Not loose bowels, just all the time....11:00 PM, 3:00 AM, 6:00 AM, 9:00AM, 10:30 AM. The stools are formed but soft. If I give Imodium, would he get constipated? I really need help and I really need some sleep.
dazed. wow i have been dealing with the same issues. not sure where you are in stages, mine is late 7c-d. i am told the sphincter muscles are disconnect with brain and digestion maybe be compromised and thats why there is no control over this at this point. i wouldnt give immodium if this is the case it will cause a possible block. been there done it. but maybe increase bulk foods like bananas and fiber soaked cereal to try to help. avoid foods that may help cause bm. also i know its a dreary topic but if hes going non stop the skin around the area will become susceptible to rash and redness so clean well and after using everything possible found good ole vaseline works best. skin has now healed here. keep an eye on it as a pressure sore in that area would not be a good thing. this is just seems to be another horrible aspect of late stage AD. but if this has come on out of the blue, you may want to check with his dr to see if it could just be a medicine or stomach upset? whishing you luck friend, its never easy is it? divvi
No new meds or any different food. I read here some time ago about someone having a similar problem but I can't find it. I think it was Kadee and there were several suggestions but I don't remember what they were. I realize the problem could be much worse - at least he's doing it in the potty.
dazed if hes still able to go in the toilet it may well be stomach issues and nothing more serious. maybe check with his dr. alot of flu like symptoms are going around.
Hey, divvi, we were posting at the same time. DH is in stage 6a or 6b. This is not entirely new. He has been going 3 or 4 times a day for some time but it has gotten much worse in the last few days. Could we be heading for depends this early? I did give one immodium this morning but I probably shouldn't have. I'll try more fiber and see if that helps. Seems that as soon as he gets back from the bathroom, he feels he needs to go again. It's driving me crazy and I'm afraid to take him anywhere.
Along this sort if icky line, I am not sure yet if my DH is going more often, he is not getting up at night...he used to do that to piddle..but now I am wondering about HUGE amounts of poop and clogging toilets? Sometimes he will be in the loo for a long time ( reading is what he use to do and I would kid him about getting those hemmorrhoids) but now I don't know if he is reading or busy with big poopers and having a difficult time and of course he won't tell me or can't I don't know which. He just says he is fine..then I hear splashing and the plunger..this was my New Year's Day treat...
Oh for the rash thing..balmex is also good and seems to have healing aspects..I used it when I had a colonoscopy and had NO discomfort from all the trips to the loo ahead of the test.. I swear by that stuff.
another good product for healing and preventing some dry skin issues is Sween Cream found in pharmacy. WE used that for my parents at the first sign of irritated skin but it can be used anytime I think.
Is your husband on any anti-inflammatory medication such as Diclofenac or a proton pump inhibitor such as Pantoloc? Speaking from personal experience and some research, I know that they can interfere with whole digestive system, and this can manifest itself by the many passages of small b.m.'s and a frequent urge to defecate
could it be hes sorta clogged up and maybe not getting it all out each time and thats the reason for sensations so often? i k now my DH strains excessively when hes got a small 'blockage' of sorts and then all hell breaks loose:) its always something with these folks to worry over! i know there are many products for rash and healing issues but in our case alot i tried made it worse. tg for plain vasoline. thanx for the suggestions.
mary75 is right some meds make it worse.we are on prilosec for as long as i can remember and didnt have this problem before but i dont doubt many factors can contribute! today i had to go back to giving lax's senokot s due to NOT going in 3days.. go figure.. sigh. divvi
Mimi, my dh had really big poop when he was able to sit and I had to take it out of the toilet and put into a doggy bag for the trash. Sure beats overflowing the toilet. I have also learned that if you line the trash cans with newspaper or paper bags from the market, and then put in the plastic bags, the smell will not go into the plastic trash cans.
