I am constipated and gaining weight...help!

[dudecar46]

Hello, I have become constipated in the past few days, and I have seen my weight go way up in a short period of time (3 lbs. in 4 days). I have not been eating more calories than I normally do to maintain my weight (I keep a schedule), but the pounds keep on coming...and I still cannot find the ability to go to the bathroom.

 

Should I go see a doctor about this?

 

And is this weight gain permanent? I mean, I haven't been eating a caloric surplus, so I must assume that the answer is "no", but I am not sure.

[AntiLove_SuperStar]

Short answer - no, this weight gain is not actually *real* or *permanent*, its purely ummm waste and water, when you go to the bathroom you will probably find that it just goes back down to normal.

If you cannot go to the bathroom after another couple of days having tried self-help measures (high fibre foods, plenty of water, exercising) then go to the doctors, particularly if you are uncomfortable.

 

Just give it a couple of days.

[coollady1957]

Thats true that you may have to see a doctor if something does not happen soon. I have heard that a compacted bowel can be quite painful and uncomfortable.

[Empathy]

I'm with antilove on this one. Your weight gain is probably due to the constipation and will disappear when you finally get rid of the problem.

[iceberg21]

Well the weight gain thing is not a big deal. My weight routinely fluctuates sometimes by as much as 5 pounds within a day or 2, sometimes overnight. AntiLove_SuperStar is right. Its just water weight and not a big deal at all.

[dudecar46]

Thank you very much for your input. But I have done the following measures, and am still constipated:

 

1. I eat a very high-fiber diet.

 

2. I drink a lot of fluids, and eat items with a high water content (fruits/oatmeal).

 

3. I exercise 3 times per week for over an hour at a time.

 

And to make things worse, I saw a streak of blood after my most recent movement...so I am leaning towards getting it checked out.

[coollady1957]

Absolutely then if you have seen blood and you can not have a bowel movement and having alot of difficulty even after using all the proper measures, then SEE YOUR DOCTOR !

 

As I said before you could have a compaction. My sister in law had that once and had to go to the ER for treatment. Get it checked out.

[Hope75]

What is your normal bowel scedule like? Do you move every day?

 

Try drinking lots of fluids, grape and apple juice have lots of fiber, those help. Also, move around. Low impact walking will help move things along too. There are also medications out there that you can take an an oral stool softener (Colace is a good one). The longer the stool stays in your bowel, the more water is absorbed from it, making it harder and more difficult to pass.

 

Some fruits are also good to eat- grape are a great one, apples. Both have lots of water and fiber.

[dudecar46]

I appreciate your adivce, but exercise and fiber are my two crutches as it is...and I am still not feeling relief.

 

Tomorrow, I will go to the doctor's.

[Hope75]

Yes- Definitely go. I didn't see that you passed a little blood in your stool before. Let us know how it goes.

[coollady1957]

I hope everything has " come out all right " since your post a few days ago.

 

Seriously though, did you see a doctor, or have things improved since the other day ? As I said before my sister in law had similar problem which ended up being a compaction. She had also passed a bit of blood with a difficult elimination , which turned out to be from straining too much and had damaged some internal tissue.

 

Hoping you are doing much better !!

[dudecar46]

The blood is gone, but the irregularity is not, so I am making a follow-up visit in order to discuss this. The weight did eventually go down...and back up when the irregularity started again; for example, I fluxed upward 1 pound today.

[Hope75]

What did the doctor say when you went to see him/her the other day?

[missbrittanyy]

i sort or relatively have the same thing going on as you. except i've sufford from constipation forever, i just didn't realize how ab-normal it was.. so far it's gotten so bad i tried a diet.

 

drinking lots of water; eating bran; and adding lots of fibre to your diet (fibre cookies lots of fruit etc)..

 

my constipation was so bad, this didn't work for me, so i went on to try laxatives and medamucil, i can some what go to the batrhoom after taking 3 or 4 laxatives..

 

so my dr told me to pick up some supositries. once again this didn't work

 

now im waiting for a month to get into see an internal specialist..