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.
Have struggled with constipation for years...
Does anybody else not go for 4 days to a week and then bm after bm probably 4 or 5 within a couple of hours?
I currently take Food Enzymes and probiotics. I eat healthy food with plenty of fiber and drink water all day long....
Sometimes too, if I've not had a bm for a while, there will be think, stringy, rubber mucous strands for the first stools....
Anybody else suffer from this or have any alternative suggestions? Sorry if TMI...
Does anybody else not go for 4 days to a week and then bm after bm probably 4 or 5 within a couple of hours?
I currently take Food Enzymes and probiotics. I eat healthy food with plenty of fiber and drink water all day long....
Sometimes too, if I've not had a bm for a while, there will be think, stringy, rubber mucous strands for the first stools....
Anybody else suffer from this or have any alternative suggestions? Sorry if TMI...
Like you, I often don't have a bm for 4-5 days, then seems to be off & on all day.
I take (Dr. directed)600 mg of Ducosate Sodium (generic for Colace) a day, take probiotica, drink ~3 quarts of water each day and use Miralax infrequently. Difficult to get enough fiber when nearly all high-fiber foods & foods recommended to counter constipation trigger severe IBS pains. And I also have issues with Citrucel...
You are not alone....
Magnesium might help you.
I got checked out to make sure nothing was going on, and they said it was just IBS. I was referred to a GI specialist and started exploring treatment options for the IBS-constipation. I finally have something that works for me. I have unusually hard and unusually large stools. Amitiza was not enough for me, and Linzess made me go so much everything, even water, went right through me, and I wound up getting dehydrated. I have other health problems as well and already run risks of being dehydrated. I then talked to my doctor about magnesium oxide, a natural stool softener. He was open to to the idea of letting me try a moderately high dose of it (400 mg). It sometimes even works when I take it by itself, but when I have to take medicines that could constipate me, I take Colace 100 along with it. If it's been over a day without having one, I take Miralax mixed with a little Benefiber (this is what it takes to get it going for me). This combined with a high fiber diet and staying as hydrated as possible has helped this tremendously. I always eat either All Bran Buds or a Fiber One bar for breakfast to ensure I get a good start on my fiber intake because I need about 25-30 grams of fiber a day. I also like the idea of all natural non-senna laxatives (I know too many people who have become dependent on this) if nothing else works. I found a colon cleanse acai product at Smoothie King that says it's for weight loss but is really just an all natural laxative. It worked for me when I took one pill only on occasions. I brought it to the specialist, and he said it was fine for me to take it but only on occasions when it gets really bad. I only take them as needed but haven't need them in a very long while.
I had been through a lot of medicine before I found out what worked for me. I would suggest looking into getting a good GI specialist if you haven't already who will listen to you and who will work with you figure out solutions, or even a family doctor who can discuss your treatment options and help you figure out why this is happening. I completely understand because I have gone through this, too. It's embarrassing, frustrating, and uncomfortable. I hope you are able to figure out what works best for you soon.