I Am 87 Years Old. I Am Having Some Difficulty

I am 87 years old. I am having some difficulty with hard stools. Stool softener works very wellvbut I am concerned about possible side effects. I have for just a few weeks used it once a week and for two days or so all is well. But after that I revert to gas only no stool for as much as 4 days the i then take one and all is well. YYYY@YYYY