incontinence and constipation (male)

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Last May I spent ten days in the hospital intestinal bleeding.
I was taking Xeralto.

I dropped my dosage to 10 mg. My stools were still very black and soft. Clean up was a mess.

I stopped taking Xeralto.

Then I noticed I was very constipated. It was like I had a 'plug' in me. It was very hard to pass, but when I did, the 'back up' just poured out of me.

I have noticed that when I am constipated, my urine flow is very reduced, no force and just dribbles out.

I know I have chronic BPH and take medicine for it.

I take an 10 mg iron twice a day, along with the other 11 pills I take daily.

I will feel the urge to urinate, rush to the bathroom and nothing, then, after I feel, for lack of a better word, spasms and the urine startes out,

The stream is so weak, it just sprays all over the place. In our RV, my wife suggested I get a long neck funnel.. it works in there, at home, I just stand over the toilet bowl.

I'm not complaining, and when I have my wellness visit in June, I will share this with my GP.

I take a diuretic in the am with my blood pressure pill.

 

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I have had lifelong constipation. I manage it with stool softeners and fiber. When I took an iron supplement it badly constipated me. My urologist says my constipation is connected to my urinary incontinence, however I doubt that since I've been constipated all my life but urinary incontinent for a few years.

The same muscles control both functions though.

 

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I have also suffered with constipation since I was born. I currently take a powder you mix with water called movicol. This keeps things soft. I then use a suppository every other day as I rarely get the urge to go. Unlike my bladder, which gets the urge lots of times in a day. My records show that I have irritable bowel and over active bladder. The OAB only came on after prostate and bladder surgery a couple of years ago. Cheers Phil

 

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I take metformin for my diabetes and this causes some constipation

 

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Thanks @Stevewet I had not heard that and I take Metformin.

 

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A similar laxative to

movicol

available in the us is MiraLax. They both use polyethylene glycol as the active ingredient.

 

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And i thought polyethylene glycol was the active ingredient in automotive anti-freeze....

 

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I shall have to look at the ingredients on the packet. I have been using the stuff for years without looking at what is in it, Phil

 

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And i thought polyethylene glycol was the active ingredient in automotive anti-freeze....

That too

 

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The main ingredient on the packet is macrogol 3350. There are some salts and some propylene glycol. Cheers Phil

 

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@physlink if you look up Macrogol it is another name for polyethylene glycol, distasteful I know. I have taken MiraLax a few times which also contains polyethylene glycol, it works well, but not quickly.

 

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As the saying goes, you learn something new every day! Thanks for the information, Phil

 

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Polyethylene glycol is many ethylene glycol molecules linked together (hence poly), making a large molecule that is not absorbed through the intestinal wall, but attracts many water molecules, keeping the stool soft. It can be made as long/heavy as desired (within reason), but the type used as a laxative has a molecular weight about 3350. A longer type is waxy and used to seal green wood for woodworking.

 

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Polyethylene glycol is many ethylene glycol molecules linked together (hence poly), making a large molecule that is not absorbed through the intestinal wall, but attracts many water molecules, keeping the stool soft. It can be made as long/heavy as desired (within reason), but the type used as a laxative has a molecular weight about 3350. A longer type is waxy and used to seal green wood for woodworking.

 

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@chicspandex yes that sounds like the stuff I take. It is called movicol here, I think it is miralax in the US. It has just started being sold over the counter here without a prescription, Phil

 

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Yes my hand goes up, I have both, history says, bladder incontinence, chronic constipation, fecal incontinence, soo I never what happens next, but I have a cupboard full of laxatives, and a PCP that told me you email me after 3 days of no results, and come in for sure at 5.
Here is my list, Magnesium, Cascara Sagrada, glycerin suppositories, saline enemas, oral lactulose, lactulose enemas( given in hospital)