[dantoall]

I am a 20 yr old female and I have never had irregular bowel movements in my life until a month ago when I had a colonoscopy. Since then, I have only had one small bowel movement and I did not feel like I got everything out, not even close. I have been on and off the phone with my doctor who keeps telling me to try different laxatives and that just makes it worse. I have tried suppositories, laxatives, stool softeners and today I tried an enema for the first time and got absolutely no result. The laxatives are giving me painful spasms which are just agonizing but don't make me go. For the last two weeks I have changed my lifestyle and now about 90% of my diet includes fruits and vegetables. I also make it a point to drink at least 8 cups of water per day. I feel like I've tried everything and I can't deal with this pain anymore. Should I go to an ER?

[Wondergirl]

Eat dried prunes and apricots (along with the usual foods and water).

After my colonoscopy, I had obsessed over this sort of thing. My system was all messed up. Give your body time to recover and don't overdo all the constipation remedies. You are creating your own problems and pain by doing that. The colonoscopy totally emptied you out, so it will take time to "build up" again for a good BM.

Are you in pain all the time or only after you take laxatives?