This question does not have so much to do with what type of depends to use..at least not yet..it has more to do with chronic toilet pluggingitis... Last night DH got up at about 2 in the morning..I heard him..he usually does not get up once he goes to bed. Well he was in there awhile. This morning, when I flushed to toilet...to let the kittens see the water run down that hole...the water didn't run down it ran up and nearly over the ledge. This leaves me to believe, that hubby has big, large poopers..I would like him to use the kitty litter box but the girls said NO, NOTHING DOING! Has anyone else had this problem? I don't know if this is really an Alz issue or a Diabetic Neuropathy problem or both??? The hubbster gets up and goes to the loo on his own and has had no accidents. I do have fiber things for him but the ALZ messes with the eating thing...should I give him Fletchers Castoria? ( anyone remember that stuff?)
Yes oh yes we have that. Now if you are there, it can be handled. I wait while he poops, then flush it while he is still on the toilet. Then flush again when he is finished. Most of the time it is the TOILET PAPER that is the problem.
He wipes before he is finished, then sits more, wipes more. By the time he is finished there is way too much paper in there. That is why I flush it twice.Of course no amount of TELLING him to not wipe before he is finished gets through to him.
Don't know if you dh will let you do that though. Personally, I would not mess with his pooping habits if they are good. It is the toilet overflowing that is AWFUL!!
I am sure our eminence the Poop Queen will be along soon.
oh and...my guy IS incontinent. He almost always will just make it to the toilet in time, and I do remind him every time right after coffee to go, despite his protests. As long as I am home, this works. I also feed him a bit less veggies and fruit than I used to..yuck..things were a bit too loose.
mimi many of have seen more than 'normal' BM. :) with this disease. digestion seems to slow without some help.dont know if you can try miralax in the mornings to help move things along better and try to get him going everyday instead of collecting a large amount? i found the miralax softens the stools and helps quite a bit. and trying to get fiber foods, in them also helps. and yes sorry to say it sometimes becomes mandatory to accompany them to the bathroom when they go or you will pay the piper. its better like everything else AD to prevent and deter before things happen! coco poop princess you have the right idea going with him and supervising the situation. without control they are apt to get into lots of trouble. and paper is a biggy. coco, happy to fedex the official queen title if you think you are ready sweetie:) its a much bigger more blingey crown... everyone will know who you are! grin
ps, and yall know i am attracted to a poop question like a magpie to bling! haha.. if you need to call me out, you know how! :)) we need humor or we go nuts.
a ha ha ha ha I love you Divvi!! You remind me of my Canadian pals, we are a little on the rough side! For me, body functions are also like a fly to poop..so to speak.
Please divvi keep the crown. For one thing, I am not ready, and I know for a fact that this whole site would be in an uproar if you abdicated, especially to a newbie!
Said like a true Princess. It's cool having a queen and a princess. We never know when one of them might be busy with other royal duties and then the other one can take over.
Or anything else. DH threw all the toiletries on the vanity (including a small flashlight) into the toilet, in addition to using 3/4 a roll of toilet paper (and he wasn't even clean). And if you have one of those toilet cleaners/deodorizers that hangs from the rim of the toilet-beware. DH hates them and throws them into the toilet which plugs it up. In addition to the flashlight, etc the plumber said the toilet cleaner was the main reason for the blockage.
The hubbster locks the door...I do have a key however..... He needs more fiber..or I think I'll sprinkle some metamucil on his food like I had to do for my cat....
I had to tape the lock on the door. I wonder if your guy would feel invaded by it all. Dado is so used to it, thank God! he allows me to bathe wipe him etc. Sometimes I think he remembers how his Mom was, and knows...
thanks for the silliness Judith! At least someone sees a bit of royal value in me..
An aide at Steve's ALF told me all the men have big movements that block up the toilets (and they are all supervised when they go). There must be a physical reason due to the disease that causes this. I will help him in the bathroom there, but have learned to flush at my own peril!!!! Now I just go to the front desk and tell them to get someone else in there to flush!
