This week's discovery – constipation affects breathing

[nunhead_man]

We are having a rather lazy Sunday after a very trying week

Just to explain, I had an awful pain in my right foot and a rash on my legs with swollen feet and ankles so the GP prescribed an antibiotic and a painkiller. The painkiller was opioid based (Dihydrocodeine) and seems to have had 2 effects;

1) constipated me to the extent that my stomach intruded up against my diaphragm and affected my breathing – I have a slight impact on my breathing from MND but as I am so slow it is taking its time to get worse so I was very scared when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling breathless

Sorting out the constipation has been a very messy process given my mobility and our facilities

2) seems to have had some sort of mental effect in that in the deep of it on Wednesday and Thursday mornings (early a.m. 4 AM et cetera) that I began to think about not wanting to go on. On Friday morning once my constipation cleared and presumably as the painkiller cleared my system, it felt like a cloud had lifted.

I will be talking to my counsellor from the Mountbatten Hospice when he comes for his fortnightly visit about this.

[denise]

Hi Andy

you poor thing. Try to get one thing fixed and it mucked up everything else.

I know having a full stomach pushes against the diaphragm and upsets my asthma. I suppose there's only so much space in there. Something is going to suffer.

as for getting rid of the constipation well yes that's horrible at the best of times but not being very mobile it must be a nightmare.

I'm glad your feeling more positive now. Did the pain in your foot and the rash go?

love and hugs Denise xxx

[nunhead_man]

Thank you Denise – the pain in my foot was in fact dealt with by the nasty painkiller so at least it did that job.

This morning my feet are less swollen and red and hot and the rash is limited to the back of my ankles.

My wife as my carer is very good at applying various unguents and it helps that I seem to have the same issue as my mother who is some 30 years my senior so I know which cream to use

[denise]

Hi Andy

I'm glad it sorted it out. Yes carers/wives/partners usually have preparations for a variety of ailments. I experiment on Stephen regularly. Doesn't always work but hey he's still alive 😄

love and hugs Denise xxx

[Ellie]

Laxatives really ought to be routinely prescribed alongside all opioids, it annoys me that some GPs don't do this 😡

Andy, all opioids also depress respiratory function, probably the reason behind the middle-of-the-night breathlessness, and something to be hyper aware of.

Are you finished taking Dihydrocodeine?

Love Ellie.

[Heather R]

Sounds a really hard week, Andy, not surprised it got you down, and particularly that time of night things often appear bleakest. And breathlessness can be scary I think, (and gets worse if you worry about it!), and night time can seem a more difficult time to get help if needed. Glad things have improved x

[Positive vibes]

Thank you for posting this Andy

I will definitely mention this to my Dad - he takes pain-killers for FM, but, ahem, his IBS hasn't led to constipation yet. However, with less mobility on the horizon, this may be something he needs to be on the watch for...

[matthew55]

Best drugs I find for constipation and low mood are Sodium PicoSulfate and Prozac (Pico wait six hours and Prozac two weeks. Both are more than worth the wait.) 😋🧐😑🤭 xx

[nunhead_man]

Good afternoon Ellie

Laxatives really ought to be routinely prescribed alongside all opioids, it annoys me that some GPs don't do this 😡

Andy, all opioids also depress respiratory function, probably the reason behind the middle-of-the-night breathlessness, and something to be hyper aware of.

Are you finished taking Dihydrocodeine?

Thank you – that is new information for me so I will have some stern words with GP practice tomorrow.

I did take dihydrocodeine for a few days until I realise it was gumming up the works and then stopped it luckily after pain had subsided.

In fact I took Senna to clear out my guts on the advice of the nurse from the Mountbatten Hospice who happened during for her quarterly catch up on checkup whilst I was deep in this difficulty

[nunhead_man]

Good afternoon,

To close this off for me, now about 2 weeks on I did have stern words with the GP and she has apologised.

But the darkness of Wednesday and Thursday last week remains with me and perhaps in a way I hadn't looked for a rehearsal of how things may be in the future.

[matthew55]

Life is what we think of it. Living without hope is very difficult with no pharmaceutical aid. I know. 🤔🤗😘😁xx

[Ellie]

nunhead_man You can neither predict or control your future, so don't worry about it....

Tomorrow will come with or without your worry. xx

[nunhead_man]

Good afternoon,

Ellie, I am a bit of a seer but generally as you say I don't see things coming.

Except death and taxes of course!

[Mary C]

Hi on the subject of constipation....
I was prescribed laxatives as Oramorph was making me constipated.
My husband suggested use the bio bidet “turbo setting”. Well what can I say except a jet of warm water pointed in the right area got things moving😂.
No need so far to use laxatives thanks to action of bio bidet !
Best wishes
Mary

[denise]

Mary now has a job as a bio bidet rep. 😉