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Article on constipation and how to reduce it:
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/healt..._webmd_sohcure
I'm abit surprised by what the article says that having a bowel movement only 3 times per week is still normal. :confused:
I just wouldn't feel physically well. I start to worry abit when nothing happens after 2 days.
And of course, certain regular forms of exercise helps. For some reason, yoga is highlighted in article.
I never cared about my lower "plumbing' processes until I got into cycling.
I wouldn't feel well, either. But everyone is different.
I had a lot of problems with this when I was younger. Weirdly, after I had children, it disappeared.
Yes, cyclists do seem to talk a lot/have concern with about bodily functions....
This became an issue after being on vicodin, I wasn't aware that it was one of the side effects. :eek: I was miserable!
EW, I read that a few days ago, must've been where they got the info for the Oprah show.
I think it's one of those things like BMI, where they define "normal" based on a median of a population that's overall pretty unhealthy. I know when I'm eating healthy (most of my calories from vegetables) I usually have a BM three times a day. And yeah. Exercise. Peristalsis only does so much (particularly if someone's eating a low fiber diet that takes a lot of muscular energy to propel). A lot of moving stuff through the bowels comes from external stimulation by body movement.
Hmmm...it's one of those things most people don't talk much about unless it's monitoring their babies or when they get very old/very sick/ill. All the talk about body cleanses, etc., would not be necessary if people were regular in BM, ate food closest to produce, had right fibre in diet, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Maybe it's more chic /easier to talk about body cleanses in conversations with others, but not address regular, natural ways how the body gets rid of toxins/waste by improving diet long-term & exercise. :rolleyes:
I agree--"normal" may not necessarily be "ideal". Given the lousy American diet (not enough fiber) and lack of exercise, the average frequency of BM is lower than is probably optimal. Inactivity is well known for contributing to constipation--that's largely why hospitalized patients are pretty much automatically given a daily stool softener while they're there--they're not moving much, so their bowels aren't either. For a couch potato, the same kind of thing would happen. We could say that the average American is full of cr@p!! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
To the poster who had the issues with Vicodin, yes, opiate meds are NOTORIOUS for stopping people up. I was always taught that patients taking these should also take a stool softener to offset the problem--somebody apparently didn't give you that message!
Well, for some reason, this was not an unusual topic of conversation in my house, growing up, nor now. My husband and I like to joke that cycling is the automatic "cleansing activity." No matter how short of a ride I am going on, I always "go" before a ride. Sometimes more than once. It doesn't matter the time of day, or if I have gone earlier. Most of it is nervous energy for me, but when my husband mentioned the same thing happened to him, I wonder if it is our body's way of getting rid of stuff before we are out in the middle of nowhere.
Jolt, I agree. Most Americans are full of cr@p. I am pretty sure the only reason I had issues with this as a kid and teen was because I ate hardly any fruits or veggies. In fact, when I was 5, I had to be put on a special diet and take some awful chocolate looking medicine (I remember my mom shoving it down my throat from a spoon) because I was living on bread and butter and milk, which wreaked havoc with my digestive system, to say the least.
Crankin - LOL, we've noticed the same thing! Whenever I go to get my cycling shorts, I always have to visit the bathroom. It's like "hmmm, feeling a little backed up? Let's go grab the shorts and see if that makes things move"!
I will say that while I'm regular in my normal life, I do notice that when I'm actively trying to cut back (ie - diet), that mine reduce to every 2 or three days. It doesn't really bother me physically, and I figure that since I'm eating less, my body has less to dispose of...so it makes sense.
It used to amaze me to see commercials/advertisements for laxatives.. a laxative in the household where I grew up was very rare..that's in a household of 8 people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
'Course not a topic talked about unless it's a problem. But admittedly coming from a big family with 1 bathroom and though I'm childless, I did help mother with 2 youngest siblings for their toilet training...there's bound to be more open jokes, if no serious discussion. Or maybe my family is just more earthy in jokes/such functions. I dunno. :o
For cycling, over the years, I have now managed to get my body into a routine, where BM is done once in morning (which is it for rest of day), preferrably before ride start. Of course for winter sports, it's less of a headache when clearing is all done at the start of day. Rest of cycling, etc. day can be enjoyed witout prolonged stopping. 'Course this must be continuously married with proper diet/eating/hydration habits.
Now that I'm taking prescribed iron supplement, it has upset the routine slightly.
In my circle of friends, I am known as the one it's OK to talk about any and all bodily functions with and not have to worry about grossing me out--must have something to do with being a nurse!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
I feel much better... when I read the article I thought the same thing. 3 times a WEEK!!!! What about 3 times a DAY? Even my husband who doesn't eat fruits and veggies or exercise like I do isn't 3 times a WEEK. That sounds painful and uncomfortable.
