vectorgirl Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have Bipo II and am taking Lamictal and I love it except I have pretty chronic constipation on it. I had this happen with Geodon and ABilify too. I'm leery of changing meds because otherwise I have no weird side effects with Lamictal and with Geodon and Abilify I got severe akathesia, weight gain, etc. I thought about trying Lithium but I know that has a chance of the constipation happening too, and I guess my body's sensitive to it happening. I do believe it's 100% related to the drug, I never have this problem otherwise. I eat a very healthy fiber-rich diet and drink a ton of water, and I've bumped it up since startign Lamictal because I had the dry mouth issue for a while. I'm doing Miralax right now and it's kind of helping, how long will it take with consistent use to feel "regular?" I think I've read that Miralax is safe to use every day with no risk of depenency on it. I've been taking it for about 3 days. Things are a little better, it's just sooo hard to deal with this all the time. I'm also taking magnesium and a stool softener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorrel Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I'm not an expert on constipation, just wanted to say I have never heard of constipation with lithium. Diarrhea, sometimes. Yes, you can take Miralax long-term. If it's really bad you can get a prescription for lactulose, which can also be taken long term. But I'll shut up now since it's not really my area of expertise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyNY Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I'm not an expert on constipation, just wanted to say I have never heard of constipation with lithium. Diarrhea, sometimes. I've had constipation on Lithium ever since I've started taking it, about 8 months ago. I take ground psyllium seed husks in water (basically, lots of insoluble fiber) each day which helps somewhat. You can find it at health food stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharghoul Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Spinach, apples, brussels sprouts, broccoli, oranges or tangerines, bananas, lentils or beans will all help. Lots of water too. Oatmeal is good in the morning with black coffee to get things moving. Most people don't eat enough veggies or fruits or drink enough water. I've found sitting still for to long and not being active will also slow things down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persephone Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 What ADs (if any) are you taking? I had some pretty horrendous constipation on Effexor, and I've heard of people having the same problem on Wellbutrin. I hate to mention this, but the only thing that worked was taking a few Duclolax every couple weeks. Fiber, water, stool softeners..nothing else worked. As a former laxative abuser I hated doing this, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectorgirl Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 What ADs (if any) are you taking? I had some pretty horrendous constipation on Effexor, and I've heard of people having the same problem on Wellbutrin. I hate to mention this, but the only thing that worked was taking a few Duclolax every couple weeks. Fiber, water, stool softeners..nothing else worked. As a former laxative abuser I hated doing this, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Yeah I think I'm in the same boat. None of the dietary measures help and from what I've read in cases where it's caused by medication the diatery changes really don't. My diet's good anyway though. I'm taking Lamictal and the occasional Xanax, but SUPER rarely because the Xanax exaccerabtes things. I can't take melatonin either because it also seems to interfere and make things worse, so if I can't sleep I usually just try and weather through it. Although, that's rare now that I'm stabalized. I don't wanna stop Lamictal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
void Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have the constipation problem, what works really well for me is Movicol, though you can't take it for me than 2 weeks at a time, so that doesnt answer your question. What does work for me is half a cup of digestive bran and half a cup of oats for breakfast in the morning, but I can't eat the stuff any more, even the smell now disgusts me. Along with 2 litres of water, I was on the loo twice a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayteana Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 This may not be any help, but my system worked the best on a vegetarian diet. Exchanging meat for legumes/fruit/veggies made a world of difference. ~ May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdbee Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I add flaxseed meal to almost everything i eat. the taste goes with just about everything. you should give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
water Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 My SO is on lifetime constipation. He just is built that way. He just told me "I have the worst case of constipation on earth."Every morning he takes two tablespoons of metamucil.Every evening when he arrives home from work, the first thing he does is grind flax seeds and puts them in applesauce with a couple of prunes.I just asked him if it works. He said yes, but only with the couple of prunes added in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectorgirl Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 I loooove flax. I eat either flax muffins I make or hot flax cereal (pure flax almost, no sugar, it's about 100% fiber) every day. So, I don't usually have this problem. LOL. Between all the flax and the constant water drinking I'm usually good. lol. I eat a lot of lettuce too, and almost no processed foods. I eat well over the recommended fiber intake, and actually I eat very little white processed foods - only very, very fiberous whole grains. Eating more healthy fats usually helps too, but seriously this last go around (and last year on Geodon) it felt like nothing I could ingest would help. I actually even took Dulcolax tonight and it did nothing. I just got a few cramps. My back and abdomen hurt. I so don't wanna switch meds, I hope there's another solution. I gained so much weight on Geodon and Invega and they both gave me horrible akathesia and bizarre intense sugar cravings and panic attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodos Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Drinking water to help constipation is a myth - won't help. Constipation is caused by slow motility through the colon, so the colon has more time to absorb water from the stool. Miralax - excellent product - are you taking a full cap (17 g)? You can also take Inulin (e.g., Fiber-sure) long-term and Metamucil (psyllium) long term. Inulin is clear mixing and tasteless and you can therefore mix it in a lot of stuff. You might try taking Inulin (or fiber) after every meal in addition to the Miralax once a day. Eventually you'll find the right fiber level for you. Put enough fiber in the stool, and the colon can't get all the water out. If you find you can't get relief no matter how much fiber you consume, see your doctor. There are medications - such as Amitiza - that can help. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectorgirl Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Kodos do you think they'll be reluctant to put me on Amitza because the constipation med-induced? I read on the web site it's generally only used in situations where the cause is unknown. Oh and is your name a reference to Kodos & Kang? Bleah I'm soooo sick of this. I took Dulcolax last week and didn't have great luck, but I felt much less bloated. I've been taking Miralax and not doing terribly great either, I feel like I did at the end of last week again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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