This is pretty embarrassing. Anyone women over 40 ever have serious constipation from taking Wellbutrin, Adderall or Zoloft?

Yes, i'm drinking loads of water, eating tons of fiber, etc.
in fact, i've become obsessed with IT.

I'm not over 40 (38) but about a year ago I went through a pretty major bout, which then led to some additional female problems. (Internal, uh, "slippage" due to the excessive straining.)

Pretty scary, especially since I've never had children, so none of those muscles should be losing that much elasticity yet. Doctors suggested Metamucil, which, YUK, so I went off the Adderall for a while to determine if that truly was the culprit. I don't think it was completely to blame, because I was already not very consistent with the fiber and the water, but since that was the case, I also don't think the meds helped any.

I've recently decided the benefits of the Adderall outweigh the risks so I'm back on it and trying to instill better eating and water-drinking habits to counteract the effects. One thing that really seems to work for me is eating Kashi GoLean cereal for breakfast ... all that protein and fiber really seems to keep things, er, moving for me.

Kashi Go-Lean is a great cereal, there are others too. Also, flaxseed, prune juice, pericolace pills and the best....green veggies.

I swear it feels as if the meds are not letting much water be absorbed. it seems to go right through me.
I've always had a little trouble keeping regular, but this is unacceptable. A physical exam revealed nothing wrong and i'm looking to get a colinoscopy.
I wonder how much this is related to the idea of energy centers, Chakras. You know, life not moving=


I appreciate again your reply :o

it may not have anything to do with the meds...I recently read somewhere that constipation is an unspoken but recognized common condition for women in their 40's...not sure why....

it may not have anything to do with the meds...I recently read somewhere that constipation is an unspoken but recognized common condition for women in their 40's...not sure why....


I tried to put some Yosemite Sam type swearing in here but it wouldn't take, so here is a little mad red circle with a face on it.
:mad:

Have I made myself clear!! Thanks for the reply, safetypin. and nice nickname.

Uhurainmi --

Gosh - I love you!! :) Your posts are so refreshingly candid!!

Over 40? YES

Constipated? YES

From Zoloft & Adderall? NOT SURE. I take both of those AND another medication that just about PROMISES constipation as a side effect. So . . .

And I have even had to go to the E.R. because of it :o (totally embarrassing). I have tried EVERYTHING, and the only thing that really works well (and isn't "BAD" for me - comparitively speaking) is this product that can now be purchased otc called "Miralax." It works by drawing water into the stool - similar to prunes - but unlike prunes, you can just mix a scoop of the tasteless powder into a glass of juice, tea or whatever and been done with it.

It DOES sometimes take 2 or 3 days before you get RESULTS - but you WILL get results . . . and my doctor told me that it is the LEAST dangerous or "dependency producing" medication of its kind.

I usually rotate that with that "smooth move" herbal tea you can buy at the natural foods section of your supermarket.

Some people find PISTACHIOS (believe it or not) helpful. I also DID find eating 5 prunes with lg glass of water or 2, at LEAST TWICE a day for several days to be helpful (but who wants to eat THAT MANY PRUNES??)

Try the Miralax. So many people in our shoes have found success with that.

Take care,
Sue

hi, i too have serious constipation.it was so bad i actually got a hernia from straining so much, and at its worse i could no longer go, i had to shovel it out, literaly. it was too nasty to talk about, but true.finally i started drinking prune juice every morning,and had my doc give me a prescription for miralax. it doesnt work everyday, but at at least it does work.my doc also told me it probably was from taking meds, but i cant stop taking the meds im on.

Intermittent problem for me, too. I am on Synthroid wihch helps keep things going, but of course if you're not hypothyroid you can't use THAT little tip, can you?
Cherries! I hit a BOGO sale at the grocery store on gorgeous cherries and my teenage son gorged himself on them.... and then we could not pry him out of the bathroom for a couple of days, it seemed. And now when he's steppin' outta line, I threaten him with cherries, and he cowers theatrically and makes a big show of doing what I require from him.
Acupressure? I have a few books on it and I find the pressure points work for various ailments sometimes. And I do sometimes find that pressing on my abdomen, in the lower right quadrant, down in the pelvic area, mush around in there until you find ouchy spots and then mush on those sponts a little more firmly, and sometimes there's this one spot that seems to hurt more, and when I push on it for a while it lets go and then things move along better.

The problem with the usual sources of fibre, like bran for instance, is that more isn't better. Bran and metamucil require a huge amount of water to hydrate them. More bran will make stools harder not softer because the bran will compact if there isn't enough water.

Me? I eat loads of tomatoes and other veggies. I don't bother with the cereal based fibres. (Plus I'm gluten intolerant.) Right now it's tomato season. Last week I didn't have a bm for four days. But because I'd eaten so many tomatoes etc. and didn't eat high fibre grains, when the time came, everything happened real easy and smooth.

I'm not so sure that grains and their fibres are all that wonderful for keeping people pooing without pain. Veggies don't result in bulky stools but the stools are soft and moist.

Also I'm beginning to realize that many people have a variety of dietary intolerances that they are not really aware of. I've gotten to the point of just not eating anything that causes flatulence because this means there's stuff in the food that I'm not able to digest but the bacteria are having a heyday. No thanks. I used to think that all the flatulence was just me and it was 'normal'. It's not. These days I don't puff up don't fart and have painless BMs. I don't eat grain 'fibre'. My stools are probably a lot skinnier than when I was loading up on puffy bran and other grain fibres. But there's no problems and even if I don't go every day, nothing hurts and I don't need to strain. Oh and in a few months I'll be 50 years old. Does that mean all the information I've provided is not valid since basically I won't be in my 40s anymore?

I would guess that Zoloft was the bigger culprit. I know Prozac (another SSRI) sure affected the speed of things.

Straterra was a bad culprit for me. I started taking a magnesium every day and they helped thing keep, er, moving along.