Laxatives are heard of for pranks for me. The only time I have ever heard of needing one legitimately was after having a baby (at least, my mom/friends). I haven't been injured or in pain enough to need meds, though, and that makes a lot of sense.
I remember an episode of You Are What You Eat on the BBC where the woman absolutely hated poo - the smell, the act of, everything, because it was so painful for her. She was one of those "only goes once or twice a week" people at the start. OMG!! By the end of the episode, she didn't hate poo so much.
I try not to talk about bodily functions to people I'm not sure are comfortable with it, but more active people definitely seem to freely share this information even with strangers. At a certain point it just seems to become matter-of-fact rather than eeewww, grossss!!
This thread is cracking me up.
Speaking of nervous energy, when I did my first century, I wound up going twice(!!) at each reststop. Having Mexican food for dinner the night before probably didn't help. Luckily all the reststops were in nice public parks that had clean bathrooms with running water instead of funky porta-potties.
A few years back I read an article about the Atkins diet that said constipation was a major side-effect of the diet. And yet there were people who thought it was a great diet anyway. Where I come from, that's a deal-breaker.
Jolt, I can't tell you how many times I've been told I should have been a medical professional because of my lack of getting grossed out over this kind of stuff. I was also known as the teacher who would talk about anything.
On the other hand, my family is a slightly different version of a Woody Allen movie! When my 2 grown sons are home, they still tell me when they have to "go."
speaking of poop, my not-quite-three-year-old grandson has an appointment for his annual physical coming up.
He was telling me all about it, very excitedly saying he's going to the doctor to get some poop and pee!
He's been having some interesting stress-related bowel habits lately, and apparently someone has told him that if he doesn't poop, he'll have to go to the doctor.
Karen in Boise
I don't recall where I heard about it but there are toilets with a shelf on them so you can inspect the, er, output.
I dont think that three times a week is all that bad. I eat mostly all fruits and veggies, and its ok for me.
I find that if your having some of those problems, isagenix( get online) isaflush( not a laxative but herbs that keep you regular) works a treat. Oh and prune juice!Had to stop myself from getting that , as I love the taste but...
Hmm.. no coffee drinkers here apparently. LOL .. Usually 1/2 way through my first cup the colon bomb goes off and off to the loo I must go. Same thing for my BF. There is only 1 bathroom in the house and sometimes it's a race to get there first :o
LOL
I'm a nurse on afternoon shift on a rehab unit. It's referred to as the "poop shift". The patients are ALL about bowel movements, and afternoon shift is responsible for making that happen. We have stimulant laxatives, fiber laxatives, enemas, stool softeners - you name it. It's at the center of everybody's mind. These are the people who are very happy if they go 3 times a week. They're old or very sick and don't move around much, not burning very many calories, with extremely small appetites. They eat as much in a week as most cyclists probably eat in a day.
What goes in must come out! The more you burn, the more you eat, the more you keep your bowels moving. I have taken care of constipated big eaters, though - young people. Talk about a mess!
My husband and I have a big garden and try to grow as much of our own food as possible and eat lots of veggies, plus I eat a big bowl of raisin bran every morning. That + cycling = good BMs.
Happy pooping, everyone!
the article's no longer there, so I don't know what it said, but I've had problems with it all my life. I'm mostly vegetarian and eat probably double the amount of vegetables the average people eat. I also eat high fibre cereals and brown rice. Yet I still have trouble being regular.
The only time I was was when I was taking Kefir, but it was kind of going the opposite spectrum where I was going much too much.
For me I know it has a LOT to do with anxiety in general every day life.
But the worst is when I travel. I plug right up and it gets really uncomfortable after a while.
I used to be like that. It was awful. Don't know if it was just having to get used to frequent travel, or being more diligent about exercise in the road, that made the difference.
Okay, we have information from an expert. Bodily functions are a favorite subject of Gene Weingarten, who is a columnist for the Washington Post. This week for his online chat, he took a poll of his readers which included questions on frequency of farts per day and poops per week. In commenting on the poll results, he says that he interviewed experts for a book he wrote years ago on hypochondria, and the average is 7-8 poops per week. However he also points out that the "normal range" is wide.
The transcript from the chat is here. Just so you're warned, Gene and his readers do not mince words. Also be careful about clicking on the links that he provides in his chat, because some may be not safe for work or may be blocked by your firewall.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...072801766.html
The poll in question is the Low-Brow poll. You can click on the "Continue" button at the bottom to see the results, and it's not necessary to actually take the poll.
