Lyrica/Constipation, IC Friendly Laxative?

[mlb]

Hi all,

I started Lyrica about 3 weeks ago and it's as if my bowel went on vacation. Seriously, heading for the doctor today. Nothing is working, not enemas, magnesium, cascara, mineral oil, fleet enema.... really scared.

For those of you who have tried Lyrica or take pain meds , what do you use that won't irritate the bladder?????????

MC

[Katrina]

I take you think Lyrica caused your constipation? Did it help the pain? What have you tried besides it...like Neurontin? The kind of pain meds that you should avoid are meds with ibuprophen or asprien...:grouphug: please let us know how you are doing. Is the constipation better? Are you drinking enough?
You may want to look into musscle relaxants.
IC friendly musscle relaxants: flexeril, noraflex
Baclofen, Flexaril and Valium

[mlb]

I'd been on neurontin for over 3 years and just before I switched, the constipation began big time. I really can't blame it all on that, but the timing was sure close. It is not listed as a side effect, but it claims to "blanket the nerve endings", so I'm sure it does that in your colon too.

Yes, it does help, thank God!

[Katrina]

Ok so do you want more pain med that are IC friendly ideas or constipation relief ideas or both?

I sure hope you are doing better!!! I have a pouch that does the job of my colon and it is prolapsed right now...which kind of feels sometimes like there is just something in the way not making it possible for me to go...but since I also have IBS and IBD at other times I have severe diarhia...so basically I deal with both.

[mlb]

Has anyone done colonics? Did they make you feel better or worse?

[kadi]

I take Colace 2x a day with meals, and that helps a lot.
If I forget it for a few days, I have to take Milk of Magnesia & use Fleets enemas & I hate that. The Colace is much gentler all around.

[Pamela Joy]

I take Lyrica and morphine. When I started the morphine, about 7 months before the Lyrica I had major constipation. After trying Senakot (sp?) I settled on Peri-Colace (actually Wal-Mart's Equate brand, the price difference is huge!) and it helped. I actually take 8 a day 2 in the morning, 3 at midday, 3 at night. It helped, but I would still have a major constipation episode once every 2 weeks and it also seemed the morphine was hit or miss with the pain, especially with the evenings. Then it occurred to me that while I was taking my meds 3 times a day, because I slept so long (12-14 hours) my "day" was sometimes only 10 hours and I was taking my med in that time frame. So I divided 24 by 3 and set my alarms in the bedroom and in the living room and now I take my meds on a strict 6 a.m., 2 p.m., 10p.m. schedule. I put my morning meds in a bottle, wake up at 6, take them and go back to sleep so I am not fumbling with bottles and counting pills when I am mostly asleep. This has helped tremendously for all my meds, but especially the morphine and the colace. I now only have severe pain attacks about once a week and I haven't had a constipation episode in about 3 months. Sticking to a schedule really helps. BTW I know 8 tablets of Colace a day seems like a lot, but my pain doc says it is fairly normal for morphine/narcotics patients.
Hope this helps

[kadi]

Peri-Colace is different from plain Colace. Peri-Colace contains a stimulant, which may not be okay for all IC patients. As long as I take the Colace with 2 meals a day, it works well for me. (The Elavil & Ditropan have constipation as a side effect.)
Hope you find something helpful.

[Katrina]

Thanks for sharing that Kadi!

[Babs RN]

Kadi is right there is a difference between the two. The surgeons I worked for in Las Vegas automatically gave Colace as a script with their pain meds. Colace is now over the counter and helps keep your stool soft by keeping water withing the the bowel movement itself. The Pericolace also contains the same active ingredient as Ducolax including the stool softener.

Hugs,
Barb :grouphug: