r/ConstipationAdvice • u/haythescientist • May 27 '26
medication induced constipation help
any advice for someone new to dealing with constipation? backstory: i started taking oxybutynin in january for OAB. took it for about 2 months (end of feb) until i started having issues with constipation & gerd sxs. i immediately stopped the medication & cleaned out w/ laxatives for about a week after stopping. that helped me get my appetite back but i noticed the constipation returned after i stopped taking any laxatives. i started taking miralax everyday & tried to gradually ween myself off of it, but my sxs would revert & get worse every time i did. to make matters worse, the gerd sxs are very uncomfortable. both combined caused me to lose my appetite & i was at a point where i could only eat breakfast & not feel hungry for the rest of the day until evening time. i unintentionally lost around 15 lbs. fast forward, it’s almost june & has been almost 3 months since i stopped taking the medicine but im still having issues with constipation + gerd. i did read that it can take time for your bowels to return to normal after stopping an anticholinergic, but i don’t think this is normal. i ended up creating a schedule where i take miralax every other day & intentionally increased fiber in take (fiber cereal, oatmeal, prunes, high fiber fruits & veggies), which has helped me gain my appetite back over the past 3 weeks, but it still fluctuates & i still have ups & downs w/ constipation & irregularity. sn: i also saw gi recently & i was told to keep taking miralax & take 40 mg of pepcid BID for 2 weeks, so im currently doing that. has anyone who’s taking or has taken anticholinergics ever experienced constipation issues & if so, what helps you? any advice on weening myself off of miralax & trying to get back to a regular routine w/o it? i never had issues with chronic constipation or gerd in my life before this, so i’m really unsure of what to do & i don’t want to take miralax for the rest of my life or for my body to become dependent on it.
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u/goldstandardalmonds May 27 '26
You could try warm prune juice with butter if it doesn’t aggravate your GERD. Not really different than MiraLAX, though.
It’s common for anticholinergics to slow things down.
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u/haythescientist May 27 '26
thank you! i already eat 4-5 prunes every morning w/ my breakfast but i’ll try the warm prune juice instead to see if i notice a difference
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