Constipation can be a medical issue that might need medical care.
If you have ANY questions about, “Is this normal?”
consult your healthcare provider.
This page from the Cleveland Clinic has great info about how to tell
if constipation is an emergency.
Addendum: My sweet hippie daughter reminded me, the midwife, that we can become dependent on laxatives to poop at all, needing more and more. I left the paragraphs and photos in as an educational reconsider.
I have switched to 400 mg. magnesium twice a day. We’ll see how it works.
My other daughter, also on tirzepatide, reminded me how much less I am eating and that I won’t have BMs like before. Duh! I’ve chilled on the pooping issue.
While I have not had the common constipation a lot of people have while on GLP-1 medications, I think it’s because I started preemptive care before I ever needed emergent help.
“Constipation?
Why Are You Talking About That?!”
For those of us on GLP-1 meds, one of the greatest mechanisms they give us is slow digestion. With that can be a slow down of the whole system from inside to outside.
Gastrointestinal side effects listed on the Mounjaro box says:
The most common adverse reactions, reported in ≥5% of patients treated with MOUNJARO are: nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, vomiting, constipation, dyspepsia, and abdominal pain.
On the box of Ozempic:
The most common side effects of Ozempic® may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach (abdominal) pain, and constipation.
The National Institutes of Health says this about side effects:
They include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation, which were closely related to activation of central and peripheral GLP-1 receptors.
They all mention diarrhea, but I rarely hear about that side effect. By far, the most common bowel issue I have read and heard about is constipation.
Help Is Out There!
Many who take tirzepatide, semaglutide, dulaglutide, etc. figured out the hard way (literally!) how to take care of constipation when they are on the medications. I learned from their experiences to do a preemptive strike to avoid constipation. I hope I can let others who are just beginning the GLP-1s -including the soon-to-be here Zepbound– know to have a solution before one is needed.
As I share what I do, it’s important to know there are as many ways to avoid and fix constipation as there are people on these great meds. Feel free to poke around Google: “Constipation with <fill in your GLP-1 here>”
My Recipe for Bowel Success
I take a generic stool softener and laxative combo twice a day. One tiny pill, twice a day.
I tend to have a bowel movement once a day, but when I do not, I don’t hesitate to reach for a rescue.
Within a day, I have gone easily and a couple of times. And oh is it fantastic!
One More (Important) Piece to the Puzzle: WATER!
I’m not a good water drinker and my body pays for it. I have made a commitment to get my water intake up to at least 120 ounces a day. By recipe, I should be drinking 200-250 ounces a day because the formula is an ounce of water for each pound of weight. Or what one wants to weigh.
Penn Medicine says:
As a general rule of thumb, you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.
My nephrologist told me to try to drink an ounce for each pound I weigh. He’s cranky about my water intake since 1) I have Chronic Kidney Disease 3b and 2) I am in the middle of my 4th bout of pyelonephritis (kidney infection) in four months.
So I am going to this extreme:
Well, clearly not to the extreme of getting rid of the Diet Coke, but definitely having water near at all times. That’s my pile of protein (chicken) in the middle of the water and Diet Coke. Yes, the nephrologist knows how much protein I am eating. Nowhere enough to hurt my kidneys. He also knows I drink Diet Coke.
Cancer Research UK says:
Drinking plenty of fluid such as water helps to soften your poo and makes it easier to pass. So drinking between 8 and 10 glasses of water each day can help prevent constipation.
And adds:
But avoid drinking alcohol or drinks that contain caffeine, like coffee and cola, as these can contribute to dehydration.
Oops!
Your Recipes?
What are you doing to avoid and relieve constipation on the GLP-1 meds? We all want to know!