Constipation..

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annacataldo
annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I havent lost weight in over a week now. I was doing so good. I think the reason may be because I havent been able to use the bathroom as much as before.
I even broke down and tried a natural laxative last night that I took before bed that said by morning it would help me.
It didnt. As soon as I ate breakfast, I needed to go, but still the amount wasnt alot. I have never had the need to take anything like this before.
I saw a post in here last week where a woman had the same problem, and alot of people wrote back with remmedies... Ive tried everything, not sure what else to do.
I already drink 20cups of water a day, so Im getting plenty of water.
I cant excercise more than a few minutes a day so suggesting excercise doesnt help me.
Ive increased fiber dramatically. Before I wasnt getting very much, but now that ive increased it, ive at minimum met my 20g requirement to MFP recommends, but somedays even as much as doubled it.
I have fiber cereal (51%), fiber granola bars (35%), 21% fiber noodles... along with eating veggies everyday... last week I was eating 2cups of spinach most all days, plus everything else.
My fruit intake may be the problem, but ive never been a big fruit person, so why have i went from hardly ever eating fruit & not having a problem, to eating at least 1serving of fruit a day and having a problem? Yesterday I had strawberries, applesauce and then my normal daily peaches.
I know to stay away from cheese if ur having this sort of problem, and yesterday was the first time ive eaten alot of cheese in awhile, but i knew i was taking the laxative, so i didnt care... but if the laxative did nothing for me... UGH.
Someone in the post I was reading last week suggested coffee. I dont drink coffee but maybe once a week. I drank it on Monday and it did not help me.
Ive also tried chewing gum because I know in the past sometimes after chewing gum it made me have to go, but even after chewing gum everyday last week, still little to nothing.

Does anyone else have any suggestions that dont involve laxatives? Remember Im still going #2, but its just not a large amount.
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Replies

  • RaeannePemberton
    RaeannePemberton Posts: 382 Member
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    bottom line. to poop "regularly" you need enough: WATER, FIBER, and FAT. If just one of those is lacking it won't happen... OH and exercise helps too.

    i get 50g fiber a day (worked up to it lol, but sometimes even more than that), and try for 25% of my daily intake to be healthy fats, and i drink a TON of water... and i run. so i am pretty regular. sorry if tmi but i have no problem talking about such things!!! ;-)
  • SunLovin1
    SunLovin1 Posts: 682 Member
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    Are you eating less than 1200 calories?
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,411 Member
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    I know it sounds weird, but sometimes a good dose of Fried Chicken will be just what the dr. ordered.
  • ashleighlvschris
    ashleighlvschris Posts: 29
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    Ive heard too much fiber can actually make you constipated. Might be something you want to research. It affects everyone differently.
  • helthymom6
    helthymom6 Posts: 77
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    you have to remember that as your body adjusts to all these new foods it is going to react strangely. As someone who has struggled with this problem most of my life I would highly recommend staying away from laxatives. there are several types of fiber. Soluble and insoluble,( not sure i spelt that right:) Anyway A lot of veggies have soluble fiber. your body really needs some of both. One of the best ways to help yourself, if you already drink a lot of water is to take some insouluble fiber, like 100 % phyllium husks. You can get them at any health store. I would recommend not getting metamucil or anything besides 100% physillium husks, as this other stuff has additives that can cause gas. A few tablespoons every morning in water or juice should do the trick. It is amazing stuff and all natural. Good luck. I hope this helps.
  • garreltsnk
    garreltsnk Posts: 19
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    I take this certain tea. It's a french name, I'll would have to see it, to remember the name. I works great. In fact, you have to watch how much, and how strong you get it. The first time I used it, it didn't do anything, so I drank more, well if I just waited 12 hours, because then... look out. lol. I do remember it had diet tea on the front cover. You can get it at walmart in the tea area, or at a diet store. I hope that helps.
  • trinitystrix
    trinitystrix Posts: 8
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    I am a nurse so I pretty much deal with this on a daily basis... It is not always normal to go every day. Your body will eliminate what it needs to, as long as your going you may not need to go LARGE amounts. (sorry getting gross here) depending on the consistency- if your having very small formed stool, you may need more exercise/fiber in your diet, or if it is a small amount of liquid you may have a blockage. As long as you are going and is is soft formed you should be fine. Taking something like Miralax every day is not a bad idea, but also give yourself scheduled time on the toilet. Same time every day... you may not always go, but training your body to know when to go, may help you relax about it. More exercise is never a bad thing.... feel free to message me with any questions
  • juliapurpletoes
    juliapurpletoes Posts: 951 Member
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    I know it sounds weird, but sometimes a good dose of Fried Chicken will be just what the dr. ordered.

    this makes me giggle because I get it - all this healthy food fiber and water has really slowed me down. but the evening I ate a lovely fat laden rib eye steak - well viola!

    So maybe in the olden days when our mothers were given castor oil, there was something to it!

