IBS-C Help!!!

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IBS-C Help!!!

Postby GardenVeg99 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:23 pm

Hi Everyone! I'm a huge Dr. McDougall fan and have followed a starch diet for about 5 years now. Generally I do large soft stools but occasionally I get very constipated and extremely bloated. I exercise, drink water very frequently and eat a very high fiber healthy diet. Nothing seems to help! My family doctor has no understanding of my diet and tells me to take Restorolax. I'm looking for a natural solution. Any suggestions?
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Lyndzie » Thu Jul 12, 2018 4:48 pm

How frequently is this happening?
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby GardenVeg99 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 6:18 pm

Lyndzie wrote:How frequently is this happening?

It's been a couple of weeks. Before then, not too frequent.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Vegankit » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:27 pm

GardenVeg99, I've been eating this way for 10 years and I still have problems occasionally. I have autoimmune diseases which affect my digestive tract. When I flare - it affects digestion as motility stops. I can go months and months with wonderful stools and then it hits.

I've also noticed that potatoes in particular make both my DH and myself constipated - whole potatoes or gently mashed or hash browns - any way you cook them - they are constipating. If you keep a food diary you might discover particular foods cause your constipation in which case you can avoid them - this would be my "natural suggestion". I love potatoes, but when I eat them, it's only for one meal in a day.

I use glycerin suppositories from time to time. The usual advice - drink more water, eat more fiber, get more exercise don't apply to me as I'm already doing it. In addition to the constipation, I get migraine headaches, severe cramps such that it's painful to breath, sometimes throw up and often end with an episode of syncope where I find that I've fainted and wake up on the floor (which is dangerous because I could break a bone or teeth). I also turn pale and very chilled - my DH and friends can see I'm ill when it happens.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Lyndzie » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:28 pm

GardenVeg99 wrote:
Lyndzie wrote:How frequently is this happening?

It's been a couple of weeks. Before then, not too frequent.


Vegankit has good suggestions. Have you tried prunes or prune juice to get things moving again? If it’s not happening frequently, then I would try the food journal, and possibly the occassional used of a stool softener or prunes if needed. I’ve heard of people using castor oil, which I think would be ok when used rarely and for medicinal purposes.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby GardenVeg99 » Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:31 am

Thanks VeganKit and Lyndzie! I just went out and bought some pitted prunes to try. (Suspect if I ate the pits, it would be a guarantee!) Hopefully they can find their way to the other end soon! Have been under stress too lately and do believe there is a direct correlation.
Good luck today!
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby debknott » Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:38 am

I spent all of my life fighting long bouts of downright painful constipation. Then just a few years back I got hooked on eating a good sized bowl of oatmeal every day, and voila! the constipation was gone. NOTHING I had deliberately tried for constipation had worked, but just eating a bowl of oatmeal virtually every day solved a lifetime problem.

I don't know if this would work for everyone, but I don't think it could hurt to try. Best of luck with finding something that works equally well for your body!

Deborah

p.s. The wonderful thing for me is that this was something I could carry into the McDougall program with me, as of course oatmeal is perfectly McDougall compliant.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Vegankit » Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:49 am

debknott wrote:I spent all of my life fighting long bouts of downright painful constipation. Then just a few years back I got hooked on eating a good sized bowl of oatmeal every day, and voila! the constipation was gone. NOTHING I had deliberately tried for constipation had worked, but just eating a bowl of oatmeal virtually every day solved a lifetime problem.

I don't know if this would work for everyone, but I don't think it could hurt to try. Best of luck with finding something that works equally well for your body!

Deborah

p.s. The wonderful thing for me is that this was something I could carry into the McDougall program with me, as of course oatmeal is perfectly McDougall compliant.
debknott - I wish oatmeal worked for me. I eat home made steel cut oatmeal every morning - but it doesn't help for me when I have those bouts of IBS during a flare. Same with prunes - they make sense for people eating SAD who need some fiber in their diet - but eating the McDougall diet means we're eating plenty of healthy fiber.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby debknott » Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:19 pm

debknott - I wish oatmeal worked for me. I eat home made steel cut oatmeal every morning - but it doesn't help for me when I have those bouts of IBS during a flare. Same with prunes - they make sense for people eating SAD who need some fiber in their diet - but eating the McDougall diet means we're eating plenty of healthy fiber.

