Hi folks.

So, I can’t shit. I haven’t had a normal shit in like, 6 weeks. It’s been pretty bad. I’ve dealt with issues like this in the past, but not like this.

I’ve been having constipation with abdominal cramping for about the last 2 months. This has happened before, maybe about 18 months ago, and the last time it happened I went to my general practitioner and told her all my symptoms and she told me that I needed to drink more water and that I should take an osmotic laxative (like miralax) everyday. So she gave me a prescription for it and sent me on my way.

I did that, and it solved the problem 18 months ago. I was having regular, smooth soft stools (but not diarrhea) every day. Eventually, the pharmacy told me that I could no longer get my prescription and that I would have to buy my miralax over the counter, so I stopped taking it. That was maybe 10 months ago? Everything was fine up until 2 months ago.

I wasn’t really keeping track of when I was pooping, because that’s kind of a weird thing to do, but I normally have a bowel movement after my morning coffee before I go to work. It must have been 2 or 3 days without a bowel movement before I noticed that I was having abdominal cramping again and I thought that I was having bladder spasms again (separate issue, diagnosed by a separate doctor)

So I started taking the miralax again. Normally, it would work the same day. It took 3 more days to produce a bowel movement, and when it did, it was almost entirely liquid. It was horrible. I was in a lot of pain.

So since then, about 6 weeks ago, I’ve been going 3-4 days without a bowel movement, taking miralax most days, having horrible abdominal cramps the whole time, and then when I do have a bowel movement, it’s diarrhea. And mostly liquid. I’m scared that if I don’t take the miralax I won’t poop at all, and I’ve been so backed up that it hurts and I’m so bloated the whole time. I “gain” 4-5 pounds and then lose it all in 2 days, and then gain it all back again, presumably all in fecal matter.

I obviously need to see a gastroenterologist about this, and as soon as I can get a referral from my GP I will be doing so because this is no way to live.

I have an urgent care visit this afternoon to talk about my symptoms. My question for you all is, what questions should I ask? Is this the right type of appointment? Am I being stupid?

I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke weed. I drink 8-10 cups of water (including 1 sugar free Gatorade) a day, I don’t have any allergies that I am aware of. I’ve been tested for celiac disease in the past and it came back negative (blood test.) I drink 2-3 espressos a day.

I am, however, on a whole mess of prescriptions, but none of them are new.

Any advice is very much appreciated. Again, I will be seeing an urgent care doctor in a few hours, so I’m not looking for medical advice so much as I am advice on what to ask the doctor. Thanks in advance!