Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

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fumaros
Posts: 273
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Location: Syracuse, NY
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Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby fumaros » Tue Jun 04, 2019 11:22 am

I have had chronic constipation since 2016 after my hemicolectomy. I hardly ever got relief. I also take iron supplements because I am anemic which only makes constipation worse.
I take docusate (stool softner) with every meal (3 times a day), that helped but not as much as when i recently started drinking a ton more water. I try to drink slightly upwards of 120 ounces of water per day and I have finally found some relief from the constipation. I hope it stays that way.
Diagnosed 4/8/16, age 29
Colectomy 4/20/16
Stage III, T4bN1 Tumor 7x6.5x2. Muscinous Adenocarcinoma with SRC features
2/16 lymph nodes
Stage IV, Peri mets 5/2019
CEA 4/14/16 - 16.8
CEA 6/2/16 - 1.9
CEA 6/17/16 - 0.87, 7/16 - 1.33, 12/16 - 1.14, 4/17 - 0.6, 7/17 - 0.5, 10/17 - 0.9, 3/19 -5.8, 4/19 -10
FOLFOX began 6/24/16 - 11/25/16, FOLFIRI - 5/10/19
10 round FOLFOX, 2 round 5-FU & Leucovorin, 1 round FOLFIRI
MRI & CT 8/16 - NED, CT 12/16 - 10/17 - NED

AmyG
Posts: 371
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:08 pm

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby AmyG » Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:57 pm

I should drink more water.... :shock:
42 dx @ 9wks pregnant w/baby #8 8/18
Sigmoid colon resection 9/18
Adenocarcinoma, G2, T3N0M0..or so we thought
KRAS/BRAF wild
Liver biopsy is malignant, stage iv now boys!
Delivered healthy baby 3/19
FOLFOX + Avastin 5/19
CEA 167 to 24 after 4 rounds
Liver resection 8/28/19
NED!! CEA 2.3
CEA 5.8 idk wtf is up with that, but everything else is clear!
CEA 3.7 make up your damn mind...
CEA 1.5 that's a new low!

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CRguy
Posts: 10473
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby CRguy » Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:35 pm

fumaros,

Just wondering if your Docs have any concerns / tested you / warned you about overhydration issues ?

Usually with normal kidney function you would likely be fine, BUTT as one of the CRC homies
just interested if they had any specific info for you, that we could share ??

... and yes iron supps are the shits for constipation ! :twisted:

Cheers
CRguy
Caregiver x 4
Stage IV A rectal cancer/lung met
17 Year survivor
my life is an ongoing totally randomized UNcontrolled experiment with N=1 !
Review of my Journey so far

Pyro
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:40 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby Pyro » Tue Jun 11, 2019 11:36 pm

fumaros wrote:I have had chronic constipation since 2016 after my hemicolectomy. I hardly ever got relief. I also take iron supplements because I am anemic which only makes constipation worse.
I take docusate (stool softner) with every meal (3 times a day), that helped but not as much as when i recently started drinking a ton more water. I try to drink slightly upwards of 120 ounces of water per day and I have finally found some relief from the constipation. I hope it stays that way.


Standard disclaimer as I am not a doctor. I tried this, I too have had the problem all my life and it’s worse since the big bag surgery. It showed up in my labs, my doctor told me to knock it off. It didn’t seem to help a lot, maybe some. If your really nervous get 12 ounces of magnesium citrate.
Aug 2015- Stage 4 CC with liver Mets(38/m)
Sep 2015- Avastin/Folfox/Iron
Dec 2015-Not liver surgery candidate
Jan 2016- Erbitux/Folfiri, 2nd opinion at MDA in TX
Feb 2016 -MDA liver surgery
Mar 2016 -30% of left lobe rem, PVE
May 2016 - 70% of liver rem
Jun 2016-Rad
Jan 2017-perm colost @MDA
Jul 2017-Erb/FOLFURI
Nov 2017 -Lung & Liver ablations@MDA
Jan 2018 -Xeloda & Avastin mx
Jul 2018-Avast/FOLFURI
Sep 2018-Rad
Mar 2019 - Keytruda fail
Jun 2019 - FOLFURI
Aug 2019 - No more, quality time!

boxhill
Posts: 789
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:40 am

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby boxhill » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:20 am

Do you drink coffee? I think it helps.

This may seem ludicrous, but based on my personal experience, a combination of metformin and lots of coffee --doesn't have to be caffeinated--in the morning is sure to guarantee loose stools. And plenty of them.
F, 64 at DX CRC Stage IV
3/17/18 blockage, r hemi
11 of 25 LN,5 mesentery nodes
5mm liver met
pT3 pN2b pM1
BRAF wild, KRAS G12D
dMMR, MSI-H
5/18 FOLFOX
7/18 and 11/18 CT NED
12/18 MRI 5mm liver mass, 2 LNs in porta hepatis
12/31/18 Keytruda
6/19 Multiphasic CT LNs normal, Liver stable
6/28/19 Pause Key, predisone for joint pain
7/31/19 Restart Key
9/19 CT stable
Pain: all fails but Celebrex
12/23/19 CT stable
5/20 MRI stable/NED
6/20 Stop Key
All MRIs NED

CF_69
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:44 pm

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby CF_69 » Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:27 pm

I’ve been experimenting with smoothies for my first meal of the day.

