Let's Talk About Constipation...

[emcmaster]

Pleasant topic, I know...

Mine has gotten *better* since going gluten-free, but it's still pretty bad. I finally have put two and two together to find that dairy seems to plug me up, so I've severely limited the amount I'm eating, sadly.

What do you take to keep things going?

I take magnesium supplements - the dosage I vary based on how well I went that day, miralax occasionally, drink strong coffee on an empty stomach every morning (without it, I don't go). I used to take 1 zelnorm tablet every night and it worked like magic, but I ran out and have yet to get another prescription, something I'll be doing soon. I used to take a lot of fiber supplements, but that seemed to make things worse, as well as taking Miralax every day - it just changed the consistency of it, not whether it actually came out. Somehow last week, I got behind and I'm STILL behind. I get so bloated and such bad pains, it's almost unbearable.

Has anyone tried anything that worked really well, every day?

[snapple]

I feel your pain! I also struggle with constipation. I have found that eating a salad every day helps a lot. It gets results (sometimes small, but they're results). I also find consistant exercise helps (I am still working on the consistant part). I also take citracel every night. Sometimes I feel like I'm 90, but hey, whatever it takes to feel better. And well, it's always nice when you go to the bathroom, zip up your jeans, and find that they fit better than when you went in.

Hope this helps!

Kate

[emcmaster]

And well, it's always nice when you go to the bathroom, zip up your jeans, and find that they fit better than when you went in.

YES!

Isn't it funny how much the bloating goes down at times?

I eat loads of veggies, but I do notice that raw salad greens help some. Good luck!

[mollyacampbell]

I'm suffering from this right now and I called my GI doc today. She prescribed magnesium chromate for tonight (it makes me retch, I had to take it before the colonoscopy - and it doesn't work!) and then I start miralax every day tomorrow morning. So sorry I don't have any results to share with you yet, but I will say that I have put off dealing with the constip. specifically and I think it's leading to many other problems - pain, aches, misery, bloating, aversion to eating (which makes me very cranky), etc. So I say, be proactive, call the doc, try a bunch of things. I'll report back on my findings, maybe you will too.

Any one else get sick of talking about poo all day? I feel like I should be on South Park or something...

[super-sally888]

Yeah, if not one then the other. Am also suffering today. Exercise doesn't make a difference for me. Strong coffee helps - but not the last two days. Drinking heaps of water helps. Will try that later. Don't like fibre supplements. They make me feel unwell. Fruits and veges seem not to help... Hmmm... Guess we are all different in what works.

[Mtndog]

Yep- you are not alone. It's been a problem my entire life. Before going gluten-free and affter. Cutting out gluten and legumes made no difference. Cutting out dairy made no difference. I tried EVERYTHING from fiber to flax seed to magnesium. NOTHING worked. I finally gave in and started taking the Miralax that my doctor presecribed for me (GI- Celiac specialist) and lo and behold--- it works!

I really think that constipation messes with your entire system.

[blueeyedmanda]

I know it messes with my moods, when I have "C" I am miserble!

[burdee]

Yep- you are not alone. It's been a problem my entire life. Before going gluten-free and affter. Cutting out gluten and legumes made no difference. Cutting out dairy made no difference. I tried EVERYTHING from fiber to flax seed to magnesium. NOTHING worked. I finally gave in and started taking the Miralax that my doctor presecribed for me (GI- Celiac specialist) and lo and behold--- it works!

I really think that constipation messes with your entire system.

I also had lifelong constipation. I also used fiber and magnesium which helped somewhat, but I was nowhere near 'normal'. After receiving positive dx's from Enterolab for gluten and dairy, I eliminated those and improved somewhat, but still was not normal. Then I did the ELISA test for 100 different foods and learned I had egg and cane sugar allergies. another Elab test diagnosed soy allergy. Eliminating all those foods also helped somewhat. Then another test found Klebsiella bacteria for which I was treated with caprylic acid and high dose probiotics. Then I went on vacation and was extremely careful about what I ate, because I didn't want to get sick. With that very limited diet I had NORMAL stools for the first time in my LIFE. Then I returned home and slowly returned a more varied diet and my usual constipated pattern. I recently tested for more food allergies after reacting badly to flax. However I also learned that I had been using some naturally gluten free products which were processed in a factory which also processes WHEAT products. After eliminating those products and flax I'm slowly returning to the 'normal' I experienced while on vacation.

