Re: i'm not absorbing fluids???

The amount of water one needs daily for normal hydration (when they're not taking ANY type of laxative or doing any type of cleansing) is: divide your body weight by two, and then call it ounces...and that's how much water one needs daily to be fully/normally hydrated. So if a person weighs 150 pounds, half of that is 75, so 75 ounces of water is what they need daily.

If one weighs 120 pounds, that would be 60 ounces (a little less than a half a gallon)...so unless you're a LOT smaller than that, you haven't been giving your body NEARLY enough water.

And to top it off, you took a laxative with magnesium in it. The way magnesium works as a laxative is to pull water from your body and flood it into your intestinal tract. When one takes any type of magnesium for laxative purposes, they should drink even more water (than above) in order to stay hydrated.

I just read a few of your posts, and see that before you took the laxative you hadn't had a bowel movement in a week...and then you took a relatively harsh OTC laxative than flooded your intestinal tract with water and left yourself totally dehydrated (AND almost every person that has that level of constipation is dehydrated in the first place). And from what you've written about how little water you're drinking...it's no wonder (and very logical) that you're suffering with constipation, and that a laxative caused you problems...and it's CERTAINLY no surprise that an MD would do a bunch of tests and find that you're not taking in enough fluids -- because you're definitely not taking in enough water.

There are two things that seem to me like they could be a distinct possibility. 1) (and this may sound crazy, but it's VERY common)...that when you took the laxative, you loosened a hardened mass of rubbery old fecal matter, and it got lodged further down in your intestinal tract. This would cause pain, bloating and virtually all the symptoms you've described. And when you couple that with a very dehydrated body, you could end up with a clog that wasn't/isn't all that interested in working it's way out - it's got no fluid to soften it and push it along.

The other possibility is that your ileocecal valve is stuck. The ileocecal valve is the opening between the large and small intestines; it is possible for it to become stuck shut or open. This can be caused by many things - dehydration is one. You can read about it here:
http://healing.about.com/cs/conditions/a/aa_ileocecal.htm.

Typically, any pain is on the RIGHT side, and it's accompanied by headache (many times severe) & nausea. These are not things you mentioned - but I wanted to point out the possibility.

You have not damaged your body's ability to absorb water because you took that laxative...but it sounds like you were dehydrated & constipated before you took the laxative & the doctor confirms you're dehydrated now. Under these conditions, it would be typical to have bloating, discormfort and a lack of desire for fluids.

I could list a zillion herbal products that will work as laxatives (and just as many Colon Cleanse products)...but it sounds like you'd feel better, safer and less fearful if you let food be your medicine. If that's the case (and it's the case that you're still not having daily bowel movements after all this, and you feel you might have some type of impaction), then you need to get some bowel activity (without risking more dehydration)...so drinking 1 cup of prune juice every few hours is the safest (and one of the most effective ways) to go about it.

Of course, if you're familiar with doing enemas, those also usually bring immediate relief. You could go over to the Enema Forum and ask there which type/solution would be the most effective (if you don't know).

'Hope this brings you a bit of peace of mind. Stress, fear, and dehydration don't help the situation at all...so please take care of yourself and start giving your body the basics of what it needs to be healthy.

Blessings,

Unyquity



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