thinking of going off zofran due to constipation

A place to discuss all things treatment-related. Medications, IVs, midlines, PICC lines, NG tubes, sub-q pumps, home health care, etc. Also includes alternative and homeopathic remedies including NAET, vitamins, liver detoxing, and more for active HG and TTC preparation.

Moderators: JennyK, mammaclare, nomore

thinking of going off zofran due to constipation

Postby karin1013 » Mar 30, 2005 10:47 am

I am 14 weeks pregnant. I just started 8 mg/day of zofran 1 week and 2 days ago. I have not had a bowel movement since! I am getting worried that the constipation might be very toxic and dangerous. Yesterday I tried 2 pericolace and 2 tbs of milk of magnesia, I also ate a meal that usually gives me diahrrea. NOTHING has happened still this morning. The zofran does seem to help quite a bit, but not entirely with the nausea and vomitting. It takes the edge off and I am only throwing up about once a day now. But I still feel nauseated, probably not as bad. I am eating A LOT because the eating seems to help keep the nausea down. Food does not sound good but I eat bland things constantly, because it seems to help.

So I am wondering if the zofran is worth the constipation. It does not completely help the nausea and vomitting. But I would love to continue to take it if it weren't for the darn constipation. What should I do? Should I switch to Reglan? I heard it has the opposite effect...
karin1013
New Member
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Mar 30, 2005 10:35 am

Postby nikki0072004 » Mar 30, 2005 1:36 pm

A stupid OB at L+D the other day said that Zofran didnt cause constipation. I nearly smacked him. Anyway.

I have suffered from really bad constipation this pregnancy, and am here to cure your fears, I hope. :D One, I was really worried about that whole fecal poisioning thing too!! I was scared I was killing my babies from the inside!!! My record for not "going" is 5 days. (applause)But my OB said that it needed to be in there way longer than that, and was usually only caused when there was an actual illness in your colon, that was not allowing to be dispelled since your body was not "releasing it". Yummy. (BTW- this is differnt OB from previously mentioned idiot, we can trust this one! :wink:

He ALSO said that nice little therpaies like milk of magnesia, and stuiff like that was not going to cure pregnancy or Zofran induced constipation. He prescribed me a stool softerner, not a laxative. Apparently its better to prevent than treat, because constipation can cause preterm labor, whcih is why I was in L+D, thinking I was in FULL transition labor at 23 weeks when in fact an enema solved the whole thing. How embarrassing is THAT!!!!! So now I am on that, and am having happy little toliet visits every night. Ahhhhh........

Point of my long rather gross story is to call OB and ask him for the big artillery, then you can stay on Zofran. And I am so sorry you are going thru this, I know how painful and icky it is.

Good Luck!!!!!
nikki0072004
Welcomed Friend
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Oct 20, 2004 6:31 pm

Postby Marie » Mar 30, 2005 2:22 pm

Hello.

I am currently on Colace twice a day to battle the Zofran induced constipation, but the medication usually takes a few days to work. I feel that Zofran is worth this, but I am allergic to many of the other anti-metics including Reglan.

Hope you find some relief soon,
Marie
HG baby arrived 11/18/99.
Lost an Angel 6/04.
HG baby arrived 7/01/05.
Marie
Master of HG
 
Posts: 3812
Joined: Dec 07, 2004 2:20 pm
Location: Missouri

Postby meg » Mar 30, 2005 2:48 pm

I can completely sympathize with your wondering if the Zofran is worth the constipation. Colace twice a day and Senokot (a laxative) or Milk of Mag occasionally, have helped me out, though not solved my problem.

As far as switching to Reglan it works differently than Zofran so if Zofran is effective you might want to stick with it. Reglan is a motility drug. It works best when you are able to tolerate at least small amounts of food and liquid. Zofran is an anti-emetic (yes??) so having success with it does not necessarily mean you would have relief from Reglan, too.

Good luck!
Hugs,
Meg

Mom to Anabel (7), Patrick (4) and Moira Grace (1)
HG Survivor
HG Free since 4.22.05!!!
meg
Devoted to You
 
Posts: 1065
Joined: Oct 09, 2004 11:02 pm
Location: Ohio

Postby mammaclare » Mar 30, 2005 4:24 pm

The decision as to whether it is worth it is up to you. I did want to allay your fears of being toxic. My personal record for no BM was 3 weeks. No kidding. And I couldn't keep the Colace down so I had to rely on raisin bran and a lot of water once I was past the puking hump.
Clare
Mommy to Rory Benjamin 8-28-03
And Kieran Alexander 12-15-06
HG Babies-Week 5 to The Bitter End!
Image
mammaclare
Forum Moderator
 
Posts: 3414
Joined: May 31, 2004 8:48 pm

Postby karin1013 » Mar 30, 2005 6:21 pm

Okay it is afternoon now. Well, since it has now been 1 week and two days sice I have had a bowel movement, and the pericolace and milk of magnesia have not worked, I decided to try an enema today. I put it in there and just the water came back out, NO stools! Then, I strained and strained and even had to put my finger in there and manually remove some stool (disgusting). It was SOOOO painful. The stools were like tar and hurt so bad trying to pass. I finally got a small amount out. I still have much more to go, I am sure. And I am only on 8 mg. a day! Some of you are on much higher dosages! I can't imagine how bad my constipation would be if that were the case! The pain was SO bad, I decided I would rather be vomitting and laying on the couch immobile all day rather than have to have a dreaded day like this again once every week! I do not think I will take my zofran today. Maybe I will just save it for special occassions when I really need to get out of the house?
karin1013
New Member
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Mar 30, 2005 10:35 am

NIKKI

Postby karin1013 » Mar 30, 2005 6:23 pm

NIKKI:
You said:

"Point of my long rather gross story is to call OB and ask him for the big artillery, then you can stay on Zofran. And I am so sorry you are going thru this, I know how painful and icky it is."

