My Dad is 81, has had Alzheimer's for 11 years and has lives with me for the last 5. He has recently had more and more problems with his bowels. Anyone with a weak stomach should stop reading here. Seriously.

So he had constipation which caused him to strain and now he has a huge purple hemorrhoid that bleeds daily. My first question is: Should I have it removed with the rubber band trick?

Next, how can I help control the digestive system so it continues to work?

He has bran for breakfast, 3 stool softeners a day, at least one glass of prune juice and a couple of actual prunes. He should be crapping like old faithful!

Sometimes when he complains that he is miserably uncomfortable because of the constipation, I will give him another prune juice. Then he gets diarrhea, which also makes the hemorrhoid bleed.

I'm in poop hell.

Please help if you have ANY experience with this issue.

Thanks,
Kathy

Welcome to our forum.
I have no answers for you...I am famous for saying "I don't DO body fluids"! Thus the reason I never made it to veterinarian school.

I'm sure others here will be able to help you with answers. But my first thought was "What does his doctor say?"

Take go*d care, Shaye

I'd suggest taking him to a gasteroenterologist if he hasn't seen one very recently.
They may recommend a different type of fiber, maybe prescription medication, etc.
I'm not sure what the rubber band trick is. But, if he has it, I'd ask for a local anesthetic and avoid inhaled anesthetics and propofol as they seem to accelerate Alzheimer's dementia. (I googled the rubber band procedure and it sounds pretty minor, so I'm guessing that local anesthetic would be likely what they'd use anyway).
I hope your Dad is feeling better soon.

I call this the goldilocks principle-- too hard, too soft, just right...
Struggled with it with my mama for long time...

Solution:
Miralax (used to be RX...used for babies...). Getting the right dose took a bit. My mother does well with tsp and a half/day in a.m....in large glass of juice... Needs liquids.
Tried all the citrucels, metamucils, fibers, etc. etc.
This stuff works (and the doctor said there is no problem with having her on it long term.)
She actually went back to pooping in the commode after we started it (she has more control).

You can get a RX for it if insurance would pay, otherwise it's OTC.

Here's a gross suggestion.

Mom gets constipated a lot and ends up with balls of pellet-like turds that are too big to make it out.

Senna gives her really watery diarrhea.
Stool softeners will only work if she drinks enough and she won't.
She won't drink metamucil.
Glycerine suppositories fall right back out.

My solution:

I put on a latex glove and smear the end of one finger with vaseline. I warm up some water and squirt it up her butt with a bigger, old ear syringe just to moisten the balls. Then I carefully stick my finger up her butt and bust loose the pellets and pop them out with my finger. It gets them all out rather quickly and even though she complains that sometimes it hurts because some of the pellets, along with my finger don't fit too good on the way out. This sounds gross and I hope I'm not causing damage, but some of the poop globs are the size of tennis balls and those REALLY hurt her coming out.

Good luck.

Hi Kathy,

Love your blog and I read it almost every day....sorry you're having this 'unfunny' problem !

I have no medical background but I will just add that when my Mom started having problems with soft stool and leaving small 'Hershey Kisses' on the bathroom floor occasionally, the Geriatrician recommended I add more fiber to her diet with Benefiber. I give her just 1 teaspoon each morning, mixed in her yogurt, cereal or juice. Turns out fiber can help with many different types of bowel problems, from diarrhea to constipation ! Fortunately this has done the trick for Mom, at least for the past year or so.

Good luck !

We tried everything with my DH. Nothing seemed to work until I started giving him Miralax. He got a capful every morning. I didn't mix it with water or liquid because he might or might not drink it. What I did was to add it to his food. I'd sprinkle it over his oatmeal or in a bowl of cereal. I even sprinkled it on his scrambled eggs. He never objected no matter where I mixed it. By the time I had to use it, I don't think he had any idea how to push to have a BM. I realized he needed to drink his share of liquid during the day but that was never a problem with him.
Try the Miralax, I think you'll find out it works quite well.

Wow someone is giving us the chance to be a shit disturber!!!