If you were to use a bedside commode in the bathroom you would have control of emptying it later. Also the height can be adjusted and it might be easier to get off and on which might make him more likely to accept it. Works for my DW, though we all know any solution is temporary til they come up with a new trick.
We have that portapotty thing...I might just try putting it out..but getting him to go along with it might be tricky...I'll have to tell him it will take the pressure off his little toe or something.
For longer than I would care to admit, H told me I was forbidden from entering his bathroom. You can only imagine what went on in there. I asked for advice here and divvi basically said too bad for that. It has to be cleaned. That first venture in I can't tell you. Did he protest, no, did he care, I don't really think so. I bought those masks, put on vinyl gloves and meditated myself into another universe.
This is gross, but I finally taped the toilet with duct tape, bought a portable commode and he used that without protest. As for urinating, he chose the sink no matter what, so okay. Thankfully, he never entered my bathroom and completely forgot that there is a .5 kind of between the kitchen and pantry.
I could not deal with, or afford, to call roto-rooter every day or so and as above cleaning out the portable commode was much easier. As for the sink I held my breath and wondered if I could buy stock in Lysol. Or Bounty.
Mimi, most of the portapotties are made so you can place them over the toliet (use as rails). What I would do is place it over the toilet but NOT take out the pot thing. Just leave it and then you can clean it and dispose of the contents so they don't clog the toilet.
aww abby* i guess i did say that i remember. i know sometimes i say whats on my mind and not alot of how it will come across to others. i am not known for my tactfulness. i am sorry about that. i know when i said you had to get in there and clean it up or have someone do it, it was from a hygenic point of view. feces you know can stay airborn in spores, so yes its imperative we take the bull by the horns and make things work even under a less than desireable scenario. looking back today though, you did a very good job friend. you tackled it like a pro. the things we do... its all a learning experience not always a good one but yes we do learn from all this. my best to you. divvi
Large poops are typical of Parkinson's, which slows the intestines. My husband takes both Miralax and Metamucil. When we renovated a house and moved, I made sure to get a toilet with an extra large flushing capacity, which helps a lot. If you can afford a new toilet, it might be worth doing--they have improved the pattern of flow of the flush significantly in recent years. I bought at Lowes, where they have labels rating flush capacity. The other thing that helps my husband not clog up the toilet so often is a bidet toilet seat to clean him with water instead of so much paper. We got this one: http://www.totousa.com/Washlet/WashletS300.aspx
pam, thanks for the tip. How does it work? Does it need professional installation? Can I just buy the seat or do I need a new toilet and th new seat? Where doesthe water come from? Can you turn the water on/off depending who is using the toilet? You may just have helped solved my "solids" problem with my septic tank.
good idea of putting the portable comode over the toilet and leaving the bucket in it. I would also turn the water to the toilet off that way he can't flush and have bucket and all floating up!
The Toto water squirting toilet seat fits most existing toilets. It only squirts when you push a button. It needs an electrical outlet close to the toilet and it has a water line that taps into the toilet water line. I had a plumber do it, but I gather it is easy--in effect you take apart the toilet water line and add another piece next to the cutoff handle--they just screw into each other. If the electric outlet is a problem you can get a less expensive one that uses cold water, but that might be a harder sell. I bought this one for a family summer house: http://www.allegromedical.com/personal-care-c532/ez-wash-solution-comfortseat-p210969.html My husband said the cold water was less of a problem than he expected, and that is in a place with fairly cold water.
what ever you do, DO NOT use Castoria or anything that remotely resembles Castoria, Trust me, you will cleaning up wet farts all over the house!! they will run down his legs when he walks, no no no to Castoria!!!
sigh...just took out the laundry basket, guess I was not vigilant enough. I was wondering what happened to the missing Depends...yes, in the laundry with a big poop inside. Lucky, not a runny one..
gotta keep tabs on each and every bit of underwear. Poor dear, of course, he cannot remember to throw it outside..