(Previous online chats with Gene have delved into the phenomenon of poop-shame, from which many women apparently suffer. This is the reluctance to go in a public restroom due to embarrassment. He's also discovered that women flush with their feet, and he finds this fascinating because evidently men don't do this.)
Bah. Men don't flush at all with those swirling urinals.
:(Hmmm...I guess maybe that's why occasionally some women are constantly flushing the toilet...OR they are doing this because they are barfing (you know binging and barfing due to eating disorder).Quote:
the phenomenon of poop-shame, from which many women apparently suffer. This is the reluctance to go in a public restroom due to embarrassment. He's also discovered that women flush with their feet, and he finds this fascinating because evidently men don't do this.)
For the former that is a huge hang-up for something so normal. For the latter, just covering up a terrible symptom. I did overhear someone for latter, do this ....and she was losing weight, quite concerned about her weight and looking tired with watery eyes after barfing 'secretly' in a public washroom with constantly flushing toilet. But for both, an unnecessary waste of water. :(
I hate communal pooping stalls. My last workplace had a busy communal pooper and I seriously did hold it in sometimes.
Does anyone here have IBS?
LOL, I can relate!! I'm also a nurse, currently working in a nursing home (trying to change that part!). We have a bowel protocol that we initiate if somebody doesn't go for three days. I always joke about our job being the only one where we get excited about somebody pooping! Speaking of poop at the nursing home, I had to deal with a real mess one day last week. A resident who had a colostomy had been constipated and therefore gotten a laxative on the shift before mine. She then went down to bingo, and came back to the floor a few minutes after I had arrived and taken report. The CNA told me she needed a new colostomy bag because hers was leaking. What an understatement--more like it had exploded!!! The laxative had had its desired effect and the bag had gotten so full that it came unstuck from her abdomen, resulting not only in a mess on the resident's pants but also in a trail of liquid stool down the hall where she had been brought in her wheelchair. Needless to say, one heck of a cleanup was necessary. "Code Brown, third floor"!Quote:
Originally Posted by staceysue
Code Brown! Those are the days that I really think I was a smart cookie for going to the clinic. Don't miss that mess at all!
LOL Gotta love nursing!
When my mother was in a very nice nursing home for 3 years, it was little wonder to me that most of the residents had constipation as the norm. The meals had almost no roughage or whole grains or fiber in them....white rice, white bread, white cream of wheat, pale iceburg lettuce, rice crispies, white flour pasta....
i kept thinking how odd it was to systematically cause constipation with a cheap over-processed institutional diet, only to have to give stool softeners/laxatives every few days.
Very good point...the inactivity plus that diet is a recipe for constipation! Hospital food can be pretty bad too; I have a hard time understanding how places that are intended to help people get healthy can serve such garbage sometimes.Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
I'm mostly vegan, so I go sometimes 3x a day - especially if my intake is nearly all fruits and veggies. Supposedly this is healthy.
However, even trying to stay vegetarian while caring for my sister in the hospital for a week at a time twice in the past year stopped me right up. It was wildly uncomfortable after all of 2 days. Travel does the same thing. No clue why... but ugh. What a horrid feeling. I can't understand how it can be considered normal to go only 3 times in a week! Oy!
The Regularity Gods must be angry with me or something. In the course of the last two months, I've gone from being pretty regular to all kinds of messed up. In that time, I moved, which was stressful and messed up my routine. I also had oral surgery to remove some teeth as part of my orthodontics treatment. That led to some dehydration and also required me to eat mostly soft foods (meaning little fiber) for a couple of weeks. That's when I started to get a little worried because I just couldn't seem to right myself. Then my cats both got sick, and I got even more stressed out. In the middle of that, I started to have some eye problems and was told by my doctor to not run or jump for the time being. So, between shorter days, busier weekends and my eye problems, my exercise routine nearly ground to a halt. As did my bowels, apparently.
I've had minor "'roid" issues here and there over the years, but nothing a little bit of witch hazel couldn't fix. Now, I've got a full blown problem and my constipation seems to be getting worse, not better, no matter what I try. I'm trying to get into my doctor, but apparently, if you don't have the flu, it's hard to get an appointment.
Ugh. Something better give soon.
Uncomfortable. As for the 'roid' or hemroids problem, I did get advanced treatment which was prescription drug from doctor. It worked within 5 days...after I tried regular over-the-counter treatment for 3 wks. Too long and potentially not safe to be left untreated. Yes. Maybe you should say you're bleeding from your problem. (Presumably you are..)Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
Are you sleeping well, and getting up at usual normal times, eating breakfast /other meals at normal times? If not, maybe that's why things are temporarily out of synch. I've noticed this for myself in last few years. Prune juice is supposed to be a good natural laxative. (also it's healthy for other reasons too.)
