Hi everyone,

I noticed a lot of us have/had or will have bouts of constipation. I was hit with it fairly hard after my second biopsy and surgery. I was really uncomfortable! I know laxatives work just fine, but good ole' prune juice kept me feeling regular in a better way. And if you really have it bad--one can kick it up a notch by adding a little bit of milk-of-magnesia to the prune juice...then you better watch out! Or if you can...just eat a couple of dried prunes here and there...My Mum-Mum is coming out in me...a wonderful grandmother she was...

Best Wishes,
Raymond

Ray,

One of the problems most of us encountered was the combination of the effects of concurrent radiation and chemo along with the Big C. Imagine the Big C when you are very weak, very nauseated, have no taste and can't swallow and your pain level is about a 9. Not a pretty combination.

Dave,

Point given...I'm not looking forward to the radiation Tx. For some reason pain meds block me up and make me feel awful...The prunes helped ease that...

Ray, the best thing I did for constipation was throw away my pain pills. I have been pretty good since. Pain is easier than the good old C.

My radiation nurses told me to take "Natural Vegetable Laxative" pills (that's what Safeway puts on the label), aka Senna Concentrate -- The main ingredient is Sennosides -- Small brown pills that can be swallowed or ground up and PEG'd (Hmm, can PEG be a verb?) -- Works for me.

I found that I didn't need pain meds during the radiation as much as I did anti-nausea meds -- Like the pain meds, it's important to stay ahead of the 'need curve', rather than try to catch up.

Pete,

I also abandoned my pain meds late in the game because I opted to deal with the pain vs the nausea and the constipation. It worked for me but everyone can react differently so you will have to find out what works for you.

Ray

Everyone is different but for what it's worth here is my C story.
Laxatives were too unpredictable as to when they would take effect and after one close call after the mask being bolted down on the lead slab for radiation, I stopped them entirely. Instead I went to glycerin suppositories which worked every time within 20 minutes. I had the big C big time as the pain pills were essential so I could swallow plus the skin pain from the erbitux & radiation were at the 9 level. I did ditch the anti-nausea pills mid way through radiation (ironically swallowing them triggered vomiting). The residents at the CCC were grateful they avoided being assigned "impaction" duty.