As I have been crowned Poop Princess, it threw whining about poop out the door. NO NO I will not abdicate!
Lynn would kill me if he knew I was talking about his BM's in a public forum, but I am in need of the Poop Patrol's help.......
With late stage, constipation seems to be par for the course. The only time Lynn really goes is when he is forced to by means of a suppository. Part of the reason is he wasn't being toileted enough, the man simply refused to soil in his pants, so was holding it in!! Everyone thought he was past that and was totally incontinent, turns out no, when the urge is strong enough for him to feel, he will not go unless he is toileted.
We have that problem solved, but for the past two months, every time they give him extra medication and the suppositories,(which they have to do if he does not go by day 4) he is in so much pain trying to pass his stool that he is literally crying out in pain and begging me to help him. Talk about breaking your heart!!!
Big, is too mild a word!! The poor bugger has bled after one of these BM's :( I have talked repeatedly to the nurses and doctor about my concerns. The stool is just too damn big for him to pass!!! So it does keep building up, until forced out, and then causes him a great deal of pain :(
We have increased his Senokot, then added Colace, I give him prune juice. They are talking about giving prune juice daily and changing the Senokot to Senokot S which also has a stool softener in it.
Today was just horrible, he was crying out so badly I broke down sobbing. I just can't stand to see him in pain like that. He was begging me to "get it out" so in sheer desperation I did lean him forward and push on his belly, it gave him the "push" he needed, but Ugggg! I hated doing it, sooooo afraid I could hurt him :(
There just has to be something that can help him!! They don't want to use the Miralax because of some neurological warning... which I can't seems to find. One of our members here posted it on Facebook, anyone have the link so I can look it up? So, I come to you, Poop Queens and Kings...... any suggestions?
Nikki, we have just been through this nightmare.....hb didn't go for a wk., inspite of softners,prune juice,milk of mag, colonoscopy preps....visit to ER ,no blockage,enemas and digital extraction...I was beside myself, he was miserable and in such pain and didn't know how to go. After a wk. finally did, we went to his gastro to find out how to avoid this happening again and our new "cocktail" is full dose of Miralax daily, metamucil every other day,we use the clear, and 2 stool softener tabs on the days of no metamucil. It took about 4 days for everything to get going, but nobody is going to tell me to stop the miralax! I toilet him every morning right after breakfast and no problems. BTW, getting those preps down him and the prune juice, it was like torture. These things are tasteless and odorless, can be easily added to any drink. Also, he gets probiotics capsules emptied and mixed in food, usually applesauce,daily.
aww nikki, i understand more about this than i need to admit! it is a VERY real part of late stages since they get very little exercise and the colon doesnt move as well. i agree, that i would NOT stop the miralax i give to DH as well. warnings or not, geez at this point?? they are bedbound, late end stages, and we give what we have to make them comfortable and pain free. nikki at this point, we cant be too very worried about what could be threatening to their health but what works to make their lives easier. in my opinion, miralax daily at least til he goes and gets moving again is a must. some of the others have caused abdominal pain and gas. thhe miralax IS a stool softner. always use senokot S and not the regular, as yes its got a softener in it too but for me caused more colic in DH. i have a drawer full of suppositories enemas, everything on the market. none work better than first a MINERAL enema, it has oils in it to loosen stools. yes its messy but works imop better than the reg enema. suppositories dont work anymore on my DH either. it doestn get to the root of the issues way up in the colon! it works for occasional constipation. first mineral enema, then manual extraction (yes we have to do it to help get it moving, sorry!- as they have no internal movements now it appears to help move it down) and on top of it all the miralax full dose daily til they go. my DH can take 2-3days to get moving but once it goes it works very well. i give half a dose of miralax daily after hes normal again in milkshakes. look over his diet as well.. see what they are giving. he needs more fiber in diet, and he needs alot of water to hydrate the intestines. water water. i know its hard to get it down them.
dear friend, posting about personal issues like this well of course it is very disconcerting !!i know firsthand. but its part of life! and we must put it out here as its going to be an issue if they live long enough with this damn disease. they can be in a facility or home but it happens. and its very painful to witness. and trial and error is the only way to know what works for each person. best of luck nikki.
