Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Cancer & severe constipation: Please help w/ suggestions to offset severe side- effects

Hi everyone,
Just spoke w/close friend of mine who's taking care of her sis this wkend. Her sis has newly diagnosed CA in her lower GI tract and is presently in the midst of radiation rx and just finished chemo this past week (for several weeks she was undergoing BOTH of them simultaneously!). Her sis has had chronic constipation for years altho never diagnosed as C-IBS. Now, however, with her having been on chemo for a month and still on radiation, plus getting severe radiation burns, her constipation is really severe and she is in alot of pain and discomfort from gas, distention and bloating.

I believe her much worsened constipation is caused by a combo of her eating very little due to being in so much pain from the radiation burn (plus the combo of chemo, pian meds and radiation are ruining her appetite most likely and being severely constipated also can't be helping her appetite), her immobility due to the pain, and her need to use pain meds. She has also been using metamucil, which her MD recommended to manage the constipation.

I recommended that she switch to citrucel and stop the metamucil completely, plus stop all milk products and begin fennel & peppermint teas plus black licorice. Also recommended using a heating pad on her abdomen and senna tea for a few nights to relieve some of the significant constipation she has at this point. I also recommended this website to my friend b/c I believe H's diet will be helpful to her sis.

My friend is going to get on here to read about H's diet so I'm posting this request for info so that my friend can read it too and hopefully find out more ways to help her sis.

Thanks for any help, guidance or support you can give to my friend and her sister. LL

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Many years of C-IBS and pain too for past 2 years-

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