My latest concoction is:

1 banana
Handful of blueberries
5-6 strawberries
5-7 prunes
1 cup spinach
1 cup coconut water
1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

Usually I’ll have a coffee alone before I ingest anything else.

I’m constantly trying to get my bowels moving and so far this seems to be working.
47 at diagnosis
Rectosigmoid junction
Adenocarcinoma
2.8 x 1.8 x 3.5 cm
G2
T3N0M0
CEA:
December 2018 - 1.9
September 2019 - 2.5
March 2020 - 2.3
September 2020 - 2.5
Xeloda / radiation x 25
Laparoscopic LAR April 2019
0 of 12 nodes
Stage 2A
4 cycles of adjuvant Xeloda
MRI on liver for 2mm hypodensity not suspicious.
Clear CT - September 2019
Clear CT - October 2020

fumaros
Posts: 273
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2016 10:26 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
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Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby fumaros » Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:28 pm

CRguy wrote:fumaros,

Just wondering if your Docs have any concerns / tested you / warned you about overhydration issues ?

Cheers
CRguy



It was quiet the reverse, after I started, the onc told me to drink more water (i had elevated creatine levels, probably related to protein shakes) although I didn't tell him that I was already drinking more water than I ever did per day.

I have been doing this for about a month now, it still works for me and has been a big relief. It's even helped during chemo when I wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom till i do a colonprep style purge.

I do think concerns about over hydration are legitmate, but i am not sure 120 oz. is close to reaching that point. A quick internet search shows:

"Your kidneys can eliminate about 5.3-7.4 gallons (20-28 liters) [676 oz. - 946oz.] of water a day, but they can't get rid of more than 27-33 ounces (0.8-1.0 liters) per hour (14, 15).

Therefore, in order to avoid hyponatremia symptoms, you should not drink more than 27-33 ounces (0.8-1.0 liters) of water per hour, on average (14)." The article links to scientific journals so that's kind of legitimate.




boxhill wrote:Do you drink coffee? I think it helps.

This may seem ludicrous, but based on my personal experience, a combination of metformin and lots of coffee --doesn't have to be caffeinated--in the morning is sure to guarantee loose stools. And plenty of them.


I do not drink coffee, but I am planning on starting (i have been planning on starting for a few years now, but I am close).


I do consume elements of your smoothie. CF_69, but I am curious to try the whole thing.

I think this is a good discussion to have. I will bring it up specifically with my onc. and see if he has any concerns. In the mean time it feel nice to go to the bathroom and not wince.
Diagnosed 4/8/16, age 29
Colectomy 4/20/16
Stage III, T4bN1 Tumor 7x6.5x2. Muscinous Adenocarcinoma with SRC features
2/16 lymph nodes
Stage IV, Peri mets 5/2019
CEA 4/14/16 - 16.8
CEA 6/2/16 - 1.9
CEA 6/17/16 - 0.87, 7/16 - 1.33, 12/16 - 1.14, 4/17 - 0.6, 7/17 - 0.5, 10/17 - 0.9, 3/19 -5.8, 4/19 -10
FOLFOX began 6/24/16 - 11/25/16, FOLFIRI - 5/10/19
10 round FOLFOX, 2 round 5-FU & Leucovorin, 1 round FOLFIRI
MRI & CT 8/16 - NED, CT 12/16 - 10/17 - NED

CF_69
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:44 pm

Re: Constipation - Drinking Water (>120 ounces)

Postby CF_69 » Wed Jun 12, 2019 7:06 pm

It actually tastes pretty good.

It seems most people are on the other end of the spectrum, but for us that tend to get constipated this shake may help. I know everyone is different, but give it a shot.

I tend to eat as though nothing ever happened to me so I can get plugged up pretty easily if I’m not careful.

Striving to find that elusive happy medium :)
47 at diagnosis
Rectosigmoid junction
Adenocarcinoma
2.8 x 1.8 x 3.5 cm
G2
T3N0M0
CEA:
December 2018 - 1.9
September 2019 - 2.5
March 2020 - 2.3
September 2020 - 2.5
Xeloda / radiation x 25
Laparoscopic LAR April 2019
0 of 12 nodes
Stage 2A
4 cycles of adjuvant Xeloda
MRI on liver for 2mm hypodensity not suspicious.
Clear CT - September 2019
Clear CT - October 2020


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