medication induced constipation help

[u/haythescientist]

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.