I just can't poo and my DR was of no help

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AMamaLana
AMamaLana Posts: 21 Member
in Food and Nutrition
All of those Google search results tell you the same stuff "it's your medication, you're pregnant, not enough water, not enough fiber, etc." Most websites tell you pooping twice a week is "normal". I really don't believe this, I personally think about once a day is closer to "normal". I'm lucky if I poo twice a week now, this has been going on for 6 weeks at this intensity.
These aren't helping me. My primary care doc was absolutely useless and just kept trying to give me referrals all around the state instead of answering my questions.
I realize you won't have much food diary to look at. Especially as I have lowered my caloric intake, using the diary can be really hard for me. Touch of OCD, unmedicated ADHD, I try to use it for a few days here and there to make sure I am not really off track counting calories again (I know I know, everyone has calorie counting errors) but I have to walk away from it because I get over-stressed about what/how I eat and just end up breaking down and stuffing my face full of 12 donuts...just doesn't work too well for me hahaha.

Monday through Friday I am awake at 6AM, eat/coffee and 6:45, have kids out the door at 8:20 and I have scheduled into my routine adequate time to sit on the porcelain throne and relax. We walk a block, drop one kid off, walk a quarter of a mile to drop other two off, and I walk home to speed clean or walk to errands around town, grocery store, etc. At noon I walk to get one child, return home. At 2:50 child and I walk the quarter mile to retrieve other two kids, and walk home again. We live on the fourth floor and city is all up and down hills, so while I may not be getting a true cardio workout, I do not sit on my tush 10 hrs a day either. Just going up my stairs makes you huff and puff a bit, never mind when I gotta carry a kid or groceries up!
I go for long hikes (several hours, several miles) when I can, we haven't a car at the moment.

Most days (at least 5/7 a week) I get 6-8 8oz cups of plain filtered water in. Some days worse, some better, it is my current big area of focus to make sure I drink as I thought maybe that's the poo problem. I've maintained this for over a month, it didn't improve the problem, but yes I will continue to focus on water anyway.

I've thought for a long time that I have dairy and wheat sensitivities and I do believe my serious eczema bouts are related to diet that includes these foods. I try to watch how much I eat, and/or eat alternatives. Stuff like corn, wild rice, barley, quinoa, etc doesn't seem to bother me so most of my food stuffs got switched over. So, I don't think it is a lack of this type of fiber. If I have had lots of wheat or dairy, my belly gets constipated, bloaty, maybe really loose poo and it is very uncomfortable/painful and then the eczema flares bad. When my diet has wheat and dairy alternatives mostly, I have been constipated and bloaty but it doesn't HURT...if that makes sense? Does it count as constipation if it doesn't hurt?

I am stingy with juice at home, because if I think of drinking something besides a coffee or two a day and my water, I won't want to drink my water (the kids are bad influence here too.) I canned hundreds of jars of organic local fruit produce last summer (used recipes without added ingredients, so not sugared up peaches), we've been munching down a few jars per week for snacks or a dinner side, even as desserts. I usually have some fresh fruits available as well, we're in a New England city so this time of year is not good for fresh.

We have a big serving of veggies with every dinner, I even mix veggies into one dish meal type things like casseroles, and have found many ways to disguise cooked spinach that I otherwise wouldn't eat haha.

I do not take any medications.
No supplements, no prescription pills, no magic capsules, no fairy dusts, nada. My birth control is a NON hormonal IUD, there is nothing released from it and I've had it for years. Rarely do I take painkillers, Benadryl maybe a few times per month to settle down some of the extreme eczema/skin reactions I'm prone to.

Currently, I haven't had a productive bathroom visit, and trust me I've been trying, since mid last week. Mid last week I had a trip that resulted in a disappointing amount of success, as I hadn't had poo success for four days previous of then! I've been watching the scale every few days. Three weeks ago I was 123# and very excited to be 5# away from goal weight. In three weeks, calculating my calorie consumption ups and downs, I'd expect to be about 121# right now but I'm 127#...because I'm full of ****...

Please tell me some more useful info than Google and my DR could :(
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Replies

  • CObluegrass
    CObluegrass Posts: 61 Member
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    how is your oil/fat intake? for me, if it's not lack of water, it's because I'm not getting enough oil in my diet so I'll try to cook something with olive oil to get these moving along. If all else fails, a night of cheap beer and fast food usually works too. :-)
  • kwjager
    kwjager Posts: 29 Member
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    Citrucell, in large quantities, may help.
  • Icandoityayme
    Icandoityayme Posts: 312 Member
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    CObluegrass wrote: »
    how is your oil/fat intake? for me, if it's not lack of water, it's because I'm not getting enough oil in my diet so I'll try to cook something with olive oil to get these moving along. If all else fails, a night of cheap beer and fast food usually works too. :-)
    I find sometimes when I eat something greesy that does the trick.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
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    Fat in your diet is supposed to be very good for lubricating things..
  • CJisinShape
    CJisinShape Posts: 1,407 Member
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    Green tea, green tea, green tea. Did I mention green tea?
  • CObluegrass
    CObluegrass Posts: 61 Member
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    from experience, I also found that a long walk is helpful. Apparently, the further you are from home, the more things get moving. :\
  • JenniferIsLosingIt
    JenniferIsLosingIt Posts: 595 Member
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    Yes, but how about prunes or other pooinducing things. There is also magnesium supliments that will help in this department as welll
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
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    Can you open your diary to public? I've had issues like yours. Dairy will bloat me, its the lactose. Yogurt not as much and homemade kefir not at all, because most of the lactose is gone. I stopped drinking skim milk and switched to almond or cashew milk for my coffee. Reduced fat kefir, not fat free. Other then that I've pretty much eliminated dairy. Even with eating lots of veggies etc, I don't get enough fiber for me to poop well. LOL I add unflavored psyllium to my morning smoothie. I added fat back to my life in the form of coconut oil. I either add a bit to a smoothie, but I also saute my kale with it, fat helps absorb the vitamins. Try magnesium too. I've also took grains out almost completely, even whole ones. I'll have beans with my kale for lunch. Bush's makes some really good chili beans of various varieties that I like. Oatmeal is my only other grain, an instant packet a day in a pumpkin smoothie. VERY high fiber and like liquid pumpkin pie!