Mary75, yes, he has been on 1000mg of generic Lodine (Etolodac) for several years. Could side effects be catching up with him. He does belch and burp a lot. He has arthritis in all his joints. It would be hard for him to do without his arthritis medication.
Divvi, that is exactly how he feels....like he can never get it all out. To try to counteract the Immodium given him this morning, I put a big spoonful of Benefiber in his coffee. He's back in the bathroom again now....sigh.
For clogging toilets, the new toilets are labeled with a rating of how much they can flush and the highest capacity ones really are a big improvement over most old toilets.
My husband is spending hours in the bathroom because he is afraid of having another bowel incontinence episode. He thinks he passes a lot more than he used to, while eating the same amount. We've started him on probiotics and digestive enzymes (Ultra-Zyme) in hopes of improving his digestion, but I don't know that they have helped.
I wish they would come out with something to pour in the toilet to remove a blockage like they have for sinks. Every now and then DH manages to block his toilet and I have to use the plunger to clear it which takes more than a few tries! I know if he becomes incontinent I will probably have to place him if he has BM's in his bed. There is no way I could turn him this way and that to clean him and or the bed.
It's a problem, all right and may take some experimentation. You might ask his doctor re. other pain relievers for his arthritis. I have a form of rheumatoid arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis, and this is what works best for me: Alternate Emtec (contains both tylenol and codeine) with Tylenol. I don't take an anti-inflammatory more than 4 consecutive days in a given month, otherwise I have the same trouble your husband has. And I've found having a good helping of pineapple every day to be my best friend as far as fibre goes.
Could be his colon is spasming. I have had spastic colon most of my life until the last few years. But, if I take naproxen I get constipated which will bring it on. I know most do not believe me, but fiber makes it worse.
my hospice dr prescribed a compounded lidocaine suppository to dull the sensation and straining when DH gets like this. it tends to work as an anesthetic to help him calm down the 'feelings' of wanting to go all the time. i try to use only as needed but so far it works well. he seems calmer and less aggitated about the sensations IF you can manage to get them to not expel it before it has a chance to work.. :(-.. geez the topics we have to discuss are surely not ones of choice - but maybe thru our collective efforts we may post something that helps another along the way. unfortunately these are real problems that come with dealing with this dread disease. the brain/bowel gets screwed up just like the brain/swallow, brain/speech.. etc etc! divvi
Thank you all so much. I knew I could get help here. He has an appointment with his heart doctor tomorrow. I'll ask about this but I'll bet he doesn't doctor that end. <grin> I'm just hoping the immodium I gave him this morning doesn't cause a different problem tomorrow. Divvi, is the lidocaine suppository just for end stage? Mary, I gave him a big bowl of fresh frozen pineapple for dessert tonight.
not at all. it just dulls the sphrincter muscle to relax and not feel like he needs to go all the time. they also use this for cancer patients who have colon/rectal pain or for hemorroidectomy. i would ask his cardiologist what you can do. he may offer some info on how to proceed. if you get nowhere with him call his pcp. the straining all the time can cause other issues to crop up like hemmoroids which are very painful.:(
brindle, I told him I was going to bring in the porta potty that we had to use when he had hip replacement surgery..He said that would be icky..too icky and I said I shovel out 3 cat boxes every day..I would just hold my nose and plop the poop in small servings to the toilet. Even a toilet needs a meal but not quite so much at one time!
WE have a hard time getting paper sacks here now thanks to all the greenies....maybe cat litter in the bottom of the potty chair would work.
Well, the heart doctor couldn't help with our problem. Said he had never heard of that before but I talked with the nurse before he came in and she said it was probably the meds and suggested we use a stool softner. She said that helps get it all out. I have a lot of respect for nurses. We have several on here and their advice is so down to earth and helpful. Bluedaze, I remember learning from you a long time ago, that shaving cream gets the poop off. <grin>
Me, too, Bluedaze, about learning from you that it's good to use shaving cream on fannys. I use it on dh when I help him with his shower. Really easier. Thanks much.