She never had one. Her latest complaint is constipation after her psychiatrist changed her meds to ativan. She was previously on respiradone + seroquel prior to that. I have been to the ER with her when she complained that she had a shooting pain in her back + 6 hrs + many tests later they only found a UTI. She has been to her primary dr and all the OTC meds are not working. She claims she is blocked up for weeks. She went to a gastro dr this week who gave her suprep to take now and if that didnt help to schedule a colonoscopy. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I dont know what to do.
PRE-OP, UP ALL NIGHT TO POOP SOME.. AND THEN MORE.....TO POOP MORE... NO FUN AT ALL.
NEED TO CLEAR OUT THE TUBES TO BE SAFE FOR PROCEDURE. NO TOXINS IN BODY.....
If it DOES empty her bowel, then I'd hope he suggested doubling up on stool softeners, drinking plenty of liquids and incorporating roughage into her diet...just in case she just needed "a reboot".
Did they do an ultrasound to see if she had a bowel impaction? Are her 'pushing muscles' just very weak? Are her stools hard -- which may indicate dehydration?
Let's face it -- nobody here can tell you much. You need to have a thorough conversation with her doctor. If the only "decision" you're being asked to make is whether or not she should have a colonoscopy...if she's not moving her bowels at ALL normally and she's in pain? If it was my mom, I'd suggest she have it done. What happens after the results come in is another question.
My Dad had a bad case of constipation, and good old fashioned x-lax worked for him. Turns out Dad probably was dehydrated... told him he needs to drink a lot of water, have fiber, and to start walking, even if it is around the dining room table 20 times.
It is normally an out-patient procedure, but I wonder if they could consider hospitalizing her the day before to help her with the prep. If she needs a colonoscopy discuss with her gastro doc how dementia patients do with that test, and what can be done to help with the preparation.
If the problem started when she went on ativan, is she still on ativan?