When I was a little kid I used to get constipated all the time. It was really bad. That all changed when I started drinking coffee. Every morning I got up and every morning I had a nice cup and then a bowel movement.

Sometimes when I tried to give up coffee in the morning I would get constipated but it would go away when I started drinking it.

But this week, I just noticed I don't think I have had a movement in 2 days. I am drinking coffee so... not sure what it is.

I think I might be in trouble because once the movement gets hard it is very hard to deal with things. I might have to resort to the scary measures I worried about as a kid.

I am also concerned about this happening when I have been so insanely regular. Of course it could be stress and lack of water but my health anxiety mind goes right to colon cancer. Just because it is really unusual even if I am stressed. Tonight I took some mirilax and 3 bottles of water and tomorrow I am going to add more coffee than usual and I hope I will have something.

[Mountaindewed]

I sometimes don’t go for 2-3 weeks. I end up in the ER where it’s so bad it shows up on cat scans. What works for me is combining milk of magnesium with mirolax. You will be going all day and night and I also lost a few pounds in water weight. Make sure to drink a lot of water or you could be in dangerous trouble.

[~Christina]

I almost had to have surgery to remove a blockage.

This is what my GI advised me to do :

Keep a bottle of Milk of Magnesium on hand. If I don’t go for 3 days I’ll take a dose with hot prune juice ( it’s honestly not that bad )

It has always worked.

[unaluna]

My constipation always worsened during PMS, but i rarely made the connection in order to be proactive about it.

Thanks all. Interestingly my PMS always made me go more (as did my period) so I do wonder if this bout has to do with menopause and I will have to be more careful in the future. My coffee drinking coincided with my puberty years. But I took a mass cup of coffee this morning and was able to get the "blockage" if you will, out.

I also feel like maybe I wasn't using enough coffee in my morning cup. It does something to really spark the urgency.

I admit also my diet has been bad for the last week or so -- mostly pasta like dishes or bagels.

[Travelinglady]

The diet change could be the factor, as you "suggest." How about adding more fiber to your diet?

Originally Posted by Travelinglady

The diet change could be the factor, as you "suggest." How about adding more fiber to your diet?

I never found that fiber did that much for me but I have always found that bagels and pasta tended to firm up stools. Eggs seem to loosen it. I think I just did not consume the proper amount of coffee in the past few days.

All is well now.

As an aside, there is book out there called fiber menace that is actually pretty interesting abut how fiber is not the answer for constipation and was in face basically pushed by cereal interests.

Thou Shalt Not Eat Any Abominable Thing