Severe Constipation with Ileostomy: Need Urgent Advice

Guys, I have an ileostomy for 4 years now. I am having severe constipation. My gastro doc says it is slow transit, no blockage. He told me to take Miralax. I thought it's not safe to take this with people with ileostomy. Please respond.

I've never tried Miralex, but what makes me runny almost immediately is milk products.  I would never leave home after a bowl of ice cream, for example.  

Lettuce goes straight through me.

What's wrong with Miralex? It's just a softener ...

I too have never tried miralex, but with nearly all these type of things, they affect different people in different ways, so it tends to be a matter of trail and error.

In the past I found that Metamucil can be quite helpful. More recently, my doctor prescribed Dulculax, which had far too drastic a result, he then changed it to DulcoEase, which had much better results. 
After a few months I was able to wean myself off those and things have settled down without using any of that type of medicine.

Best wishes

Bill

On a not too recent blog, someone mentioned drinking 100% natural grape juice for a natural way to purge. I keep a bottle in the fridge just in case.

Hi there,

Miralax is designed to draw the water from your intestines and push it out. Typically, that's used when you have a colon, since us Ileos have a hard time staying hydrated. I took it once (my old doctor said to, I don't know why, he wasn't very ileo smart) and literally only water was in my bag, took all my liquid and pushed it out.

I drink 100% apple juice and it makes my stoma move and thin me out. Also, like Henry said, milk products make me go quickly. Making sure drinking enough water too. Question... are you getting fully stopped up or going super slow?

Milk, pasta, and lunch meats all run through me with my ileostomy. Definitely need to watch out not to get dehydrated as some have already said... I find it's been trial and error for me, but I've only had mine for 2.5 years... 1st year was all TPN so it was an adjustment and still is at times... Best of luck to you!!!

What works for me is a small bottle of real Coke, not the sugar-free. Drink it down fairly quickly and I bet you'll have action in no time. Just for future reference, as I'm probably posting this kind of late. Hope you found a solution!

Terry

Hey Shy Steve, you got a lot of good answers/replies here in a short period of time. We want your feedback. And my two cents? First - clarify slow, bulky output?? Or constipation as no flow, nothing coming out? I rarely produce a liquid output except at nighttime. You must know after 4 years how your plumbing works: what to avoid, and when to do this or that. All of what the above people here mentioned I have not tried but someday might. It's all good advice. These folks experimented and found what works for them. You need to do that and make a note.

Slim Fast, or that any breakfast liquid drink goes so fast through me, I qualify at the Indy 500 races. -Warrior.