Alternating periods of diarrhea and constipation

[DarknessEmbraced]

For the past few weeks I've had alternating episodes of constipation and diarrhea. When I was constipated I used to try lax-a-day but one dose gave me diarrhea so I stopped. The only medication I take for digestion is dicetel to prevent bowel spasms. I'll have no bowel movements for a few days then have diarrhea with lots of cramping pain in my abdomen. I have been eating foods with fiber but not in excessive amounts. Friday night I had diarrhea and I had diarrhea Monday night. I can't figure out if it's food causing it or what's going on. I have been on prednisone since May 21st for a bard asthma flare up and have been tapering down. I don't want to take immodium unless absolutely necessary. Metamucil gives me too much bloating and gas. Any advice would be appreciated. I don't know what's causing this. I had diarrhea and accidents before getting on dicetel but that stopped for the most part after being on Dicetel for a while. I emailed my GI surgeon about this. I'm not sure what's going on.

[DarknessEmbraced]

No response from my GI surgeon. I had diarrhea and another accident this morning. I'm still having abdominal pain and an upset stomach.

[cathy123]

Sorry to hear you are still struggling. I still have my bag but will probably be in your shoes in a few months. Hang in there!

[Nik Colon]

Sounds somewhat like me, but I do take miralax daily which doesn't always seem to work and sometimes mag citrate or enemas when needed. I'm hoping I will get more regular when chemo is done as it did seem to start getting better after surgery shortly b4 starting chemo again, altho it was horrible right after surgery. Diarrhea seems to be a norm after a boutique of constipation. Best wishes

[Teddi]

Do you consume any caffeine? I mean any? Coffee, tea, Excedrin, midol, chocolate, etc. I find that even a minute amount causes explosive accidents. Since figuring it out, I have gone 12 days accident free. I have no rectum, so that is an accomplishment. Dairy is bad, but not like that. Maybe if you figure out the diarrhea part, you can start out with a teaspoon of psyllium at night.

Good luck!
Teddi

[DarknessEmbraced]

I drink diet coke sometimes and eat chocolate but not excessive amounts. They never bothered me before. It doesn't seem like it's food related except maybe the three pieces of broccoli I had on Friday.

[Teddi]

Caffeine never bothered me before either. Maybe for you it's not caffeine, but something else. I think a food diary might help you figure it out. fWIW, greens don't bother me in the least, but a square of chocolate guarantees an accident. We're all different, but I do think that diet is a huge part of regularity.

Teddi

[DarknessEmbraced]

I could try doing that. The right upper abdominal pain keeps coming back every morning and it's worse after I eat. Still having loose stools and feel slightly nauseous sometimes. There's some pain under my ribs on the left but not as bad as that on the right.

[Deb m]

I agree with Teddi, my husband had many problems with diarrhea after his surgery. Thru trials in diet, adding this, taking away that ect. we discovered that caffeine was the number one culprit. He is now on a caffeine free diet and his problem is 95% better. We discovered he is very sensitive to it now and just a little bit in his diet sets him off. Before his cancer DX and surgery, he never had any problems with caffeine at all. He was a very big coffee drinker. Thru investigating this matter further, I discovered that this is common in many colon cancer patients. Perhaps its the stimulate in the caffeine? Who knows!

[Lee]

So sorry you are going through this. Hop it gets better.

(((HUGS)))

Lee

[Steph20021]

Just wanting to give you a big squeeze. Your bowels have been relentless and i know how much that can bring me down, so i sympathize. Wish i had more to help than just words. Hang in there.