My doctor told me that I could take a stool softener while pregnant?

Question

but it says that it has laxative in it , is it ok to take ? Or is there some other remedy for sever constipation ??Help !
No stupid answers please ...

Answer 1

Usually we tell patients to start with increasing fiber (think prunes and metamucil...which has psyllium fiber) and water in their diet, and when that doesn't work we go to colace. colace softens the stool, but doesn't make you go, like pericolace. However, if colace doesn't work, we would then give senokot and colace (which is essentially the two things in pericolace) and the senokot would stimulate you to go.

Worst case scenario is that we would give a suppository, and I'm guessing you want to avoid that!

Constipation can actually cause (and sometimes mask) preterm contractions, so we treat it seriously! It never hurts to ask the MD by the way....you could call at 3am and I assure you someone is on call...they get paid money to be available to answer your questions. Health care professionals sometimes forget that it's our job to teach and answer questions in addition to treat and if you're not comfortable, you should be able to ask questions freely!

PS....I've recently started adding fiber to my family's diet with fiberone...it is tasteless and colorless and you can add it to anything without anyone noticing....i've added it to my coffee in the morning and i cannot tell the difference!

Answer 2

I would check with your doctor or just call and speak to one of the nurses before you take anything.

My doctor prescribed me some prenatal vitamins that actually have stool softener IN them, which is nice. I guess it's a very low daily dosage, so you're never uncomfortable. I'm not sure what brand they are, but you could ask your doctor about them.

Drink TONS of fluids and make sure you're eating lots of fruit and fiber. That will help keep you regular without having to ingest a lot of medicines.

Answer 3

You must ask your doc. Just because it's herbal, doesn't mean it's safe. During my pg, I was on a "great" diet of All-Bran every morning, LOTS of fresh fruits and veggies, hardly any bread, lots of water (like you) and still needed a stool softener from time to time (though mine were suppositories). I also noticed that if I chewed everything about 20 times that really helped -- Lwol - Honest to goodness truth! Good luck!

Answer 4

You want to be careful and I understand you wanting to be cautious. One brand of stool softener that is doctor recommended for pregnant women is Colace. You may find a store brand that is cheaper, I use the one from CVS occasionally and I haven't had any problems.

Make sure that you are getting enough fiber in your diet and drink plenty of water. That will also help.

Best of Luck & Congrats on the little one!

Answer 5

It is ok to take stool softeners that work by taking water from your body and having it added to your poo... One such stool softener is Surfak. Fiber is also something you can and should take. And stay super hydrated.

What is not safe is laxatives that make your intestines contract, because that will also make your uterus contract. So, you want to avoid most other laxatives, including natural remedies like Aloe.

Answer 6

As long as your doctor knows you're pregnant, it's probably fine.You could try eating a bunch of fruits and veggies and drink a lot of water. That's supposed to help constipation. I'd take the pills, though. They gave me colace in the hospital after I delivered my daughter. It helped a lot.

Answer 7

Good old fashioned regular Colace is the way to go. I wouldn't take the one with stimulant laxitive, because it causes cramps. Constipation is very common in pregnancy. Be sure to drink enough water, and maybe 8 ounces of orange juice(if you can stomach it).

Answer 8

My doctor recommended Colace. It works pretty well. My doctor also tells me to drink plenty of fluids and eat plenty of green leafy vegetables. My grandmother used to be a nurse and she would tell me to try hot fluids on an empty stomach. There's also always prune juice.

Answer 9

You should drink loads more water than you normally would try more fibre in your diet an fruit, if the doc has told you they are safe then im sure they are

Answer 10

syllium husks are good, just have a full glass of water straight after.
medamucil, natural fibre.
lots of fruit and vegies