Hope you get around to some exercise. Even walking at length may help. For certain, if I don't bike, doing stretching exercises (there's simple, slow stuff where you don't bounce around) regularily, helps also.
Shootingstar,Quote:
Originally Posted by shootingstar
Everything has been out of synch. During the move itself, I lost a bit of weight and was eating less than I normally do and at odd times. I also had trouble sleeping at the new house (I'm not a very sound sleeper as it is). That got me off on a bad foot, and things went downhill from there. Sleep, diet, exercise. Everything's been off.
From a diet perspective, I'm consciously upping my fiber and water intake. I'm hoping for a walk tonight and yoga tomorrow. I need to find a new routine at my new gym, but given my exercise restrictions at the moment, I'm finding that really challenging. I used to live five minutes from work and five minutes from my gym. Now, I still live five minutes from a gym, but it takes 45 minutes to get home, and I now have someone to go home to (my fiance), where before I lived alone. All of this life change--much of which is really positive--is harder than I thought it would be. It's a lot to adjust to physically.
The good news is that I had a decent BM (TMI? :)) about an hour ago. Who knew that it could make me THAT happy? The bad news is that I still haven't been able to connect with my doctor's nurse to see about getting in for an appointment before next month. I'm just not sure I can hold off that long.
Shootingstar,
Just thought I'd tell you about something I do. May help, I buy a bag of bran and mix it in everything we eat. I can "hide" it bout everything but Icecream. My family never noticed the switch and I've been doing it for a little over a year. and I'm a much happier lady. My daughter's doc had me do this because she had alot of problems I think she inherrited my IBS. but anyway. It's kept me goin like clock work.
Here's to regular days......... and less stress.
Indy, jupitern (at that other place :p) recommended Miralax when I was having 'issues'. Mine were from the vicodin, but it made all the difference. It's super mild, no cramping etc.
Hello? Fiance! Congratulations?!?! :D:D:DQuote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
Indy, I recommend Miralax as well. I never thought about bm's (except when I was occasionally in the shape you are right now) until I was hospitalized for 5 days last year for diverticulitis. Now I pay close attention to my bodily functions and I never thought I would ever pay that much attention to poop:eek: Drs orders are 2 stool softeners a day (one am and one pm) and Miralax when things aren't moving. I pay close attention to what I eat and how much water I drink. If I misbehave, I pay for it. Regular exercise is a must but nothing gets the plumbing working better than cycling.Quote:
Originally Posted by snapdragen
Congrats on the move and the fiance! Hope things settle down for you soon.
I found drinking kefir made me regular like nothing else. It was quite remarkable, and that's coming from somone who exercises and eats loads of vegetable and still manage to not be regular.
I used to buy these huge jugs of kefir from Washington, but stores in Canada only sells them in small containers that are much too expensive to buy regularly so I haven't had kefir in a while. Needless to say I'm not as regular as I was when I was consuming it.
You can also make kefir quite easily by buying the kefir grains. The bonus is kefir's good for your gut and immune system, too.
Now I have to admit I had to google kefir to find out what in the world it was. Sounds interesting.......but can see how it would work. Yogurt also helps keep the gut in check and guess it's along the same lines.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm willing to try just about anything at this point. My doc's office just called with some meds to try. I blanched at the word "suppository." Ugh.
Thanks for the well wishes, too! I'm so not "bridal" in any way; neither of us really want a wedding. So we're planning to exchange our vows privately (we're thinking Bruges or Paris but are still toying with other locales) and have one of the judges/lawyers I know perform what's needed legally. It'll probably be this spring. Thankfully, we have our parents' support in foregoing a wedding.
I really like the juxtaposition of poo and marriage in this thread! How hilarious. :p In all seriousness though, you know you have a keeper when, in two months' time, they nurse you after you have 4 teeth extracted (nothing says love like changing somebody's bloody dressings), help you nurse and pay for two sick cats (nothing further says love helping you rush a kitty to the vet) and lovingly listen to you whine about 'roids and constipation. How sexy am I?
Congratulations Indy! both on the movement and the engagement
I have to go everyday, sometimes twice a day if not i just feel like crap, pun totally intended. BF and I were just discussing this yesterday... strangely...
as for inspecting yr stool... I do that everyday. The colour, shape and consistency are actually indicators of bowel health, and in general overall wellbeing.
In traditional chinese medicine, if a child has a fever that is not explained by a cold or something, the doctor will ask the mother to feed high fiber foods to induce BM, and it usually works. fever will go away.