Hi all, My hubby had an ischemic stroke just before Christmas last year. He then spent six and half months in hospital and has come home in a wheelchair, as he still has major weakness on his left side.
I prepare homecooked meals and we eat a good varied diet with keffir, a fruit smoothie with chia seeds and prunes every day. Hubby also takes laxido and senna every day. BUT he often feels the need to poo and sits on the loo for ages but can’t go. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what he can eat or take to make him more ‘regular’?
Thanks.
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Hi @ScubaJane and welcome to the forum.
Gravity usually helps, but then so does walking around. But if you can pop a little foot stool under his feet when going to the toilet that will ease the passage through. That’s assuming he can use the toilet.
You’re using all the usual stuff I would normally suggest, but chocolate does also help too. You could use it as an after dinner treat 
But you really should have him seen by his gp if all you have tried is really not working. I think it should be investigated for blockage colon or rectum, it could just be he is overly impacted or it could be polyps causing a blockage. Or it could just signalling malfunction from the brain as the result of his stroke, which may take some time to recover from yet.
Lorraine
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Hello @ScubaJane - Welcome to the community.
I echo all that Lorraine @EmeraldEyes has said. If you don’t have a footstool, you can use anything that will raise the feet e.g. a block of wood or some thick books etc. This (raising your feet) is actually good practice for anyone.
Not knowing how this has been going on, I would also agree that an appointment with the GP might be the best way to get this sorted as the GP can check to see exactly what the situation is but by all means ask any questions you have and follow or not any advice you get as appropriate.
Wishing you and your hubby all the best.
Namaste|
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a little bit of magnesium citrate has a mild laxative effect.
Magnesium is also happens to be the stuff of life
Prunes help too
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@ScubaJane Hi & welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your hubby’s stroke.
I have been to the GP in the last week for exactly the same thing although sometimes Ialso feel like a switch to my bowel has been turned off & it doesn’t work at all.
I echo all thethingss that others have said , but if none of that works you should speak to the GP. I was told a stroke can affect bowel movements but it equally may be something else. I find I can’t exercise as much which probably isn’t helping in my case.
For me, and this is advice for me only & and may not be appropriate in your hubbys case, the GP advised me to increase my laxatives if I can’t go after 1 day. I was previously waiting a few days. They are also doing a FIT test & bloods to check I’m not anaemic or lacking something else & then they will review what’s next (i.e. whether I need referring to a specialist).
Increasing his water intake may help too. The other thing I do is if I can’t go after 10 / 15 mins is I stop trying & ho and do something else then try again later .
Best wishes
Ann
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Early days whilst in hospital for a couple of months I was offered pain killers, sleeping medication, poo medication in addition to the stroke medication.
I resisted the extras. I know this is not for everyone and we must each make up our own minds.
Eventually after getting home things settled down and the problems subsided.
I think these matters are a reaction to the event of stroke itself, also to the effects of newly administered medication, plus the changes in life style after stroke.
All of this settles down as you get used to the effects that stroke has produced. It is a stressful time with no clear direction, no definite answers. One certainty is that given time you will experience improvement on many levels.
There are no real instant answers from what I have seen. Give yourself time, be kind to yourself and those around you.
keep on keepin’ on
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Hi @ScubaJane
Welcome to the community, I’m sorry to hear about your husbands stroke and the difficulties he’s going through.
I can see there have been quite a few responses so far which I hope have been helpful. You may also find something in the below thread helpful as we’ve recently been discussing this topic.
I hope you’ll find the community helpful for your husbands recovery, if you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community, please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.
Anna
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Thanks Lorraine. We have an appointment with our GP but unfortunately have to wait ten days to see him!
I get hubby to stand many times through the day as that is all he manage just now. Gravity needs some help!! Hubby will love your chocolate suggestion as he’s a chocolate monster.
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Hi @ManjiB I tried the footstool. Unfortunately hubby has lost so much muscle that sitting in that position is really hard on his left bum cheek as it’s almost non-existent. Namaste.
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Hi @Pando yeo doing the prunes every day. I 'll try the magnesium thought - thanks.
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Thanks @Mrs5K He definitely needs to up his water intake.
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Thanks @Bobbi I do suspect it’s an effect of the stroke and something he needs to relax about but I try not to say the same old thing.
Keepin’ on is our only option!
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My husband is the same. We eat healthy diets with plenty of fruit and veg. He gets sachets of powder to add to water on prescription but they’re not much good.
I think it’s a lot to do with all the medication he has to take. My niece was on loads following a near fatal car accident and was very constipated too. She put us on to some natural tablets called Colon Cleanse and they really get things moving! We bought them online.
My husband was always regular but since the stroke he often goes three days without going to the loo and he feels very uncomfortable and anxious.
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Thanks @Trisha2
You’re dead right in that mybhubby has a cocktail of drugs to take and we do have an appointment to review them with his GP in a couple of weeks. (Next available appointment.)
I’ve had a look for colon cleanse and there are quite a few. Can you recommend any specific one? Thank you
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Thanks Anna.
This is a great resource and I’m finding people are amazingly helpful.
Gaynor
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I had a terrible time in hospital with constipation, but realised the high fibre breakfast of two Weetabix wasn’t helping, bit of googling, and found one apple has more fibre than the Weetabix, I know have a bowl of All Bran with yoghurt with nuts added and some blueberries or raisins, followed by an apple, I have another apple I after dinner in the evening and eat plenty of fruit and veg, The three things that really make a difference - walking/standing, the core exercises I do on the floor especially bridging, and lots of fluids. Especially the fluids, without them the fibre has nothing to work with,
Personally - and this seems to just be me, I find kefir and probiotics bung me up,
Good luck - and enjoy the high fibre veg and fruit,
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This is impressive stuff Jim - you are leading a truly healthy lifestyle.
All those apples plus other fruit and veg, yoghurt and nuts, walking/standing, core exercises on the floor and plenty of fluids 
No porridge? Not that you need it, just I love a little bit of porridge with berries and nuts.
I am very impressed!
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I much prefer my porridge just plain! No sugar, no salt, no honey, no berries or anything else for that matter. I’ve tried putting things in my porridge in the and found it just spoils the taste of both 
I can even get a 2hr workout at the gym with just a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea 
Lorraine
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I eat plenty of fruit & veg but still have issues. I have at least 1 apple every day maybe I need to try 2. I have increased my fluid intake a lot including drinking more water. I think my bowel has got very lazy 
@ManjiB @EmeraldEyes I wish I could eat porridge but it just doesn’t do anything for me. I can’t even bear the sight of it 
But I do enjoy your fruits & yoghurt for breakie.
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I was paralysed completely on my left side, after my stroke,I think my bowels are less efficient than they were, I also have much less feeling, I know when I need to go, but cannot tell how much my bowels have moved after, so peaking in the bowl after is a surprise !
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