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How Can Chronic Constipation Be Treated?
I am 94 yrs old. I suffer from constipation regularly. I am often constipated in spit f the fact that I take in a more than average amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, and water. IGas is a problem, too. When the signs say I m going to have a BM very soon, the BM turns out to be gas. My sister (6 yrs younger than me) has a problem with diverticulitis. Is that somethi g to consider? Thank you for any helpful info. BM, Durham, NC+
Mon, 19 Nov 2018
Hello,
Constipation is an important cause of diverticular disease and a patient may consider diverticulitis if he has abdominal pain with fever and sometimes a large amount of blood with stools.
Even when it is diverticular disease or diverticulitis the mainstay of treatment is the treatment for constipation. It is important that you take a good amount of fruit and vegetables, as you already do, but you can also add some fiber supplements daily to help. Also if no improvement with this you can add some Lactulose syrup to soften your tools. PEG is another helpful drug for constipation.
All of these are found to help a lot with the stools and normally with regular use, the patient should not have problems with constipation. If you still have problems even though you use them regularly then you will need to see your doctor to have examinations and tests to try to rule out important causes of constipation (blockages from a tumor.)
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General & Family Physician
Constipation is an important cause of diverticular disease and a patient may consider diverticulitis if he has abdominal pain with fever and sometimes a large amount of blood with stools.
Even when it is diverticular disease or diverticulitis the mainstay of treatment is the treatment for constipation. It is important that you take a good amount of fruit and vegetables, as you already do, but you can also add some fiber supplements daily to help. Also if no improvement with this you can add some Lactulose syrup to soften your tools. PEG is another helpful drug for constipation.
All of these are found to help a lot with the stools and normally with regular use, the patient should not have problems with constipation. If you still have problems even though you use them regularly then you will need to see your doctor to have examinations and tests to try to rule out important causes of constipation (blockages from a tumor.)
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General & Family Physician
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