Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Support Group
Irritable bowel syndrome is a common intestinal disorder that is characterized by bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cramping, and constipation. Typically no abnormalities appear during standard medical testing, and so irritable bowel syndrome is identified by the symptoms. Although irritable bowel syndrome can cause serious discomfort, the intestines are not harmed.
Aloha! I know this may be a little long. But I"m going to share something I found....
I have ibs-c and have had chronic constipation for years. There were times when it used to flip flop between constipation and and the runs but in more recent yrs it's pretty much constipation. It got to the point where nothing over the counter helped me, not even miralax and I couldn't go to the bathroom without prescription medication. And I eat a pretty healthy diet with plenty of veggies and fruit.
Then in 2013 on top of ibs I was dx with gasrtoperisis. My doc said it was common for her patients with fibromyalgia to get gastroperisis every now and then and it comes in seasons. Well gastroperisis made my life a living hell. I pretty much ended on a soup diet. Anyway the gastroperisis finally passed almost 2 yrs later, but every time I tried to wean off the medication I got severely constipated and it would take weeks to finally start having normal BMs again.
Recently I was researching on the internet about chronic constipation and found (after I had to pay and download from a site, but you get desperate and do just about anything) out about taking magnesium citrate. Apparently magnesium is good for your muscles and is ALSO good for the muscles lining your lower GI tract (will help "move things along"). I read that you should start out by taking a low dosage and gradually (every few days or so) increase the dosage to a comfortable level. Take magnesium citrate with 50 mg Vit B6 to help absorption. And take these supplements right after DINNER. I couldn't find 50 mg Vit B6 in the vitamin stores around here but found 100 mg, and it works just fine. I started out on 125 mg of magnesium citrate and worked my way up to 400 mg. But you can go higher.
You should feel the need for a BM as soon as you wake up or shortly after. How you know you have reached a good dosage.... your stool should be easy to pass with out much effort or any effort at all. It should be soft and smooth but not runny. If you start having loose stool or diarrhea on a regular basis then gently reduce the dosage.
If you become stressed out about something, you may need to increase your dosage a little bit TEMPORARILY until your stress passes, because stress uses up magnesium. This doesn't mean your body has become accustom to the magnesium. Your body just used up extra magnesium because you were stressed out.
So far since I have started taking the magnesium citrate according to what I read, I have successfully weaned off the medication AND I have a good BM every morning after I wake up. I have no stomach pain, no cramps, no straining, and I go every day! The ONLY weird thing I notice (and this is how it effects ME, I don't know about others) is that I have to go several times with in 1 - 1.5 hrs because I don't empty all in one sitting. But for me that's much better than being constipated all the time!!
I hope this information helps people with ibs-c or chronic constipation because it sure helped me! God bless take care!
I have ibs-c and have had chronic constipation for years. There were times when it used to flip flop between constipation and and the runs but in more recent yrs it's pretty much constipation. It got to the point where nothing over the counter helped me, not even miralax and I couldn't go to the bathroom without prescription medication. And I eat a pretty healthy diet with plenty of veggies and fruit.
Then in 2013 on top of ibs I was dx with gasrtoperisis. My doc said it was common for her patients with fibromyalgia to get gastroperisis every now and then and it comes in seasons. Well gastroperisis made my life a living hell. I pretty much ended on a soup diet. Anyway the gastroperisis finally passed almost 2 yrs later, but every time I tried to wean off the medication I got severely constipated and it would take weeks to finally start having normal BMs again.
Recently I was researching on the internet about chronic constipation and found (after I had to pay and download from a site, but you get desperate and do just about anything) out about taking magnesium citrate. Apparently magnesium is good for your muscles and is ALSO good for the muscles lining your lower GI tract (will help "move things along"). I read that you should start out by taking a low dosage and gradually (every few days or so) increase the dosage to a comfortable level. Take magnesium citrate with 50 mg Vit B6 to help absorption. And take these supplements right after DINNER. I couldn't find 50 mg Vit B6 in the vitamin stores around here but found 100 mg, and it works just fine. I started out on 125 mg of magnesium citrate and worked my way up to 400 mg. But you can go higher.
You should feel the need for a BM as soon as you wake up or shortly after. How you know you have reached a good dosage.... your stool should be easy to pass with out much effort or any effort at all. It should be soft and smooth but not runny. If you start having loose stool or diarrhea on a regular basis then gently reduce the dosage.
If you become stressed out about something, you may need to increase your dosage a little bit TEMPORARILY until your stress passes, because stress uses up magnesium. This doesn't mean your body has become accustom to the magnesium. Your body just used up extra magnesium because you were stressed out.
So far since I have started taking the magnesium citrate according to what I read, I have successfully weaned off the medication AND I have a good BM every morning after I wake up. I have no stomach pain, no cramps, no straining, and I go every day! The ONLY weird thing I notice (and this is how it effects ME, I don't know about others) is that I have to go several times with in 1 - 1.5 hrs because I don't empty all in one sitting. But for me that's much better than being constipated all the time!!
I hope this information helps people with ibs-c or chronic constipation because it sure helped me! God bless take care!
I been taking 250'magnisium off and on, then quit. I got back to taking it and it helps.
I know there a few things like chocolate I can't eat because it causes constipation so watch for trigger food.
Good luck