Constipation

Sabine_Stroehm

last night i had 500 mls of aloe and kiwi juice, 2 litres of 'be regular' tea (with peppermint, chamomile, milk thistle and senna in it) (not as much as it sounds, it was 2 x 1L bottle of water with one teabag in each), 4 prunes, 7 dried apricots, and 2 pieces of natural licorice. It worked too well :S

stoked, though.

So you had a stimulant laxative and a bunch of other stuff?? wow.

where exactly does it say I had a laxative? didn't. had a bunch of natural stuff. Your posts in here aren't very positive, tbh. If you've got nothing useful to say, why bother?

Senna is a stimulant laxative. Sorry I assumed everyone knew that, since, well, laxative ads on TV advertise that they have senna as their effective ingredient. It was not my aim to be unhelpful...Again, I assume you knew you took a powerful laxative and then a bunch of other well known laxatives. sorry!

ndj1979

you could always hook up a vacuum cleaner to your *kitten* and turn it on high...essentially a home made colonoscopy....

wow. that was...ummm... pointless.

story of my life....

DebbieLyn63

Avocados. Spinach. Nuts. Water.

Willowana

My doc wanted me to increase my protein considerably. I've NEVER had this problem until then. Granted, I now love my protein and get cranky if I don't have enough. Ground flax seed and more healthy fats have definitely helped.

spud_chick

I've struggled with this chronically for years despite being mostly vegetarian and drinking lots of water. Exercising more didn't make a difference either, for me.

Couple of things;

--it's possible to get too much fiber, as it can actually slow things down and make it harder for your muscles to move the bulk. Lately the thinking is that eating foods containing a lot of water content (veggies/fruits/soups) is more helpful than drinking water and getting fiber from dry sources.

--too much calcium can absolutely cause this. Consider using the calcium tracker in MFP to make sure you're not going way over the recommended allowance between your food and any calcium-containing supplements you are taking. More is not better with calcium and recent studies suggest that taking calcium supplements increases risk of heart disease.

More importantly, consider taking a magnesium supplement daily, which is essential for calcium to function properly in your body and also supports digestive health, from the stomach down. Magnesium has been a huge breakthrough for me with regularity. I started eating more calcium on purpose (like the doctors always preach to middle-aged women) and within a couple of weeks nothing would help me go. Now I take Solgar Magnesium Citrate tablets every night with dinner. For me, three tabs is the working dosage, it might take less for you. It's not easy to find, I have to order it online. Drugstores typically sell magnesium citrate as a liquid that is usually used for surgical prep cleansing, as for colonoscopies. I don't recommend trying that stuff unless your doctor tells you to! It bears no resemblance to the Solgar magnesium citrate tablets in my experience.

Most drugstores only carry magnesium tablets as magnesium oxide/hydroxide, which is what's in Phillips Milk of Magnesia. That is better than nothing (especially if you don't want to wait for a mail order) but is not a very absorbable form of magnesium for long term use. In the short term I did find the Phillips' MoM caplets to help. Not crazy about their liquids (flavor).

Be aware that magnesium can be mildly sedative; this is why I tend to take it at night.

Good luck with this! I can sympathize.

EDIT: I see someone else had already suggested the mag citrate, so consider this another vote in favor!

chercee

My bowel is a total jerk, thanks to my endometriosis. I've struggled with irregular bowel (one way or the other) for years now. Finally, I'm figuring out what works!

1) Morning smoothie with flax seeds and/or hemp hearts. The hemp hearts might take a day or so to kick in, but if you eat them every day (1 tbsp) after a few days you'll be going regularly. The flax is the same, though less "powerful."

2) Digestive smoothie! This is a recipe an endosister passed on. If you drink it at night, you should be good to go (so to speak) in the morning. Here is the recipe:
1 small banana
1 small pear
1 tbsp. hemp hearts
3 mint leaves
1-2 tsp. honey
1 cup water

Blend and serve! Good luck

trudijoy

last night i had 500 mls of aloe and kiwi juice, 2 litres of 'be regular' tea (with peppermint, chamomile, milk thistle and senna in it) (not as much as it sounds, it was 2 x 1L bottle of water with one teabag in each), 4 prunes, 7 dried apricots, and 2 pieces of natural licorice. It worked too well :S

stoked, though.

So you had a stimulant laxative and a bunch of other stuff?? wow.

where exactly does it say I had a laxative? didn't. had a bunch of natural stuff. Your posts in here aren't very positive, tbh. If you've got nothing useful to say, why bother?

Senna is a stimulant laxative. Sorry I assumed everyone knew that, since, well, laxative ads on TV advertise that they have senna as their effective ingredient. It was not my aim to be unhelpful...Again, I assume you knew you took a powerful laxative and then a bunch of other well known laxatives. sorry!

explaining yourself helps The amount of senna in the tea is negligible. I know what laxatives are, and what they do, because as I am pretty badly hypothyroid I have had to resort to them in the past as my condition has accompanying digestive issues. I prefer NOT to take laxatives, which is why I try the natural route first. Comparing the amount of senna in a pill, or straight senna tea, vs this tea showed me this one is gentler and less active but still active enough to work.