Mom is slowly deteriorating. There is one issue that I need some help with. Mom lost her ability to urinate by herself a while back. Now she has a problem with the bowel movements. She does not go in her pants, but she can not push it out. So do you leave her on the toilet for an hour? She kind of piles things up if she does not go every 3 days or so and it is very difficult for her to get them out, 3 inches in diameter. I give her some dulcolax after 3 days and so far seems to do the trick. It is a weird thing for me to talk about, but maybe some advice from someone?---Jack

There are some discussions about elsewhere on this forum, I believe, so you might want to take a minute to see what has already been written. Is she eating high fiber foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grain breads and cereals? I'd also limit or cut out processed carbs like white breads, pastas, sweets, etc. from her diet as those tend to "stop people up". Hard to talk about, but that's what the forum is for! Lynn

I did a search on the site and came up with nothing. Give me some key words and I will try again. I have tried everything in her diet. I give her 3 cut up prunes in softened in hot water, a glass of Metamucil at every meal, and now I have to give her instant breakfast or oatmeal as she can not eat solids anymore.

Go to Practical Caregiving Tips, scroll way down to Constipation - Tips from Bay Area Group and you'll see some info. there.
There may be other places - sometimes these threads wander off in different directions and perhaps tonight when there are more people on the forum they can direct you to other postings they know of.
Changing her diet is something you can do right away, unless she is already eating a fiber-rich diet. Most of the things I was suggesting can be ground up in a food processor if she can't swallow whole foods. Making fruit smoothies with fresh fruit and yogurt is really healthy.
Lynn

Thank you Lynn!
I read the links, gave me some ideas.
I don't think I can do more as far as what she eats, my situation is complicated because mom has very brittle type 1 diabetes also. It stated that this kind of a problem can be around for a long time before PD. Mom has been with me for 7 years now and one of the first things I got was a Caroma toilet that has a 4 inch hole at the bottom! No more cutting things up!!! It seems now that she does not know what to do on the toilet, it can be sticking half out and she can't push it out all the way. One thing about this care taking thing, you just do the best you can. The LBD forum is great. Thanks again for the help.

Something about metamucil I didn't know until my doctor told me. It can actually bind you up more if you don't have enough water with it. Mirolax works really well and very gentle.
Mary

Thats very true Mary. Some of these things take a lot of water to work. Oatmeal each morning and a glass of orange juice usually worked for us. The doctor needs to know so he can follow up on this.

Jpgt, as the child of a Type 1 diabetic you probably know a lot about the many complications that occur with diabetes. Diabetics have a higher rate of developing both gastroparesis (a slowing of food through the digestive tract) and constipation. With diabetics it is linked to high blood sugar.

Not to say that your Mom's condition isn't also affected by LBD, but you might find some good information on a diabetes forum as well as this one. I came across this link when I was searching: http://www.dlife.com/diabetes-forum/vie ... =8&t=14012.

My mother with LBD (not diabetes) would kill me if she knew I was saying this about her, but she has the largest diameter bowel movements I have ever, ever seen. I am familiar with getting them down a toilet. Also with overflowing toilets, replacing toilets, toilet design, etc.

If you decide to go with medicine, watch out for ones that are anticholinergic. They can crop up where you least expect them.

Good luck with your Mom. I hope you continue to post. Annie

Thanks for the link Annie.

My hubby has the constipation problem too and is a #2 diabetic. It's always a problem with moving the bowels for him since Lewy came into his life.

He was only moving his bowels about every 3 days or so. Then he would have to use a suppository which sometimes worked and sometimes did not. He had to quit using the enema early on in his illness (4 yrs ago) because they started 'burning' and doc said no more. I recently increased the miralax to 3 teaspoons mixed in water at bedtime. This has helped. He's going almost every day or two. Talk about 'little things mean a lot' - he's a happy camper now! He is very good about drinking his 8 glasses of water each day. So we're at a pretty good place with the constipation problem.

I ordered some fruiteze and we're going to try that. I'll cut down on the miralax a little each night. We'd like to get off being dependent on miralax because sometimes the urge to go is so quick that he's afraid to go out shopping or visiting because the urge may come and he may not be near a bathroom.

http://fruiteze.com/

I'll let you know how it works out.

Karen

I buy fiber plus applesauce, cranberry and raspberry flavored. I stir in two teaspons of fruiteze into it, Tony likes it and it goes down very well. He cannot drink alot of water due to dysphagia and thickened drinks can bind him up, starch is the culprit. I also give him half a cup of raisin bran, without raisins, and drain out the non thickened milk after it is softened every night with dinner. He still onlly goes every third day, but it is not hard anymore. The miralax worked toooo well, gave him diahhrea.

I give my Mom an herb called Cascara Sagrada, works wonders.
Cheri

You might want to try "Power Pudding", apple sauce, prune juice and wheat bran, you can goggle power pudding and get the exact amounts to make, this generally works well. They use it in hospitals I know.

Mary 73

The description of Power Pudding makes me feel like running to the bathroom right now! LOL!

I don't know if you got your answer or resolution to this problem or not but I thought I would tell you what we did. Basically all meals include a pureed fruit, we give Mom senna 2 times a day and also Miralax with Oatmeal in the morning. This took care of the problem. While her BMs are "ploppy" they are consistent and easy to pass without suffering. I think you have to figure our what your LO can tolerate and adjust up or down accordingly. Oh and applesauce and bananas are a no no...they work just the opposite unfortunately.

That's right, Nancy! The BRAT anti-diarrhea diet includes Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Tea.