Seeking Advice on Concepation

This is common. I got like this with my son. Never my daughters. Anyways, it could be the prenatal if you are on one. You can talk to the doctor about taking a stool softner. That helped me.

Hi- I did have this problem. I took 3 benefibers a day and Colase- a stool softeneer in the morning an night. Drinks lots of water and try to exercise...that will help too.

Oh That is not fun! You poor thing! It is definitely normal. Just load up on the fiber and drink a ton of water! Also ask your doctor if they have any advice. Maybe a stool softener?? I'm sure if you tell them how much of a hard time you are having they will do something to relieve your discomfort. I hope you feel better! Congrats on the pregnancy :)

The bleeding is probably from hemorroids, common during pregnancy. If it's very painful bleeding however, you might have something else like a fissure. For moving your bowels I would recommend a fiber drink, like Citrucel. Start by drinking it once a day. if you don't have a bm everyday then try taking it twice a day. It doesn't taste bad and it worked for me when I had my daughter!

The stool softener helped me tremendously! I took mine almost daily. And lots of H2O! Congrats!!

Hi C., It is very common in pregnancy and I don't think it will last the entire 9 months. I actually was the opposite. I have a daughter and 2 sons and with my sons I had no problems, but with my daughter, let's just say I know how you feel. It sounds too easy, but I just made sure that I had a bowl of oatmeal every morning and it worked wonders! I hope you try it and it helps, good luck!

I had the same problem with both my pregnancies. And both times the problem went away completely with the following tea, which is sold in Germany and known to women there as "pregnancy tea" (i am German, so a lot of the prengancy literature i read is from Germany, plus my German girlfriends send me this tea, without me ever asking, including instructions). In the US you will probably have to find somebody to mix the individual hebs for you, in equal parts.
1 heaped teaspoon per cup, add boiling water, steep for 7-10 minutes, strain. Have one cup three times a day. Not more. (It helps better if you spread the intake over the day, than drinking it all at once.)
The tea contains:
1 part dried stinging nettle
1 part dried lady's mantle
1 part dried horsetail (the plant, not the animal part!)
1 part dried yarrow (also known as milfoil or blood wort)
1 part dried St. John's wort
1 part dried raspberry leaves
1 part dried melissa (also known as balm)

I hope i do not sound like a witch... Really, this tea is commonly taken by German women, and i found it to be most effective.

Another thing that will help with constipation is moving more (e.g. in case you are sitting a lot). This (and the tea) did the trick for me. When my children haven't had a BM in a while (e.g. on long car travel), i make sure they run, jump, play vigorously during a break and the effect usually is immeadiate...

Hope things improve!
Good luck!
D.

You could take colace...over the counter and compltley safe in pregnancy! It will def help!

I had the exact same problem with my second pregnancy. It was awful. I had the conctepation then the bleeding. My doctor recommended drinking prune juice. And boy did that work! It was so yuky to drink but with some ice cubs and drink it when you are thirsty and drink it fast helped me. Then I felt a ton better. I think I drank it once in the morning a big glass then a small glass in the afternoon. I would stop when I started feeling real good and things started moving along. But I would eventually start acting up again so I would just start with the juice drinking again and it would work for me.. Try that I would think first. Also try not to eat foods that bind you up naturally. Like red meat and dairy.. At least until you start feeling a bit better. Oh and tons of water. I would start with this first. If this doesn't work then I would move on to a pill or special tea. But I am pretty sure this will work.

Its extremely normal, especially if you're taking your prenatal vitamins. Also, when you're pregnant, your body has so much more blood and fluids in general. That means that you veins and such in your rectum will also me more swollen than normal. So that mixed with an already hard BM will cause some bleeding and/or internal hemorrhoids. Try some fiber pills, or lots of fresh greens. Cracklin Oat Bran helped me a lot. It should help :-)

Hi C. -
Boy, do I remember this!! Mine got so bad my o.b. told me to take a suppository...(don't leave the house for a while!). I also stopped taking prenatal vitamins and took a Womens multi vitamin plus 2 folic acid tablets every day (this was ok'd by my doc.)
Hope this helps. : )
S.

My response is probably going to be the strangest. I had constipation issues when I was pregnant with my son. I didn't want to take prune juice, laxatives etc. I made sure to keep plenty of fiber in my diet and when I would feel like I might have to go, I would play computer solitaire. For some reason it relaxed me and I would sit and play for 5-10 minutes until I felt like, ok I have to go NOW. I would have no straining and would have an easy bowel movement. Sounds crazy but my hemorrhoids went away and I never had to take anything. Try to find something that helps you relax so you don't go into the bathroom looking for a battle. Worked for me! To this day if I play solitaire on the computer my husband asks me "Have to poop?" LOL!

Good luck!

Constipation is normal (caused by hormones). Sounds like you also may have hemmroids (bleeding). Here is what worked for me...

I drank prune juice 3-4 times per week. Used to mix it with orange juice. Make sure you are also drinking lots of fluids. Check with your OB about hemmroid treatment.