Vegankit, I know what you mean. In my case I was eating lots of fiber before McDougall due to my gut problems, but I accidentally found that it was oats I needed to solve constipation, not other type of fiber. Prunes, Metamucil, psyllium, etc., etc., just did not help. That's why I mention about the oats, in case the OP's digestive system might be similar to mine, in which case OATMEAL IS KING!
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby GardenVeg99 » Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:37 am

Thanks DebKnott and VeganKit I've always had a bowl of oat groats, steel cut oats or rolled oats with unsweetened almond milk for breakfast daily. I'm sorry to say that all those prunes (7 daily) since you recommended to me seem to be missing in action! I really don't want to get a laxative. I eat lots of green veggies, fruits and beans, drink a lot water and exercise. Getting frustrated and want to be unplugged!
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Lyndzie » Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:37 am

I did a quick search in Jeff’s forum and came across this post: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=47733&p=491784&hilit=Constipation#p491784

Also, maybe an Epsom salt bath? Worst case senario, you get a nice relaxing bath!
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Ltldogg » Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:58 am

GardenVeg99 wrote:Thanks DebKnott and VeganKit I've always had a bowl of oat groats, steel cut oats or rolled oats with unsweetened almond milk for breakfast daily. I'm sorry to say that all those prunes (7 daily) since you recommended to me seem to be missing in action! I really don't want to get a laxative. I eat lots of green veggies, fruits and beans, drink a lot water and exercise. Getting frustrated and want to be unplugged!


Hi GardenVeg99,

I'm sorry you are suffering. I can relate. About 5 years ago I started having digestion issues even though I am a McDougall'er; at the time it was thought to be IBS. Fast forward to today, I have been diagnosed with IBD (UC), which when flares will cause my Ankylosing Spondylitis, Uveitis and Psoriasis to flare. What I have found over the last 3+ years since severe issues started, is that my body does not tolerate much insoluble fiber. If I'm not flaring, insoluble fiber can cause me to flare and if I am flaring, it will cause all my diseases to hit me, severely (crippling). After many Elimination Diet attempts, trial and errors and stubbornness to not accept my reality, I finally learned that insoluble fiber is not my friend.

On the other hand, soluble fiber is a must for me. I have tried the low residue diet and that leads to worsening constipation (which I already suffer from even with tons of insoluble fiber) & hemorrhoids. So I eat lots of soluble fiber and minimize *most* insoluble fiber, especially of the roughage type. So that means no skins, seeds, nuts green and cruciferous veggies, etc. What I do eat is potatoes without skins (I minimize sweet potatoes because even without skins they have a lot of insoluble fiber strands), white rice, enriched pasta, tomato puree, bananas, applesauce and some beans. Unbelievably, beans really help my digestion, even with the skins they have.

I'm not suggesting this for you, but rather relaying my reality as a point of reference. I am still a McDougaller 100% with about 75-80% of my calories coming from starches and I also get about 35-45 grams of fiber a day. What I would caution against is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I did that for years and would fail to learn the lesson and my systems and pains got worse. So, consider an ED and also consider the possibility that you cannot eat certain types of foods, fibers and/or other things in any significant quantity. If that is a reality for you, please know you can still follow this program 100%, eat healthy and get all the nutrition you need even on a modified regimen!

Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to PM me.
Scott

P.S. I take no meds for any of my Autoimmune Diseases and instead manage through diet and fasting (when necessary) only.
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Re: IBS-C Help!!!

Postby Vegankit » Mon Jul 16, 2018 5:02 pm

Ltldogg , it was good to read your response. Next time I'm in a flare, I'm going to test if minimizing insoluble fiber makes a difference. I too fall back to the Elimination Diet every time I flare and find that an important baseline.
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