Menopause and Constipation

Hi,
Welcome to ehealthforum,
Symptom of constipation in menopausal women is not a new thing and it occurs mainly due to the fact that menopausal women undergo a series of hormonal changes. Stress, an unhealthy lifestyle, worrying over menopause further adds to the problem. Constipation may be manifested on the first stage, mid stage, or final stages of menopause. Regardless of which stage it decides to reveal itself, constipation in menopausal women usually present with these signs and symptoms: infrequent bowel movements that are noticeably fewer than the normal consistency; smaller, harder and drier stools that are harder to pass out; feeling bloated and sluggish; feeling of incomplete elimination of stools even when you’re done doing the deed; excessive and extreme straining during bowel movements; and specks of blood on your stools. The cause for constipation in menopausal women varies and includes the age factor, slow activity of the intestinal tract, the intense requirements of the aging liver, medications used (for alleviating menopausal symptoms, antihypertensive use, heart medication, iron and calcium supplements, antidepressants use, tranquilizers and pain killers etc.), poor eating habits, inactive lifestyle and low fluid intake. To balance constipation and menopause, you can try remedies that contain senna, cascara sagrada and aloe since these have adverse effects on menopause medications. Stick to a high fiber diet that is rich in vegetables and fruits, increase your fluid intake and get started with adequate exercise. Prune juice or prunes, figs, psyllium seeds, dandelion, rhubarbs and other high fiber natural foods can also be helpful.
If all these measures do not help with controlling the symptoms, consider getting any gastrointestinal causes ruled out by going ahead with getting a gastroenterology evaluation done.
Take care.

Thanks Dr. Paul...actually the last few weeks have been the absolute worse. We narrowed it down to several factors....lack of activity, lack of fluids other than caffeine based (coffee - maximum coffee drinker here) and not drinking enough water to absorb into the colon area, and stress upon stress upon stress, and eating WAY TOO MUCH fiber (ie some heavy grain muffins with flax seed) that did not have the water/fluid supply to push it through. After about a week of going to see a Dr., getting a theraputic massage in the abdomin area and realizing...there was a block due to lack of fluid and too much fiber..we have successfully started to release the back up. I started on the treadmill yesterday, aiming at at least 64 oz of water a day, reducing the caffeine/coffee and hopefully downloading the stressors. It all added up after the very hard stool...and then the block in the intestine due to the 5 muffins I ate at once..and not having fluid enought to dislodge them from the intestine. Water and excercise is the savour..plus 32 oz of sea salt in water straight down as the laxative I used which worked to get me going again. Thank goodness for the medical people and their knowledge. I was terrified. No more high grain muffins for me!

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