I knew I would get some excellent advice and I figured if it's a poop problem, well Divvi our Poop Queen would have dealt with it too :) It is so hard (every pun intended lol) Andy, goodness what a time you had! There is no way I could have persuaded Lynn to drink those GI prep drinks, like you say the prune juice is bad enough. ugggg
See the problem with us is we have to go by the facilities BM plan. They have strict rules and monitor like mad. He has never once had an enema, the prefer to give more suppositories, increase meds and try Metamucil. They "like to try more natural approaches before depending on Miralax" They also say the more you stimulate the lazier the bowels become. That does make sense, but like you said, to me it is ALL about his comfort level.
I have to follow their game plan and at least give it a fair chance. But yesterday I would not allow them to attempt to flush the "evidence" (lol) until ALL of the nurses, the head nurse and the DON saw for themselves what I was talking about it. I know that sounds so gross (and it is) But I think they thought I was exaggerating. Once they saw it, and Lynn's poor bum, they all agreed that yes we have to be more aggressive in treatment.
I agree about warning labels, especially where it comes to quality of life issues. If the Senakot S, Colace and prune juice do not work within two weeks, he WILL get Miralax if I have to bring it in and sneak it in his food myself. His regular doctor is on medical leave or this would be a non issue. I think they are ever fearful of law suits. Always a battle, but I eventually always win. You would think they would just learn and go with what I say in the first place. :)
Thanks so much for the wise advice and for being here for support ((hugs))
nikki i also use lidocaine suppositories if his bumm is painful after or before. it tends to relieve the pain of passing the stool. i hope you don thave to wait 2wks! read athe labels on what they are using too. if they have swallowing issues some of them shouldnt be used either as it can cause choking. sigh always something. wishing you the best. divvi
I just felt I had to drop in and (((hug Nikki))). Poop princess duties and all. Looking forward to hearing about healthy..ummmm....functions. Love to you and Lynn.
I remember an old family doc telling me many years ago that the best remedy for severe constipation is "milk and molasses" enema. This is 1/2 pint milk and 1/2 pint molasses given as an enema. He said to stand back because the results could come out explosively. I have never tried it.
I cannot believe I am actually going to join in this discussion, but here I am. Having them home of course makes a difference because we are in charge of what they get.
It took a long time, and some very major "explosions" of me cleaning up walls, floors, bathrooms, toilets, etc. etc. before I got this right.
He drinks crystal light, so when I mix the crystal light powder in water, I add the Walmart brand powdered fiber. 16 teaspoons to a gallon. So whenever he drinks, he's getting fiber. Every morning, he has "extra fiber" wheat toast.
Two stool softeners in the morning Two stool softeners in the evening One ducolax laxative in the evening.
If he does not have a BM after only ONE day, I add a ducolax laxative at night. I used to add more stool softeners, but that's what caused the "explosions". If he doesn't go after another day, I give him 3 ducolax laxatives at night. It's hard, and it hurts, but it's better than cleaning up a crime scene all over the house. And it doesn't happen all at once. He will generally go about 4 or 5 times in smaller amounts than if it was a one time thing.
As it was, I was up at 4 AM this morning cleaning up him and the last of the results of the 3 ducolax, but it was confined to one bathroom rug and a pair of socks.
I cannot believe I have written this. I really can't.