Lupe is 95, and had a lifelong problem with constipation. Before I took over care, she had taken Haley's MO everyday for at least 60 years, and the company still went under.
When I started getting involved she had a mini-seizure from constipation. I not knowing what was happening, called 911. She came out of it before I was off the phone. But they took her into the hospital.
At the hospital they gave her an enema, that took another 12 hours to work on her.
Talking with doctors, I got her on 4 Senokot"S" (that I got out of Canada for half the price), 4 stool softners , Benefiber with apple juice in the morning and no more ice cream.

Another thing is I stopped ALL her meds. No more blood pressure pills. No Alzheimer drugs. Nothing. Senokot is over the counter, and the only drug that she was taking.

Eventually and currently, she only does Apple juice with Benefiber, and we are happy campers.

So before stopping drugs talk to the PHARMACIST FIRST, then the doctors. Bring everything that your father is taking and explain his diet.

Yrs back, like when Lupe was 90 (hah) I had the talk....Do you want to take meds until they get your blood pressure down to normal, but be constipated everyday for the rest of your life? Or do you want to take your chances on having a stroke, but not be constipated?
She chose the latter.

BTW they don't do enough research on the elderly. If they did, they would know that a 90 yr old is not going to have the same Blood Pressure as a 30 yr old.

Just curious Anita...In your opinion what should elderly Blood Preasure be, and from what age?

Smoke,
I don't know.
But if a 90 yr old and a 30 yr old have the same Bp, then the 30 yr best get to a doctor.

With 90 yrs of build up in the arteries, it is to be expected that the blood will pump harder to circulate.
All of the body functions more difficultly as we age.

The medical community focused mainly on middle age men that were dying in huge numbers from heart disease and strokes.
Medicine progressed greatly in the last 40 yrs, extending men's lives.
Women fought for research to be done on them, and it is.
So why would the medical community spend time and money researching Blood Pressure in a 90 yr old? It is a given that we live and die. Dying at 50 is considered young, while at 90, it is expected.

In my mother's situation. She was 5'4", and is now 4'8". For 40 yrs she was underweight. Later on her highest weight in her 60s, was 150#. Her Bp and Cholesterol were HIGH. She was put on meds for both. She was also put on a restrictive diet and lost 25#. Her Cholesterol, didn't budge and remained over 300.

She stopped Cholesterol drugs in her 70s on her own. She took Bp pills for 30yrs. She did not have strokes or even headaches. Her Bp remained high.
We stopped Bp pills around 2006 and she still has not had strokes or headaches.

By no means am I suggesting that anyone stop anyones drugs. That is an individual's choice, or their caregiver's.

quote:

Originally posted by Anita Porpoise:

BTW they don't do enough research on the elderly. If they did, they would know that a 90 yr old is not going to have the same Blood Pressure as a 30 yr old.

I disagree. My grandma is 93 and her blood pressure is perfect. She takes low doses of blood pressure medicine and her blood pressure is always between 130/80 and 100/65. I can think of a few 30 year olds who take doses much higher than that and don't have nearly as well controlled hypertension as my Grandma does.


Sorry to get off topic

When my Mom had constipation problems, I found some small Fleet enema related products - they were small bubbles of oil packaged three to a box. The insert tips extend only 2" or so and are used to break up the hard stuff. Worked every time with my Mom.

Hi, Kathy.

I wouldn't go trying the rubber band treatment yourself ... too many ways for that to go wrong. If you think you can't get by with the usual home treatments, ask the doctor to tie off the hemorrhoid.

Usual home treatments include slowly adding more fiber to the meals, pushing the liquids (no alcohol), and using a stool softener.

Talk with the pharmacist about which ointments and suppositories would be best to help minimize the pain, itching and swelling.

One of the best things to lessen the swelling and pain is a sitz bath, several times a day and after each bowel movement, for 10-15 minutes. For a sitz bath, site in a few inches of plain, warm water in a tub. Be sure to thoroughly dry the skin around the anus after each bath.

Thinking more on this subject ... some meds can cause constipation as a side effect. You might want to take a look at the ones he's on, see if any of those may be causing a problem.

I don't suppose he can get much exercise, but that's good for helping him stay regular, too.