HOpe you feel better:)

I had some constipation early on in my pregnancy too. Eat lots of prunes!! Then eat some regularly to stay regular. It's tough, but it will pass (ha ha).

Hi,
I forgot with my second child that I would need to stay way ahead in terms of liquid intake. (NOT coffee or tea). Also, fiber cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, and maybe a dried plum or two. Fruit and salads with lunch and dinner. (not too much banana, cause that is binding) Best to just use food sources rather than laxatives. Good luck.

Sounds like you have a few hemmorhoids going on there honey.
Not at all unusual with pregnant ladies. Very common occurrance.
Also the constipation is exacerbated by the iron in prenatal vitamins.
It is important to try to keep your bowels moving and soft.
Yogurt, fiber, fruits, any foods that are "bowel friendly"
There is one laxitive that is effective and is safe for pregnant ladies to use.
It is named Kondremul and is Irish moss and mineral oil. It tastes good and is very effective.
If your pharmacy does not have it, it can special order it for you.
If you cannot relax enough to pass bm try a glycerin suppossitory. It will lubricate the lower bowel and help you not to strain.
The bleeding comes from minute ruptures in the hemmerhoids.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

Constipation is common during pregnancy and also very common in the American diet. It's very difficult to get enough soluble and insoluble fiber AT THE SAME TIME no matter what we eat. Iron in prenatal vitamins can make it worse. Then hemorrhoids form (they are really varicose veins in the rectal/anal area) from straining on the toilet, and they can bleed. It's been a while since I was pregnant, but friends of mine avoided all this and got great nutrition by using Reliv products - the fiber product is outstanding - and they had their doctors' approval and blessing to use them during pregnancy because everything is food and there are no drugs, stimulants, or anything harmful. I'd be happy to share more info if you like.

I am 20 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child now- and I have felt your pain! With all 3 babies I experienced constipation. I found it was the prenatal vitamins. With each pregnancy I gave them a try and each time I became so bound up I developed hemmorroids from sitting on the toilet so long. It was NOT fun.
All 3 times I stopped taking the vitamins and just watch my diet carefully. I do take a calcium and a folic acid supplement, but found I can get all the other nutrients from food sources. No more constipation.
I also make sure I eat enough fiber from fruit sources- it keeps things regular.
Good luck,
S.

I went through the same thing. What worked for me was putting a tablespoon or so of olive oil on my veggies every day. This helped everything to pass right through.

I've had the same problem most of my life. It's common to become constipated with pregnancy too. I have found a lot "natural" help with the following suggestions made by a Naturopathic doctor. You should make a list of these suggestions and keep the ideas on an index card on your counter. Psyllium husks available at any whole foods store is one of the best things to add to your diet. Add about 1 Tablespoon to your cereal or yogurt or any meal you want. Increase your water intake with it. Beans are also one of the best sources of fiber. so...fiber and plenty of water with it should be very helpful. You can also soak a handful of raisins in a cup of water before you go to bed at night and eat them first thing in the morning. They are a good source of iron too. Powdered/Buffered Vitamin C, added to liquid helps take water into the colon that helps with elimination. Your body needs good oils too. (Ghee, olive oil, Omega 3 oils) If all of this does not help. I would consult a doctor. Try to stay away from synthetic things available at the drug store. They can weaken the muscle tone in your intestines instead of strengthening it.
Best of health to you.
S.

Its normal. If you are taking the prenatal vitamins its probably them causing it. When you take in a lot of iron which is in the prenatals it can lead to constipation add extra fiber and fluids to your diet. Check w/ your ob on how to treat hemroids which is probably the cause of teh bleeding.

I too had the horrible constipation in early pregnancy. Sometimes it gets better in the second trimester. But I took a prenatal without iron, which was fine - we just did an extra iron test to make sure my levels were high enough without it. If you need it, you can get liquid iron, Floradix, which isn't constipating.

Mine got very bad and nothing helped, so I ended up using Kristalose, which is a prescription stool softener. I hated it because I wouldn't even take a tylenol while I was pregnant, but it worked and it was better than getting impacted! Then I discovered something natural that works every time. It's called Natural Calm. It's a powder you mix with hot water and drink like tea, and I use it for a few days in a row whenever I'm constipated and it works every time. You can get it at the health food store or online. It doesn't taste great but I would have drank mud if it helped. =)

I had to take iron pills during my pregnancy and had problems moving my bowels. I took 2 stool softeners every day during my pregnancy. I would ask about the bleeding though.

G.

Hello,
I have had this problem with every pregnancy (I'm in my 4th now). My problem is the pre natal vitamins they bind me up (I think it is the iron in them) so I get a prescription one from my OB with a stool softener in it. You should be able to call and have it sent right to your pharmacy it's a common problem so they don't usually require a visit for it. If you don't want to change vitamins you can just get a stool softener generic to Colace once a day. You can also take a Fiber Laxative I find them hard to swallow. My mother and mother in law both said prune juice but the smell and taste makes me gag. When you go don't force it you will get hemmeroids and they can make any pregnancy very uncomfortable. If it is still going on by your next visit the Dr may try something else. Good luck and drink more fluids then you were before if thats possible.
C.