat episode. So far the stool softners and occasional laxatives are working okay, but I'm not even taking 1/2 of the Zofran I should be (because I'm so afraid of the constipation). Has anyone else ran into this problem? I feel like I'm 90 yrs old!!! Is there another med that maybe wouldn't cause this problem?

Thanks!

Steph

[aaronsmommy]

Reglan is often used for hg and tends to cause diarrhea. I don't know if you have ever tried it before, some people don't like the side effects, and it doesn't usaully work as well as zofran for the nausea, but you might get some help with a little bit in addition to the zofran.
Whenever I tried it with the zofran, I would go from all stopped up to diarrhea almost instantly, even on a tiny dose.

[Natalie]

Hi Stephanie

Poor you! As if the HG isn't bad enough to have to deal with...

Somebody else was having the same problem and there is a long post in the Medication Experiences forum under the catchy title: ' Zofran constipation from hell'. You have to scroll down the forum, but maybe some of the responses there might help you too?

Wishing you all the best for an HG and constipation free pg.

Natalie

[Ivydragon]

Zofran constipation is very common, and some have had to avoid it completely because of this complication, and their predisposition before pg to have bowel complications that made this too risky. There is a medication list here at HER that may be helpful. Print it out and take it to your DR. There are options. Zofran is well-known and works very well. Are you on B6/Unisom as well? Or B6/Meclizine? Phenergan is also a drug that has some effect on HG. It might be that you cannot go to a high dose of Zofran (although some women experience worse constipation on a lower dose - go figure on that one!). A combination of meds always works better on HG than one, so maybe this may be a viable route for you to discuss w/ your Dr? Once you get to 10 wks, steroids also become an option.

Some women have become enema dependent, and it's much better to try to keep up w/ a consistent stool softener or to incorporate bowel productive foods into the diet (although that is nearly impossible for some HGers).

Let us know what works, this is a very common problem, no need to be embarrassed.

Hugs, Andy