personal issue... need some help

crystal10584

Ok, I've seen a post on here about someone who had (what they thought to be too many) 3+ BM per day... I'm lucky if I have one every 3 days without the aid of laxatives and stool softeners (which I try desperately to stay away from but sometimes lack of ability to go is painful)

Any advice? I eat more than my recommended fiber (including fiber tablets) but I don't over do it (I don't think...)

Help!

Heather75

Eat prunes.

That's all I've got...

Eskimopie

Are you drinking enough water? I find that helps...if you think you are doing everything right however, I'd go to the doctor. You may have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or a host of other things that could cause your problem. I was just diagnosed with hypothyroidism and one symptom is constipation, which explains a lot for me. Good luck!

jmgj27

Are you eating enough? I find that if I dip too far below my recommended calorie intake for more than a day or two, my entire digestive system seems to shut down. Not enough in = not enough out!

crystal10584

I drink about 2 liters of water a day (little more than 8 - 8oz glasses)

I hit right about 1200 every day, but I guess I'll pick up some prunes next time I'm in the store.

Any other suggestions... I'm not a big prune fan

DebbieWaldhelm

I would definitely see a Doctor specializing in Gastroenterology. Your weight loss problem can be linked to your slow bowel function. It is worth the trip

theresnoeggs

fiber will BULK it up, making it harder to go if you are already constipated.

Considering I'm on Methadone I suffer with this horribly... Going on average 1-2x a week, plus two of my three kids suffer from chronic constipation.

I recently learned breastfed newborns have the correct bowel habits for humans: going after every feeding or at least every other.



Increase your fruits, especially apples.
Increase your green veggies: ESPECIALLY broccoli and dark green leafy lettuce such as spinach
Drink PLENTY of water which will help "loosen up the bulk" without making it too "soft" (Sorry, I know TMI!)
Decrease your starches: rice, pasta, breads, potato's. Stay away or limit banana's.
Drink real apple juice-not that sugar crap
And lastly, which I only use as a last result: Real prune juice, or prunes- and NOT the dried prunes.


If none of that helps increase your habits, take milk of mag for a few days, and if you do need a helping hand, use miralax-ONLY laxative safe enough for children, which means it's the only one I am willing to use.

leahdanbury

apple juice does it for me

aeckels616

Ok, here's a little TMI...
I spent most of my life being unknowingly constipated. I had no idea that you were supposed to poop once per day - I often went only once per week.
That totally changed when I drastically cut the amount of bread and sugar I was eating (I also spent most of my life addicted to bread and sugar). I don't know exactly why that is, but I can definitely tell it's because of the dietary changes. Occasionally I'll have a day where I eat a lot of bread and I notice an immediate difference in my (lack of) poo over the next 24 hours.

Just1forMe

Two prunes at bedtime every night....you will have great "results" in a week or less. Works like a charm! Best 50 calories you've ever spent!

kcmurray

I have had issues with this off and on for quite a few years now. I saw a gastroenterologist last year because I went a whole MONTH without going. Some people have slower digestive tracts than others, but the doctor told me to use Miralax every day and for the couple of days to take Milk of Magnesia (liquid) each night. I did and got back on track pretty much. The Miralax sould help, but he said if you go a couple of days without going to take the MOM. Hope this helps!

Just1forMe

Any other suggestions... I'm not a big prune fan

Just saw this...
If you are a fan of poopin', I'd have to say hold your nose and swallow them. I buy the Sunsweet individually wrapped "Ones"...they taste great to me! I'm telling you, they REALLY work!

runningfool9

I suggest prunes and water. I used to have 1 bm every five days.

Ever since I've eaten 12 prunes per day (4 prunes, 3 x day), plus 2 litres of water a day, I've been having a BM daily, sometimes 2 or 3 bms per day. I feel so much better not having that stuff hanging around inside me for so long.

crystal10584

I have had issues with this off and on for quite a few years now. I saw a gastroenterologist last year because I went a whole MONTH without going. Some people have slower digestive tracts than others, but the doctor told me to use Miralax every day and for the couple of days to take Milk of Magnesia (liquid) each night. I did and got back on track pretty much. The Miralax sould help, but he said if you go a couple of days without going to take the MOM. Hope this helps!

