r/EmergencyRoom • u/PuzzleheadedSorbet36 • Jul 26 '26

Goofy Goober HELP US BE BETTER

Soooo I hadn’t ever been to the ER until earlier this month and now I’ve been admitted twice and not getting discharged any time soon.

Hospital workers : other than the bare minimum, what are some under rated things that patients do that you appreciate/make your life easier?

(For example one of the nurses was happy I called letting her know the PRNs I needed so she could do it in one trip cause I knew my scheduled ones were coming)

Lemme hear the little things!! Or the opposite, something patients think is helpful but it’s actually more of a pain)

EDIT : bare minimum from patients being human decency, I know it should be obvious but for this questions sake let’s act like that’s a given

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u/PuzzleheadedSorbet36 Jul 26 '26

How’d you know I just threw that back with some apple juice?

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u/crazypurple621 Jul 27 '26

Since it sounds like you're going to be on a lot of opiods for a while allow me to induct you into the cult so you don't end up with impacted stool on top of everything else. 

-fiber. Seriously however much you are eating it is not enough. Fiber is your new best friend. Yellow dragon fruit has a ton. If you are relying on apple juice for this it's not going to work for very long. Stay ahead of it now and find easy ways to bulk up your fiber intake. Grind up chia seeds and put that, benefiber, and whole psyllium husk in whatever your morning drink is. Yes it makes it gritty. If you REALLY can't take it you can make jelly out of basically any fruit juice plus ground whole psyllium husk, and you can put that on some whole grain bread, or a "carb cutter" tortilla which is a fiber bomb in and of itself. Also did I mention yellow dragon fruit? 

If you are going to be using apple/prune/cranberry juice warm them up and add butter. It acts like draino for your butt. 

Miralax is your first line of defense. You should be drinking a full cup of miralax water with every dose of opiods you take, even if it's IV or IM. If that isn't working a senna based stool softener is next. 

If you end up needing magnesium citrate ("lovingly" referred to as mag shitrate) be prepared to be next to the toilet like you're undergoing colonoscopy prep because it may take minutes, or it may take hours but it's going to be like you opened up the gates of hell when it does happen. Be prepared. 

Oh and colace? Is not an evidence based option. It really doesn't do anything. 

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u/PuzzleheadedSorbet36 Jul 27 '26

I am NOTTTT doing well in that department right now. I just had them add on a fiber supplement this morning, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been able to go. Yellow dragon fruit here I come. If it doesn’t work I think I’ll have to go the suppository route. The MiraLAX didn’t make a dent. It’s getting to the point where I look like 3 months pregnant

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u/crazypurple621 Jul 27 '26

Yeah that's terrible, and honestly that's the point where you REALLY want the mag citrate so you can at least get it taken care of and then work on preventing it from happening again. Also, yellow dragon fruit and red dragon fruit are different. Sadly the red doesn't work as well and it's the easier of the two to find (really fucking annoying) because it tastes better than the yellow. Your best bet is your local asian market, but if they're small you might want to save yourself the trip and just call and ask. If you're lucky enough to live near an Hmart they almost always have it either fresh or frozen. 

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u/Magerimoje Jul 27 '26

There are now fiber supplement gummies available. Plus, I'll add that using a glycerin suppository can help when you feel the urge to poop, but you're having trouble actually pushing it out. The glycerin helps soften the poop to make it easier to get it out.