    Anyway, adding psyllium to my diet, along with the veggies/beans works for me, and don't eliminate all oil.

    If that doesn't help in a couple of weeks, you may want to try a cleanse. If not a full out cleanse, I keep this around for occasional use http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/renew-life-cleanse-more-dietary-supplement-capsules/ID=prod6090973-product?ext=gooVitamins_ampersand_Supplements_PLA_Cleanse_prod6090973_pla&adtype=pla&kpid=sku6082107&sst=61c6dbae-cfca-25e9-6aef-000035b753b8&kpid=sku6082107#descriptionNamedTab

    But I haven't had to use it since I started with kefir/fruit/veggie smoothies with psyllium.
  • lisaw19855
    lisaw19855 Posts: 165 Member
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    I had a similar problem for the first 4 weeks of my diet, not pooing for days then struggling to poo. Turns out I'd dropped my fat too much, had a KFC cheat me and BINGO had a poop once a day since x
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Find another doctor. Have you been tested for food allergies?
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
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    I'm sure you'll "work" it out.... B)
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,931 Member
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    Hmm.. wheat, dairy and eczema... you sound like me. For me, I usually have to limit all grains (some is fine, but not more than usually once a day) as well as all dairy. Then eating higher fat helps (higher fiber I find does not help me) and water. Coffee can also be my best friend at times. Pound back 3-4 cups of that and 45 mins later you can't keep me out of the bathroom haha.

    Best of luck! Try some prunes.
  • agal129
    agal129 Posts: 215 Member
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    Have you really calculated how much fiber you are getting?

    What about eating a big bowl of beans? Oatmeal with flaxseed?
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
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    It also sounds like you could have problems with gluten, I'm not expert though. Is your doctor a DO? I prefer DO's to be more into nutrition and prevention.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    Yes to the fat. It makes things go.

    I'm on several medications that make pooping more difficult - I make sure to get enough fat/fiber, I take a daily magnesium supplement, and I use a stool in the bathroom to put my feet on (this sounds weird, but it's been INCREDIBLY helpful).

    I would not recommend a cleanse. My pharmacist had me do 2 weeks of stool softners once a day when things got really bad - that helped regulate things, too.

    Good luck. I hate, HATE when I can't go. It makes me so grumpy and miserable.
  • hipyogacat
    hipyogacat Posts: 11 Member
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    Have you looked into FODMAPS? Some people have difficulty digesting certain types of carbohydrate, leading to constipation, diarrhea, or alternating. Here's a link to two charts. Look at the second one (the red one) to see if you notice a pattern with foods that are triggering symptoms (both milk & wheat are FODMAPS, btw). http://www.ibsgroup.org/brochures/fodmap-intolerances.pdf
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
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    "Have you tried eating prunes. Eat prunes and come back in 30 days if they don't help."

    "Oh. Prunes didn't help? Take Metamucil and come back in 30 days if it doesn't help."

    Blah.

    Here are things I have tried. Some of them worked for me for a period of time, some of them didn't but have worked for other people.

    One thing that holds VERY true for me is, I can't let myself get backed up more than 2 days or I am TOAST, nothing's happening no matter what. And some days, I just need the solid glycerin suppositories to get things moving. (I have needed them to trigger actual diarrhea before, even when I'm near tears from the cramping. My GI tract is weird.) They don't work all the time, but they are an essential tool in my IBS kit. For the super heavy hitter times, I need a mineral oil enema followed by a normal saline one. (Or the doctor-prescribed colonoscopy prep stuff, GoLytely...yum?)

    --Canned pumpkin (this worked well for so long that my fingers turned orange from carotenemia/Vitamin A poisoning!)
    --Magnesium supplements
    --MiraLax (worked like magic for about a month, seven years ago, and hasn't worked since)
    --More green leafy vegetables than you thought could fit in your stomach
    --Avoiding wheat
    --All artificial sugar, all the time
    --Almonds (my current magic for switching from an IBS-C to an IBS-D phase. This might fall under the fats heading, but honestly, cashews and macademia nuts don't have nearly the same impact)

    When I was little my mom used to have me drink prune juice at night (prunes do nothing for me, but the juice can help), but she says it was always a gamble because what if things were on their way to a change the next day...
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    lanashirley wrote: »
    My primary care doc was absolutely useless and just kept trying to give me referrals all around the state instead of answering my questions.
    Maybe he was trying to refer you to someone who could help you and answer your questions. They are General Practitioners so not experts in everything when they feel it appropriate they will refer you on to someone more specialised. Your Dr obviously thought you needed to see someone so why not take his advice rather than just asking random people on the internet
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    eat nuts, beans, and more water bro
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Have you seen a Gastroenterologist? That's their specialty.

    I also agree with others to open up your diary. What does your daily intake of fat and fiber look like?

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