Thanks I have miralax at home... just been uneasy about taking something i have to mix with liquid... looks like I'll be drinking it for the next 7 days and having MOM on hand for the occasional backups and going to lay off the fiber.

minburke

fiber will BULK it up, making it harder to go if you are already constipated.

I thought it was the other way around? Fiber makes it looser, protein more compact?

I had that problem and just increased my water intake and it's helping.

junebug523

It's good to increase your water intake, definitely. What kind of exercise do you do, if any? I find that if I'm exercising more often, especially adding some more intense cardio into the mix, I stay more regular.

Of course, then you can sometimes get the opposite problem, if you know what I mean...

But of the two, I'd prefer racing to the bathroom to being constipated.

notreatsforme

I am just gonna put this out there, you take it for what it is worth. It is gonna sound mean but it is totally unbias. You may be under or at (freakishly you are within 2 calories or right on daily) but what you are eatiing is horrible. There are limited fruits and vegetables.

Your sugar intake is very high. Your sodium levels are very high. You need to take a look at what you are eating and making sure that you are still eating from all of the food categories.

There are many underlying health conditions that cause this issue as well so I would increase the fruits and veggies, drink half of your body weight in ounces of water a day, and take the mirax or metamusil (spelling??) and see if that makes a different. If not, I would make an appointment to discuss this with a professional.

I really don't mean this to sound the way that it does. I don't know how else to say it. Good luck

theresnoeggs

fiber will BULK it up, making it harder to go if you are already constipated.

I thought it was the other way around? Fiber makes it looser, protein more compact?

I had that problem and just increased my water intake and it's helping.

Many people think that way, as did I until nursing school.

It bulks and soften's, and aids the intestinal tract in motility.

"Advantages of consuming fiber are the production of healthful compounds during the fermentation of soluble fiber, and insoluble fiber's ability (via its passive hygroscopic properties) to increase bulk, soften stool and shorten transit time through the intestinal tract."
**Just One of MANY Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber **

theresnoeggs

I am just gonna put this out there, you take it for what it is worth. It is gonna sound mean but it is totally unbias. You may be under or at (freakishly you are within 2 calories or right on daily) but what you are eatiing is horrible. There are limited fruits and vegetables.

Your sugar intake is very high. Your sodium levels are very high. You need to take a look at what you are eating and making sure that you are still eating from all of the food categories.

There are many underlying health conditions that cause this issue as well so I would increase the fruits and veggies, drink half of your body weight in ounces of water a day, and take the mirax or metamusil (spelling??) and see if that makes a different. If not, I would make an appointment to discuss this with a professional.

I really don't mean this to sound the way that it does. I don't know how else to say it. Good luck

crystal10584

I am just gonna put this out there, you take it for what it is worth. It is gonna sound mean but it is totally unbias. You may be under or at (freakishly you are within 2 calories or right on daily) but what you are eatiing is horrible. There are limited fruits and vegetables.

Your sugar intake is very high. Your sodium levels are very high. You need to take a look at what you are eating and making sure that you are still eating from all of the food categories.

There are many underlying health conditions that cause this issue as well so I would increase the fruits and veggies, drink half of your body weight in ounces of water a day, and take the mirax or metamusil (spelling??) and see if that makes a different. If not, I would make an appointment to discuss this with a professional.

I really don't mean this to sound the way that it does. I don't know how else to say it. Good luck

ok, what I eat isn't THAT bad. I admit, I've gotten fast food once or twice, and I'm trying to do better. I'm not really a big fruits and veggies kinda person... but I'm working on it. Avoiding chinese, mexican, and other fast foods is hard for me because that's what my diet used to consist of.

The days my sugar intake is high are the days I go to starbucks (which now that it's been brought to my attention, I will be cutting out except for once a week). I stay under the recommended sodium intake on here most days.

