Bowel Movement problems in PD patient

Hi
Im a first time poster based in Europe. I hope the nature of this post will not offend anybody as its not a nice subject to talk about

My father has been on home dialysis - PD dialysis for about a year now
His overall dialysis treatment is going well. His weight is staying consistent week on week and the fluids are clear and his blood work results are good and medical team are happy with his progress

However He is having lot of problems with his bowel movements that is impacting on his quality of life both for himself and immeadiate family and carers

Whats happening is that his bowels stop movement for several consequtive days despite him taking 3 movicol powders daily and 2 senekot tablets each night. I mean nothing happens a all - no bbowel movement what so ever. He is suffereing for lot of trapped wind and has no appetite and is flatulating(passing wind) a lot. He feels that he needs to go to the toilet but when he does nothing happens or he just flatulates

After a couple of days his bowels will start moving again but it is diarrahera and very bad diarrphea and is fowl smelling

He will have diarraheara for about 1-2 days and then the cycle starts all over again - his bowels completely stop for a few days again and then start moving and then stop - its a vicious circle

Initially this was happening maybe about once every couple of weeks but it has now got to the stage when it is happening every week and is a endless cycle of no bowel movement for a few days and then diarrhoea for a few days and so on.

The medical team dont seem to have any answers or possible solutions to why this is happening saying they never heard of this before

Has anyone ever experienced this or know what cuase of the problem could be or possible solutions
Thanks

Hi Passport1,
Sorry to hear about your Dad’s problem! In my case I took a regular laxative as my bowel movements weren’t quite normal on PD. I took Senokot (1 or 2 tabs).
In your Dad’s case I would be pushing the medical team to investigate further. It’s not normal & it must be a big hassle for your Dad, not to mention the discomfort in his tummy from not having regular bowel movements.
Perhaps you could try changing the current laxative he takes? I’m at a loss as to what to suggest to you, except further investigations by a Dr.
Cheers, Aussie Angie.

It sounds as if these are gastrointestinal (GI) problems that may not be related to the peritoneal dialysis. If the nephrology/dialysis team doesn’t have any further ideas for evaluation or treatment of the problems, perhaps you should have your father see a GI specialist. Since this has been going on for a while, I’d recommend following up right away. - A PD nurse from the USA.