I was mighty tickled to know that a company called “Vibrant Gastro” has made a vibrating pill for constipation that you can swallow and track with an mobile app and then literally shake the crap 💩 out of yourself ! 🤔🤔😂….and FDA approval might happen soon.
Until then, here is a mnemonic I use to remember cheap, non-pharmacological ‘treatments’ to prevent / treat constipation in hospitalized patients naturally & reduce laxative medications on their hospital bills. Besides, a study recently published on American Academy of Neurology showed increased risk of dementia in people using laxatives regularly !
C – Coffee + Chug lotsa water ! (warm is more effective, make it happen first thing in the morning)
R – Roughage in diet (fiber) + Review & Replace or Reduce constipating meds (Narcotics, anti-cholinergics, iron pills, etc.)
A – Ambulate fast not slow, and often. (I tell my patients – ‘When the legs move, your bowels move’)
P – Prune Juice (contains natural sorbital that can act fast to help poop). If they dislike it, Apple juice is a another less effective option (also works via natural sorbitol)
P.S: 💡:
- These measures are especially helpful in patients taking laxatives at home regularly, since they tend to be more prone to constipation on hospitalization
- They also are helpful to people with partial bowel obstructions who are tolerating liquds for diet – except no salads until obstruction resolves of course !
- Patients often get a chuckle when you write this mnemonic on their whiteboard – one of them thanked me “for all the CRAP I advised” 😅
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