Constipation - any cure?

I guess like most of us, I have suffered the same. I suggest you always drink plenty of water, a pint when going to bed at least. This should act as prevention. If the worst happens though, take Milk of Magnesia in high dosage (see bottle). Stay in!

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Hi @roel and @SteCummings hopefully by now you’re on the mend but if not: I agree pretty much with Roel. Drink plenty of water and about 2 litres (with added 1/4 tsp of Celtic salt) will help a lot - especially in current temperatures. Exercise is a great cure all - if you can get to a gym then cycling on a gym bike is really good exercise for PwP.
wishing you well

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Thank you everyone, so many different ideas. I will try most but not keen on the idea of prunes :see_no_evil:.

I go the gym daily, started when I found out about my PD. Also drink a lot of water, eat fruit and veg (again been a lot healthier since PD)

Good luck to the newbies who are like me and getting used to weird stuff happening to our bodies. :+1:t3:

Hi SteCummings

If you don’t like the idea of eating the prunes, you can make a drink or add it to to your breakfast it really may help you. I first thought like you but it does help
Me a little. All the best

kind regards Raz

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Hi. I was told laxido. It’s a powder that you mix with water. They say it’s not good to get constipated as it stops your meds working efficiently

Hi Ste
I was diagnosed with PD early this year and it’s been a dawning realisation that a lot of my problems are caused by it. I’ve been suffering from constipation for a number of years. Medication helped but I found that if I had a bowl of All Bran with fruit ( I have mine with yoghurt) and drank lots of water that my constipation eased. I hope you find a solution that suits you.

I was prescribed Movicol powders and these don’t appear to interfere with the PD medication of stalevo, pramipexole and half Sinemet which I take. I was advised to take half a powder daily, but I take probably 2 powders a week which seems to work as I eat bran,fruit and lots of veg

Hi you are not the only one so don’t worry I tried stuff from doctor And senna never worked like it should THEN I remembered what my nan made us have and YES it works every time and that’s CALIFIG syrup of figs worth a try and it’s natural.hope it helps from Margaret it’s my husband who has Parkinson’s xxx

Tried the various different sachets mentioned that you dissolve in water, but none worked, so was given Lactulose on script, but you can buy over the counter. Take 20mL after dinner and 20mL after tea, It’s like a cough linctus syrup but very sweet (yum). It works by drawing water into the gut

Hi Stecummings, I take Cosmocol aka Macrogol which are a sachet of powder dissolved in 125ml of water. What I like is that you can adjust how many you take in a day (up to 8 sachets) for the worse case you can think of.
I usually find 3 sachets a day for 2 days does the job. They are common and can be obtained via the doctor, over the chemist counter of via the internet. I’ve been on them for 2 years now. They come in Lemon or Orange flavours and are not unpleasant. Other than that dynamite should do it.
Gerry

My husband has parkinsons and the doctor prescribed something called laxido which he takes 3 times a week for constipation. I have IBS but I had had it under control for years until I stopped taking Aloe Vera juice daily. I started taking it years ago because I was told it would be good for my arthritis by an Indian friend whose mother takes it. I stopped taking it while I was in India earlier in the year and didn’t start again when I got back to the UK. The IBS symptoms came on gradually and after struggling with it for a while it occurred to me that having stopped the Aloe Vera juice may have caused the flare up. I am back taking it and my symptoms are going away. I realise that IBS and Parkinsons symptoms are not the same but I have suggested my husband tries it and it may be worth you trying it as it keeps me regular. It can be bought from Holland and Barrett as well as other places. About 30ml in a pint of water first thing in the morning.

Hi Steve, you are far from being alone with constipation and Parkinson’s. As it is often the first symptom that often appears long before Parkinson’s is diagnosed one has to ask “Is constipation a symptom of Parkinson’s or could be part of its cause?” You will get loads of advice about taking sennacott, or prunes or - whatever - but all of these remedies only deal with countering it as a symptom. They do nothing to deal with the underlying problem of a broken digestive system. Fixing that is a problem but could help to slow down the rate of PD damage. There is a fascinating and very readable book on all of this which gives some useful guidlines: • “The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health” . You can get it from Amazon and it gives a new perspective on the whole rotten mess. It is much in line with current developments in Parkinson’s research. Cheers JCPB

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I agree with what’s been said. I take one Laxido Orange sachet each evening before going to bed. This generally works the next day but if it doesn’t then in the morning I take either a further full sachet or half a sachet, Additionsally I eat 4-5 prunes with my breakfast cereal/yoghurt in addition to eating fruit on a daily basis. Exercise is also very important. Hope this helps

Keith Leggett

CONSTIPATION_ANY CURE ? Sennacot does not work every time, When I was about 6 I found grandma had left a box of sennacot leaves in the bathroom,I thought they were a bath preperation so put a few leaves in my bathwater,Not much happened at first,So I picked up the packet tipped gently{ as a six year old does } and to my horror the whole packet emptyed it self,Quite rapidly the leaves expanded up so now I had about eight inches of green/ brown gelatinious mess and getting larger all the time, I tried washing it away that just made it a ten inches of green/ brown gelatinious mess . Just proves sennacot doesnot clean out all the pipes every time . Apologes if I have posted incorectly and hope it makes you smile Fat finger Pete

I find that shredded wheat is more effective than porridge. I also eat a few prunes everyday; the nicest are from M&S, plus one or two medjool dates. Every so often I use a laxative.

Hi All

I agree with the posts about diet. Lots of fruit with meals helps me, particularly prunes in porridge. The other thing that I have found helps me is, strangely, coffee. Once a day, usually mid morning, I have a coffee with an aroma that is strong enough for me to smell, despite my sense of smell having been wrecked by PD. The coffee I use is Marks and Spencers Columbian Micro-ground (other coffees are available). The combination of coffee smell and possibly the caffiene seems to help with constipation for me.

OH tried almost all the remedies mentioned. Some worked for a while only. Never heard of Linseed so tried it but Brown as couldn’t get golden. Now he is better than ever having his brown linseed on cereal and brown bread during the day. Very glad I read this thread and keeping fingers crossed that the solution doesn’t end up like all the others after a while.

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My best solution is a handful or 2 of ordinary dried fruit, currants,sultanas and raisins, with porridge or museli for a couple of days usually sorts me out. Also I add olives and olive oil to most salads; hope this helps.

eat plenty of fruit

In my case I find that one thing only works for so long, so I vary all the type of suggestions people have come up with, just to confuse my body !