My naturopath says constipation is always a symptom of other problems in my gut. When I have gluten or other allergy reactions I always feel cramping pain, like something is squeezing my intestines. Afterwards my stools are little pieces, just as I would imagine if something squeezed my intestines rather than letting stool flow normally. Eliminating all the allergies, bacteria and gluten sources helped me achieve 'normal' stools. However, everytime I get contaminated I go through some constipation before I get back to 'normal'.

BURDEE

[emcmaster]

Thanks for all the replies - I feel like there are fewer of us, so we have to help each other out!

I recently cut out dairy and most fats again and have been having less problems with C. It seems like dairy really constipates me, so I'm going to save it for special occasions, or maybe eat it once a week.

I notice that when I was on the elimination diet, I had the best stools ever. Now with eating no dairy or high fat foods, they're getting back to what they were at that point - yay!

[Lymetoo]

Count me in! UGH! Dairy gives me the C also....as does gluten. I take magnesium, stool softeners without a stimulant, slippery elm, and chlorophyll. I also take a fiber supplement when I can get myself to drink it!!

I think it's time to do another colon cleanse!!

[Slackermommy]

I am also in the "c" family. Five months gluten free and I am still not regular.

Before going gluten free, I tried Dr Natura's colon cleanse (it's online, I am not sure I can post website), and I think that once I hit 8 months gluten free I am going to try it again, I do know it is gluten free (I emailed them), and I am hoping that really helps me clean out all the junk.

Is anybody here "regular" after being gluten free for awhile? I can't imagine what that will be like...

[mftnchn]

I am in the "C" family too. All of your comments have helped me. Thanks.

Other things I have tried: pharmaceutical grade cellulose which I tolerate much better than any other fiber agent

1 or 2 cups of hot water in the morning and wait to eat until later in the morning, seems to help.

[hathor]

No answers here, just a fellow sufferer. Things have improved from cutting out gluten, dairy, & soy, but hardly perfect. I still swing from normal (for other people, that is ) to hard. And this is with a high fiber vegan diet (I mean everything I eat has fiber). I figure I either am getting second hand gluten (or casein or soy), am sensitive to something else (I just cut out a new supplement, peanuts, and tree nuts to see), or my system is taking awhile to get functioning the way it should. I won't say normally, because I've had these problems since I was a little kid.

You know what irks me? Threads on other discussion boards (I belong to some vegan ones) where someone brings up constipation and folks come up with what "always" works. Oh, yeah? I can take a dare ... and eat a box of prunes with no effect

Of course, I think what hurt me for years was trying to get moving by having lots of whole wheat and bran. Still constipated? Add more bran! Oh, yeah, I was really helping myself.

That said, I do find some relief ... sometimes ... if I have lots of fibrous veggies and fruits. I also put ground flax seed on or in whatever I can.

Coffee is what kept me going for years. But I was so terribly addicted I felt I had to stop.

I make sure I have enough magnesium, which seems to help. I took probiotics for awhile, but they made no difference.

I have resisted using a regular medicine for this. I can't help thinking that I should be able to get my body to do what it is designed to do if I just eat the right things and avoid eating the wrong things.

Someone I know who is gluten intolerant but with the opposite problem (hey, folks, it could be worse -- we don't have to worry about always having a nearby bathroom, running out of business meetings, etc ) said it took a year for her system to function the way it should after she cut out gluten. So maybe I'm on the right track after all and it will just take more time. How long has everyone else here been gluten-free?

[lcbannon]

Another "C" here, Always always been a problem.

Best solution to date is

1. Magnesium tabs daily

2. 1 Activia every morning ( no dairy issues that I know of - yet)

but what I found best was a product at your local health food store called SWISS KRISS.

keeps you moving daily....but alas I have diverticulosis and they said I cannot take it anymore

Good luck

[oceangirl]

Another "C" here, Always always been a problem.