WHAT is the big artillery???? I called my OB yesterday and he was on vacation, but the nurse recommended the milk of magnesia and the pericolace. I just took 4 more pericolace today! She said they work better than regular collace?
karin1013
New Member
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Mar 30, 2005 10:35 am

Thank you!

Postby karin1013 » Mar 30, 2005 6:35 pm

By the way, thank you everyone for responding! Nikki please let me know exactly what it was that worked for you (name of stool softener, laxative, enema, etc). Thank you. Please, everyone, keep the advice coming! This is SOOO painful. :o
karin1013
New Member
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Mar 30, 2005 10:35 am

Postby mammaclare » Mar 30, 2005 9:28 pm

karin--the thing with enemas and also glycerin suppositories (I did use those with limited success) is that you have got to "hold them in" for a good 30 mins for them to work properly. It feels like hell and like you have to GO NOW...but if you don't wait and hold them in, then all you will get is the water or the suppository right back at you.
Clare
Mommy to Rory Benjamin 8-28-03
And Kieran Alexander 12-15-06
HG Babies-Week 5 to The Bitter End!
Image
mammaclare
Forum Moderator
 
Posts: 3414
Joined: May 31, 2004 8:48 pm

Postby karin1013 » Mar 31, 2005 6:45 am

OH!!! :o I didn't know that! I don't think it even said that on the enema directions. Thank you. I will have to try that next time. This is such a gross topic, but SOO necessary and important!
karin1013
New Member
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Mar 30, 2005 10:35 am

Postby nikki0072004 » Mar 31, 2005 8:53 am

HI Karin,

OB put me on Zelnorm, for the times I feel it "backing up". While it says right there on the label not to be used during pregnancy ( :shock: ), we decided to go with it since I am at such high risk of Preterm labor, and for some reason, constipation triggers PTL for me. Yay.

So, thats my big guns!! Artillery!!!

Nikki
HG babies 1+2: Mommys angels
HG baby 3: Bayden 28mos
HG babies 4+5: Twins due July
nikki0072004
Welcomed Friend
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Oct 20, 2004 6:31 pm

Postby JudyC » Mar 31, 2005 11:41 pm

Hi Karin,

Who ever thought that constipation could be such a nightmare of an experience! During both of my HG pregnancies I remember wondering which was worse - the nausea and vomiting, or the Zofran induced constipation. They're both very nasty! The only thing that worked for my constipation (when it was at its worst), was enemas and sometimes sticking a finger up there. Unfortunately, you do have to try and hold the enema in for 30 minutes which is so, so, so difficult. I did a couple of things to help me achieve this. I put a blanket and pillow on the floor right next to the toilet. I would give myself the enema and wait on the floor there. I didn't want to have to move because that would make holding the enema in impossible. I also wanted to be near the toilet for when the enema kicked in. I also had a radio/cd player next to me and played some relaxing music. I was so tense and stressed out and I found that if I could relax my mind with the music, it would help me with holding the enema in. The desperate measures we have to resort to and the horrible things we have to suffer through because of HG is absolutely amazing! I hope you find something that works for you!

Judy
JudyC
New Member
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Feb 16, 2005 4:43 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Postby jannyjo » Apr 21, 2005 11:13 am

I found something that works for me, if you can eat solids.

FOODMENT- AdvantEdge Low carb, high protien bars- END FOODMENT

They have glycerine, sugar alcohols, and lots of fiber. I was 'stuck' for about a week and was able to eat one for lunch on Monday and able to go Tuesday morning. And it was gentle. I am sure that the glycerine had something to do with that. I am eating one per day and back to being regular. The added bonus is that they are packed with protein and vitamins, two things that those who cannot eat much are lacking! They have many different flavors, and you do need to get used to the texture, but they worked for me!

TTFN,
Janet
HTH,
Janet
Ma to Tyler 2/93, Eireann 12/01, Gareth 10/03,
Lynnette 8/05 (first diagnosed HG preg)
And our faery children: Rhiannon born sleeping @22 wks 4/00, Malcom @8wks 4/07 and Our Surprise Angel @ 5wks 2/08
jannyjo
Been There Done That
 
Posts: 313
Joined: Mar 18, 2005 1:30 am
Location: Virginia

reply

Postby rjdecker » Apr 22, 2005 9:49 am

Karin,
I am sorry this is so miserable for you. Is the zofran helping you otherwise? I take vistaril and it doesn't have the gross side effect of constipation, it is cheaper, and it helps tons! You might want to discuss this with you doc and see if that helps. One thing I learned being a nurse with elderly people is we give them meds and then they have side effects and then we give them meds to counteract the side effects and then they have side effects to those and pretty soon, they are in a vicious cycle of lots of meds to cure the ill effects of other meds when what we should be doing is considering whether there are different meds that can take care of the problem with fewer side effects. That might help a little.
Jenny
Jenny

Nathan, Megan, Amy, Kimmie, and Michael + 4 birds, 4 fish, 1 turtle, and 1 dog!
We live in a zoo!
rjdecker
Master of HG
 
Posts: 6395
Joined: Feb 15, 2005 11:41 am
Location: Price, Utah

Postby tryingtobebrave » Apr 27, 2005 10:29 pm

Well, I would say that if you are constipated, you must be eating and if you are eating, then the Zofran is working. So I would do whatever it takes to stay on it. I took Zofran for 20 weeks last time and only had a constipation problem near the end, when I could finally eat. I also took Pericolace daily once I was able to eat and with taking it regularly as a preventative, the constipation was bearable.
tryingtobebrave
New Member
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Apr 26, 2005 10:27 pm
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona


Return to Medications, Treatments & Alternative Therapies

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

cron