BM.. help!

jlynnm70 wrote: »

I struggle- always have. But this time around it was getting pretty bad. lately I've added benefiber (or store brand equiv) to my drink 2x a day. In my morning coffee, and in my water in the afternoon. Seems to be helping. You just stir it in and it doesn't change the taste or color or anything. I was pretty miserable for a while, and even over the counter laxatives weren't working. I was about to go to the doctor when I started upping the fiber intake and that seems to have helped.

If fiber in diet is short, this can work well.

If fiber is ample, extra fiber makes things worse. I know this from unhappy experience (my problem at the time was water), and saw it happen to others here on the "10 veggie servings daily challenge" thread (where the problem was fats).

(The definition of "ample fiber" probably varies by person, though.)

There's a great app called Cara that allows you to track your daily health and all the changes that might affect it - including bowel movements, what you eat/possible trigger foods, bloating, stomach pain, etc. It's really easy to use and might be helpful for tracking! I've got IBS, and used it before my official diagnosis. It helped me pinpoint my lactose intolerance. Good luck!

When I started my latest journey in January I was eating 500 to 1200 calories a day for a few weeks. Needless to say, I was anything BUT regular. I know I needed more fiber, so the hunt was on. I decided on three basic “meals” to provide ~20g of fiber every day. Of course that goes up and down, depending on whether I skip a meal or add some other item to the menu.

The first meal is steel cut oats with flax meal and blackberries, good for around 10g. Add a few dried prunes and it goes up a little.

The second meal is my daily salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado, good for 4g to 6g, depending on quantity of ingredients. I can add some additional ingredients to up the amount of fiber.

The third meal is yogurt with flax meal and walnuts, good for an additional 10g or so. The amount of fiber varies with brands and types of yogurt.

I probably get an average of 20g of fiber every day. Non soluble fiber does’t dissolve and is not digested. It goes in the front and comes out the back, scrapping down the intestinal walls, keeping me all pink and shiny inside. The soluble fiber is not digested, but does absorb water, mixes with the digested food in my intestine, and forms those nice, soft, “Lincoln Logs” I like to see. The thing is, soluble fiber needs water to do it’s job. But just drinking those recommended 8 glasses a day, alone won’t cut it. Any water I drink will go in and out unless I eat enough salt to retain it. Too much salt and my ankles swell up. Not enough salt and there’s not enough water for the soluble fiber to do it’s job. Plenty of fiber and not enough water and I’m constipated. Not enough fiber, but plenty of water and I’m constipated.

For me it’s a delicate balance of water, salt, and fiber. I took me about a month to figure it out.

corrarjo wrote: »

@csplatt, If you really want to get cleaned out and inspected, talk to your doctor about a colonoscopy. Sign up for that and they'll give you a gallon of "cool-aid" to drink the night before. I think it contains so much fiber you need a prescription to get it. The stuff will clean you out in a matter of hours. Don't be too far from the bathroom while you're drinking it. The next day you'll be on the examining table with a remote camera up your wazoo. The drugs they give you are great too.

Wow not sure my post hinted I was interested in any sort of assistance or inspection 😂 maybe save that tip for the folks who want to know how to flush out water weight!