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What Casues Abdominal Pain When Suffering From Chronic Constipation?
Question: My mother has suffered from chronic constipation for years. Now she is 81 she has been experiencing increased abdominal pain and urinary frequency which is affecting her quality of life. She recently had a scan that did show inadequate emptying of the bladder, which her doctor said maybe caused from her inadequate bowel movements. She has been taking lactulosenocte and has now been told to take coloxyl and senna 2 at night. Do you think this will be enough for her to get some relief. Can a slow bowel cause all this pain ad frequency of urine? What are your suggestions? She says that she never empties her bowel normally, and the stools are often hard.
Brief Answer:
Enema, suppositories, diet and water .
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query.
Considering the age of 81, the possible reason can be reduced motility of the primary and secondary muscles for evacuation of the rectum and urinary bladder.
Primary muscles are the smooth muscles of the organs and the secondary muscles are the ones of abdomen, pelvic floor and others which help by increasing the intra-abdominal pressure assisting in evacuation.
A slow bowel can cause constipation and problem of urination as these are structures which are near to each other.
In all such elderly patients I advise the following:
Evacuation of the bowel once at least by soap-water (preferably normal saline) enema to cleans the large bowel of the fecoliths. This helps further passage of stool smooth. This may also help to have better urination.
Dietary changes- with age the people start taking less and less foods and water, one of the reasons of problem. Please see and check her diet habits, quantity. Adjust in a way to facilitate evacuation.
Additional medicines as you have mentioned can definitely be given. I would be a bit worried about coloxyl as it absorbs water from the body hence avoided in old age. All the medicines you have mentioned are dose related , meaning the dosages differ from patient to patient, requirements change from time to time in a given patient.
In old age I would advise to pass the Glycerine / paraffin suppositories to facilitate evacuation.
Give all the medicines as advised and supervise the progress to minimize the dosages.
Sitz bath - in a tube with warm water also helps.
Scan has already been done , so nothing serious looks to be there .
I hope this answer helps, please feel free to ask further if you need to.
Enema, suppositories, diet and water .
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query.
Considering the age of 81, the possible reason can be reduced motility of the primary and secondary muscles for evacuation of the rectum and urinary bladder.
Primary muscles are the smooth muscles of the organs and the secondary muscles are the ones of abdomen, pelvic floor and others which help by increasing the intra-abdominal pressure assisting in evacuation.
A slow bowel can cause constipation and problem of urination as these are structures which are near to each other.
In all such elderly patients I advise the following:
Evacuation of the bowel once at least by soap-water (preferably normal saline) enema to cleans the large bowel of the fecoliths. This helps further passage of stool smooth. This may also help to have better urination.
Dietary changes- with age the people start taking less and less foods and water, one of the reasons of problem. Please see and check her diet habits, quantity. Adjust in a way to facilitate evacuation.
Additional medicines as you have mentioned can definitely be given. I would be a bit worried about coloxyl as it absorbs water from the body hence avoided in old age. All the medicines you have mentioned are dose related , meaning the dosages differ from patient to patient, requirements change from time to time in a given patient.
In old age I would advise to pass the Glycerine / paraffin suppositories to facilitate evacuation.
Give all the medicines as advised and supervise the progress to minimize the dosages.
Sitz bath - in a tube with warm water also helps.
Scan has already been done , so nothing serious looks to be there .
I hope this answer helps, please feel free to ask further if you need to.
Note: Get a consultation booked to know more about aging related medical issues. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Ashwin Bhandari
Answered by
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