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My elderly father has either diarrhea or constipation. Giving him too much fiber or prune juice results in bad diarrhea. However, not enough, and he is constipated. So I am giving him plenty of water and fruit. He should only have decaf coffee, I also give him the decaf.



Is there anything else that will help with diarrhea and constipation? It is tricky as he needs the balance ( the problem is too much or too little.)






Any suggestions?

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Glucomannan

Or

Apple pectin pills

Or

A small bowl of seedless green grapes whole or ground up into a drink

Consistent timing is the most important thing.
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Citrucel if he is able to take it. Mix only according to directions. It can help either diarrhea or constipation by giving a sort of mucilagenous fibrous bulk to stools. He MUST be able to take it with a full glass of water. I prefer it to Metamucil which ferments differently in the gut and which can cause bloating and explosive gas which often leads to more incontinence.

Good luck. I am assuming you are not currently using a whole lot of medications for either diarrhea or constipation. Truly it can be a seesaw between the two. Our bowels, like everything else gets slow and sluggish. The build up on constipation can cause diarrhea. Just a merry-go-round.
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What exactly do you mean by constipation, I ask because it is only concerning if he's pooping rocks (sorry) or he hasn't gone in over 5 days. My mom was a lifelong user of laxatives which really screwed up her colon, plus I believe by the end of her life she had a slow transit colon. Her visiting nurse really emphasized her having regular bowel movements (at least every three days) so I was obsessive about tracking and applying remedies which often caused discomfort, pain, and/or explosive diarrhea, and in hindsight I wish I had not done any of that. Mom eventually went to the nursing home and they merely recorded if and when she voided, it seem all my effort and heartache was unnecessary.
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Maybe a dumb question and since you do not give details about dad's other medical conditions this might not be possible.
Has the reason for the constipation and diarrhea been determined? Unfortunately this may require testing.
You just have to figure out if the testing is worth it. (and in most cases it isn't)

I walked the constipation/diarrhea tightrope with my Husband for a long time.
It was just one of those things that I kept an eye on and informed Hospice when he was constipated.
And he got Senna every morning, Lactulose every morning. Lots of fruits (pineapple and papaya puree was great) and there were times he was still constipated.
Resorted to the recipe Hospice gave me on occasions ("The Bomb" was 1/4 Cup Prune Juice, 1/4 Cup Milk of magnesia and 1/4 Cup Orange Juice warmed up to body temp. Took about 30 minutes to kick in!) And there were occasions with Suppositories and gloves! (not the way I wanted to spend an afternoon!)

Odd thing..when I would get him up in the Hoyer Lift sling often he would have a BM and when I thought about it the position he was in was almost the same as the position you are in using that Squatty Potty stool. So maybe that does have something to do with getting the colon to move things along.
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Try plum juice instead , it’s not as much fiber as prune juice .
Sunsweet brand has a plum juice light , not as sweet and less calories . Tastes good .
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Maybe activa yogurt, might help. And try to keep his diet consistent.

Like me I go through cheese cravings, Mac and cheese, cheeses on top of my cheese. Then , I'm like oh no! And eat a bunch of oatmeal, them I'm like oh no again!

So try to keep a consistent diet. Hopefully others have some better suggestions
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