Q. Recently I took a dear friend to the ER. We thought she had a urinary tract infection. She was so weak she needed a wheelchair to get into the hospital.
After running numerous tests, they ruled out infection. The problem turned out to be under-treatment of her chronic back pain due to spinal stenosis. She was cutting her pain medicine in half because she worried that it would cause severe constipation.
The doctor said she needed the full dose of narcotic to avoid unbearable pain. That turned out to be just the right advice. She has not had another episode since she started taking the full dose of pain medication. What can she do about the constipation that will inevitably result?
A. People who need narcotics for chronic pain frequently have a difficult time with constipation. There is good news on this front, however. The FDA has approved one medication and is considering another to treat this exact problem.
Methylnaltrexone (Relistor) is an injection that is prescribed in such cases if usual measures and laxatives like Miralax have not worked. This fall, the agency will decide whether to approve naloxegol (Movantik), a daily pill, for this use. A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine (June 19, 2014) found that naloxegol was helpful in overcoming narcotic-induced constipation.
In less severe cases, some of the home remedies we suggest in our Guide to Constipation may be helpful. Sugarless gum can often ease difficulties, as can “Power Pudding.”
4-4-16 Redirected to: https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/how-to-overcome-drug-induced-constipation/