Best solution to date is

1. Magnesium tabs daily

2. 1 Activia every morning ( no dairy issues that I know of - yet)

but what I found best was a product at your local health food store called SWISS KRISS.

keeps you moving daily....but alas I have diverticulosis and they said I cannot take it anymore

Good luck

Yes! C!!! Gluten makes me feel like someone poured extra strength glue into my digestive tract and it is completely seized! No good tricks for fixing it although I agree lots of water, also hot water, can help. It hurts so much! I've always had this but I do wonder if abusing laxatives when I was anorexic at 17 exacerbated the issue... I NEVER use laxatives now and being (mostly) Paleo, don't do much but whole foods, so I'm no help. But I truly understand! Running helps. Or I should say, if I DON'T run (I usually run 2 miles a day), it's worse.

lisa

[Lisa]

Pleasant topic, I know...

Mine has gotten *better* since going gluten-free, but it's still pretty bad. I finally have put two and two together to find that dairy seems to plug me up, so I've severely limited the amount I'm eating, sadly.

What do you take to keep things going?

I take magnesium supplements - the dosage I vary based on how well I went that day, miralax occasionally, drink strong coffee on an empty stomach every morning (without it, I don't go). I used to take 1 zelnorm tablet every night and it worked like magic, but I ran out and have yet to get another prescription, something I'll be doing soon. I used to take a lot of fiber supplements, but that seemed to make things worse, as well as taking Miralax every day - it just changed the consistency of it, not whether it actually came out. Somehow last week, I got behind and I'm STILL behind. I get so bloated and such bad pains, it's almost unbearable.

Has anyone tried anything that worked really well, every day?

I do believe that they pulled Zelnorm off the market...and can't remember why.

[debmidge]

I do believe that they pulled Zelnorm off the market...and can't remember why.

It was doing something to the heart (increased heart attack risk I believe).

[burdee]

I'm quoting from my naturopath's monthly newsletter, which discussed Zelnorm removal:

Los Angeles Times reported that Zelnorm (tegaserod), a commonly used drug for severe constipation, has been taken off the market due to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The FDA reviewed 29 studies of the drug, which included more than 18,000 patients. It found that those taking Zelnorm had a significantly increased number of heart attacks and strokes than those taking a placebo sugar pill. In light of this the FDA requested that Novartis, the maker of Zelnorm, voluntarily remove its product from the market.

Novartis complied, but not before claiming that its own consultant had reviewed the data and come to a very different conclusion. Novartis stated that the drug was not to blame and that the rate of heart problems in the studies was not different than in the normal population.

This latest discovery came after a request in 2004 by Swiss regulators for a more meticulous

investigation after concerns about Zelnorm had already been noted.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, who said his calculations indicate that those taking Zelnorm would face a seven- to eight-fold higher risk of cardiac problems. "When you remember that a number of patients taking this drug are younger, otherwise healthy people, the tolerance for serious side effects should be very low, even if they are rare,

[mftnchn]

I am still new to this, but what I am understanding is that the constipation is due to the intestinal muscles not contracting, secondary to the gluten inititiated attack on the small intestine. Can also be caused by food allergies/intolerances.

I am guessing we are trying to stimulate the autonomic nervous system here.

Years ago, a Chinese pediatrician taught me how to do abdominal massage on my infant daughter as she had trouble passing stool. (She's not ready yet to test for celiac but I am guessing she has it too). He learned this technique in Germany. Anybody ever tried something like that?

I live in China currently, and in Asia for most of my adult life. Acupuncture or acupressure could help too, as it is based on nerve stimulation, and I wonder if anyone has tried that?

My constipation is less "hardness" than simply just doesn't move through my system. Looks like the diet is starting to help, on Day 11, with two days of normal A.M. stool. Encouraging!

[mftnchn]

Slowly I'm getting better, while taking digestive enzymes with betaine Hydrochloride (HCl). I hope to back off the magnesium supplements soon.

Yes, my allergist said digestive enzymes (the prescription kind of adequate strength) one after every meal, and also magnesium.

What dose of magnesium are all of you using? I am taking 400 mg a day and have been afraid to go higher.