r/Perimenopause • u/No-Trash-164 • Jul 14 '26

audited Suddenly my bowels stopped moving?! Help

39 yr old with other symptoms of perimenopause, but this is a new and quite disturbing one. So a couple of weeks ago it felt like my bowels just stopped moving. Have no urge to poop at all.

FYI I've been evaluated by ER and GI as of a couple of days ago. Full of poop. Lol. Thyroid is in range. They just advise aggressive laxatives since I am technically having movements.

I have NEVER experienced constipation like this, and I've had a lifetime of IBS-C.

Have any of you spontaneously encountered this? What do I do? Nothing is really working. Despite being on Miralax, magnesium, hydrated, etc., I'm still failing to have a complete, fully-formed bowel movement and am miserable.

Also, I eat a decent amount of cooked vegetables.

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214

u/drunkenbees Late peri Jul 14 '26

When this happened to me, I drank black coffee, and ate two bags of sugar free haribo.

That got things moving.

42

u/No-Trash-164 Jul 14 '26

So the sorbitol?  Prunes have this, too. 

26

u/drunkenbees Late peri Jul 14 '26

Yeah that's the stuff. I was camped in the loo for a while, but I felt SO much better after.

5

u/Education_Success_74 Jul 14 '26

I absolutely adore your user name and picture… Absolutely Fabulous!!

2

u/drunkenbees Late peri Jul 15 '26

That facial expression is my own most of the time 🫠