Help, fiber's not working

kturner2012

I've had this probelm for several years. My sister suggested an herbal tea that is a natural laxitive. It's called Smooth Move and is in the grocery store on the tea isle. It's been a miracle for me. I didn't love the way it tasted, so I added about a teaspoon of honey and that fixed the problem. I would suggest drinking it when you have a day to spend at home.

beckajw

There comes a point and time I get extremely angry that I will eat fiber, increase my carbs, go primarily for vegetables, but I can't seem to 'go.' At one point it got so bad, I went after nine days. It seems that if you don't have regular bowel movements, you can't lose the weight you want to lose. I'm trying to go for oatmeal for breakfast.....see if that helps at all, but I don't think it's healthy to not go without the use of a laxative every couple days. Any suggestions on how to cleanse things out, push it through? I do laps at the park everyday, so i know exercise doesn't help.

Add fat to your diet. A teaspoon of olive oil added to the oatmeal each day. And lots of water.

cccerberus

There comes a point and time I get extremely angry that I will eat fiber, increase my carbs, go primarily for vegetables, but I can't seem to 'go.' At one point it got so bad, I went after nine days. It seems that if you don't have regular bowel movements, you can't lose the weight you want to lose. I'm trying to go for oatmeal for breakfast.....see if that helps at all, but I don't think it's healthy to not go without the use of a laxative every couple days. Any suggestions on how to cleanse things out, push it through? I do laps at the park everyday, so i know exercise doesn't help.

first off, you need to drink water (as much as you can) 1/2 hour before every meal
second, plenty of INSOLUBLE fiber (oatmeal is soluble fiber and thus will not help with moving product).
corn
cantaloupe (also a negative calorie food.. love this stuff)
apples help quite a bit
probiotics help too

also, coffee in the morning, and never try to put off the urge to move product. If you have to go, take the time and do it while the urge is there. if you have a history of issues, it will take time for it to normalize

rachmass1

If you have one of those big exercise balls try lying on it on your stomach and roll around. It gets all the tummy juices going that way too and you can get a good back stretch at the same time.

jcpmoore

Without seeing your diary it's tough to give effective advice. You say you tried fiber-how much? If you go too overboard with the fiber it will have the opposite effect and stop you up. I would highly recommend meeting with your doctor and a dietitian with a copy of your diary for the last 2-3 weeks. This will give them each a chance to see what you are eating and how it's affecting you. Keep track of when you are having BMs, too. Make a note on the diary page or something.

I'm guessing you've tried the simple answers by now. I usually try the eat some prunes or an apple, drink a cup of a coffee trick. That works for me. You're probably beyond that at this point.

Make sure you have a suitable amount of fat in your diet. Lots of water. Sometimes warm or hot liquids can help more. And don't be afraid to use a stool softener if you need to. Try that before a laxative if you can.

Also, check your iron levels. Are you on an iron supplement or a multivitamin that has iron? Those can really stop you up badly. Even without the supplement, excess iron can be a problem so check it out.

HTH

MzRKP

When you have coffee early in the morning, that has helped me. I've also started taking stool softener pills everyday, you can take 1 to 2 a day, its like a vitamin, and it will help you go.. It's not a laxative either, it just helps you go. A lot of water is good too, I suffer from constipation as well.