    The other serious suggestion I thought of was to try stretching even if you cannot do exercise. Stretching the abdominal muscles is like internal massage....lay on the floor tummy down and just gently push up - only with arms - the upper half of your body.

    It worked on my kids..... maybe you?

    Hang in there :)
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    raeanne--- as i said, i have plenty of water, lots of fiber, and ive only met fat content just a couple times so maybe thats it, thanks.

    sunlovin-- Im suppose to eat 1800 a day, and I have trouble getting up that high alot, but Im almost always over 1200 (There has been a couple times where it didnt happen)... Yesterday I had 400left to eat but was so stuffed i couldnt eat anymore.
  • Tzavush
    Tzavush Posts: 389 Member
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    I am a nurse so I pretty much deal with this on a daily basis... It is not always normal to go every day. Your body will eliminate what it needs to, as long as your going you may not need to go LARGE amounts. (sorry getting gross here) depending on the consistency- if your having very small formed stool, you may need more exercise/fiber in your diet, or if it is a small amount of liquid you may have a blockage. As long as you are going and is is soft formed you should be fine. Taking something like Miralax every day is not a bad idea, but also give yourself scheduled time on the toilet. Same time every day... you may not always go, but training your body to know when to go, may help you relax about it. More exercise is never a bad thing.... feel free to message me with any questions

    I am a nurse as well and was going to suggest something similar. In addition you need to look at things like the colour and density of the stools you are having.

    Restoralax, or Peglax are laxative powder you can add if you are truly constipated.

    A spoonful of olive oil or mineral oil may help with the fats and give your body the lubrication it needs, as I said if it is truly constipation.
    A decrease in caloric intake can decrease peristalsis which inevitably causes a decrease in motility and BM's.
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    julia, i do excercise, just not like everyone else who goes to the gym everyday. Instead of half hour of excercise (or more) a day, i have 10minutes a day--like joggin in place, or dancing around my kitchen, and even stretching already, but not that specific stretch. I will try it, thanks.

    I also eat red meat (steak, beef chunks, roast beef, something along these lines), once a week generally, and does not help me.

    I was just reading online and a site said that calcium supplements may cause an issue. and Ive been taking a medicine to help my injured hip that has 10% calcium in it. Maybe this is the issue? Who knows!

    Ive never had a problem on a diet resisting junk food/fast food, it disgusts me usuaully while dieting, but this past week ive been craving it so bad.. maybe I do need to make a trip to fried chicken world, maybe my bodies been trying to tell me something lol
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    tzavush--ive cut out all oil (vegatable oil, olive oil, etc), maybe thats the reason. Ill have to cook something in oil and maybe it will help me.

    Thank u everyone for the help.. I'll try some of these things and see what happens.
  • Balishdear
    Balishdear Posts: 60
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    Have you tried prunes, or a stool softener? They say any fruit that starts with a "p" helps... Peaches, prunes, pears, etc. I get constipated a lot (or used to ). Another idea... find a middle eastern restaurant and buy a tabbouli (sp?) salad. With the amount of parsley in that, it should clear things out.
  • emptysgirl
    emptysgirl Posts: 4 Member
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    Well, I don't generally have a problem with constipation unless I am pregnant.... My last pregnancy was really bad and I began taking a supplement that my mother uses it is called CalMax and my mother gets it from Media Power. It is a little pricey but it works great! My mother takes it almost every morning and usually within an hour or so of taking it she has to go to the bathroom. While I was pregnant it didn't work quite as fast on me, but if I took it daily I didn't have any problems. Anyway, thought that might help. Here is a web link to the place my mother buys it from... not sure if I did this right, but worst case you can always copy and paste it!

    http://www.drnewtons.com/calmax-original-p-110.html

    Also - fyi - this is NOT a laxative, and my mother is not normally constipated anymore - since taking this regularly is always regular! :blushing:
  • lcoulter23
    lcoulter23 Posts: 568 Member
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    I used to have that problem and then I got diagnosed with Polycystic ovarian syndrome with insulin resistance. The metformin I was given took care of that problem in a jiffy.
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    i dont have polysistic ovarian syndrome or insulin resistance. i was tested for those type of things a few months ago.

    again, ive never had a problem before which is why i have no idea what to do lol. thanks for the help.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,738 Member
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    You are getting a lot of fiber and not much fat. Try getting more fat (as suggested by others--I'm just agreeing with them). You need to get both fat and fiber for everything to work properly. And too much fiber all at once can make you constipated.
  • lcoulter23
    lcoulter23 Posts: 568 Member
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    That's great that you don't have it! It makes life very difficult at times and my metformin causes severe migraine head aches that last for days. I actually have one right now, but thanks to Aleve it is just a dull ache instead of feeling like someone is banging a drum inside my head.
  • morefitmom
    morefitmom Posts: 264 Member
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    I have a similiar issue and probiotics help me...
  • Emi_chan
    Emi_chan Posts: 105 Member
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    Try limiting processed foods and eat 5 prunes a day, I suggest snacking on them throughout the day.

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