Well----I have the opposite problem. My husband poops 4-5 times a day, without any help. He goes to one toilet, cleans up whatever he can with toilet paper and then I go in and have to clean before I use it. Then, when he has to go again, he uses the other bathroom! I go to use it, have to clean it before I go. Every time he goes in the bathroom I cringe, knowing I have to clean it again. I have a cleaning lady come in every two weeks to help me. It's wonderful having her. But, as soon as she goes, there he goes, right into the bathroom, and it starts all over again.
Oh Joan, I feel for you ((hugs)) I felt the same way the first time I found the courage to post about poop!
I am with my family eating out, they are playing pool while waiting for our food, I thought I would check in here real quick. When you mentioned the "crime scene" I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing! (At a table all by myself lol)
Thanks for the hug ((Coco)) and the excellent advice Divvi!
Ahhhh Bev, I remember the years of this too. I feel for you! For me this now is more difficult because the poor bugger doesn't understand why I can't stop his pain. :(
why miss joan! i do believe you have won yourself a crown for the day!! grin. remember that 'line in the sand'?? haha. well we just jump over it and move forward! you are now an official poop expert. divvi
Like Bev, I also have the opposite problem, starting suddenly about 3 weeks ago. I have him in Depends but He heads to the half bath but never makes it in time. He gets it all over the toilet inside and out, and the floor. Of course when he lowers his pants its all down his legs. I keep wipes in there but the room is so small I have a hard time reaching around him to clean him. I get him back to the master bath , shower him and then go back to clean the half bath.
I've been wondering ir it is caused by the Abilify that we added to his other antidepresssant about a month ago. I hate to stop it because it has made a huge difference in his mood. He is actually pleasant now. He even lets me help him now without hitting me over the head.
MaryinPA, we tried discontinuing a couple of his meds a while ago, one at a time; it didn't make any difference. And, I hate to tell you, but it isn't going to end soon; this has been going on for approximately three years!
Nikki, it's painful for THEM when they can't go and painful for US when they can (even though I think I know how you must feel watching him in pain).
You never want to not let them do their own potty things. However, if you are concerned about overflow and damage...just reach down and turn off the water flow to the toilet at night and flush til the tank is empty. Then in the morning, if there is a surprise, you can slowly pour a bucket of water in the bowl to loosen and moisten and then turn the water supply back on.
I remember my dh's poop being so hard and big, I had to take it out of the toilet and put it into the trash. It took a long time for me to find a solution to my dh's bowel issues especially after he had been bed bound. Stool softeners work wonders along with the suppository. I used the liquid stool softener as my dh could not swallow pills. It took time to adjust to the right amount and how often, but when we got it right, it made my life and his comfort so much nicer.
We just started having constipation issues-nothing too bad yet but I'm afraid they're coming. I'm surprised because DH is abulatory and walks about 1 mile every day, eats raisin bran in the am, always has fruit at breakfast and east probiotic yougurt. I recently gave him prunes and prune juice which seemed to work after a day. Since I think we will be dealing with this more frequently soon, I bought the Miralax just in case. What's the issue with using Miralax and what are the warnings?
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Surveillance/AdverseDrugEffects/ucm295585.htm apparently the issue is with the polyethylene glycol thats in the miralax. 'neuropsychiatric events' are the concerns but no action warranted by FDA to date. at least thats what i got out of it. i also noticed immodium on the list too with concerns of pancreatitis, also no action was warranted. seems everything has something associated with it. if there is doubt i also have used Senna tea which works really well too. i may use this again and see how it works for daily use. but even so, with the issues at hand, unless there is definate negative proof to using the miralax i will probably continue as it works. divvi
Thank you Divvi, I looked at that site as well as some others. As we have discussed on this forum before, most medications carry some risks and we need to make the best educated choice we can. After reading this I am leaning towards giving the more natural approaches a fighting chance. I do know the NH told me about 80% of their residents were on it with no significant problems. Lynn is just doing so well I would hate to throw a monkey wrench in and screw it up. He starts the Senakot S tomorrow, keeping my fingers crossed......