Changing eating habits that have been in place for a long time is difficult, and this is a struggle... BUT... I'm down over 20 lbs now and almost 1/3 of the way to my goal which is better than I had expected.

sd892310

Hi I have IBS, was diagnosed a couple of months ago (although suspected for long time due to family members having the same) after things got so severe i was hospitalised whilst they tried to get things going again.

I was told that although people are told to eat more fiber, it is not always necessarily the case or best way forward. I was eating a hell of a lot of it and was still having quite severe problems (5weeks without BM), with several different remedies not working, and the doctor said that sometimes too much fiber can do as much damage as too little fibre.

once my initial problem was resolved, to stop it from getting bad again, I was told to try and cut out/avoid all wheat from my diet and ensure i was drinking 2 litres of just water a day (ie not including teas, squashes etc in my 2 litres). I was also told to cut back on dairy, but not have to cut it all out, and eat more fruit and vegetables.

Touch wood before i finally had it diagnosed my BM would vary between 6 days to 8days and in that instance it was 5 weeks, and since i have come out of hospital and followed the advice given to me my BM are normally daily, sometimes every other day, and i have found that my weight is a lot more even (not up and down so much).

IBS is a general term used by doctors when the bowel doesnt work the way that it should, but there can be many variations in the way this happens.

Everyone who suffers with it will have triggers and you need to find out what yours are and try to avoid. The most common ones are:

Wheat intolerance
Dairy Intolerance
Stress/Anxiety
Caffeine intolerance
Chocolate Intolerance

You probably wont even know you have one or more of these intolerances - i certainly didnt, and i never used to have an intolerance either, but something my consultant said was that sometimes if someone eats too much / a lot of a type of food, ie wheat, dairy etc, even though they are not born with an intolerance their bodies can develop one through too much of the foods.

i guess the best thing to do is look at your diet, see what you eat and what could be triggering it, and try avoiding/substituing them. it may take a bit of time to get it right but you'll find once you have cracked it youll feel lots better in yourself and your weight wont go up and down so much.

hope this is of some help to you!

Just1forMe

I can't see your diary, but you appear to be doing well in your weight loss efforts. Of course fruits and veggies & making healthy choices are important...good for you for working on it. The people who are criticizing your food choices may want to hide their own diaries before pointing fingers :P I found them quite amusing.
Hmmm...I could have sworn your question was about how to poop, not how to improve your food choices.
You were very kind in your response to them, Crystal :flowerforyou:

I am just gonna put this out there, you take it for what it is worth. It is gonna sound mean but it is totally unbias. You may be under or at (freakishly you are within 2 calories or right on daily) but what you are eatiing is horrible. There are limited fruits and vegetables.

Your sugar intake is very high. Your sodium levels are very high. You need to take a look at what you are eating and making sure that you are still eating from all of the food categories.

There are many underlying health conditions that cause this issue as well so I would increase the fruits and veggies, drink half of your body weight in ounces of water a day, and take the mirax or metamusil (spelling??) and see if that makes a different. If not, I would make an appointment to discuss this with a professional.

I really don't mean this to sound the way that it does. I don't know how else to say it. Good luck

ok, what I eat isn't THAT bad. I admit, I've gotten fast food once or twice, and I'm trying to do better. I'm not really a big fruits and veggies kinda person... but I'm working on it. Avoiding chinese, mexican, and other fast foods is hard for me because that's what my diet used to consist of.

The days my sugar intake is high are the days I go to starbucks (which now that it's been brought to my attention, I will be cutting out except for once a week). I stay under the recommended sodium intake on here most days.

Changing eating habits that have been in place for a long time is difficult, and this is a struggle... BUT... I'm down over 20 lbs now and almost 1/3 of the way to my goal which is better than I had expected.

pricegirls4

Hi, i have heard from my doc, that too much fiber can block you up. Just up your water intake. I've always had issues and since i bumped up my h2o i have been much better. Hope this helps, nothing more painfull that bowel issues.

kcmurray

I always mix Miralax with orange juice and I can't even taste it. Hope things get better for you!