Chronic constipation ruining my life

Your lunch alone is very constipating, especially if its white bread.

Wholemeal and brown grains everytime plus FRUIT and no crisps. Avoid sugary foods and anything processed. Lean meat. A spoonful of seeds on the porridge plus fruit. I would say your diet is a big factor.

long term constipation can be a warning sign for Parkinson’s. Have you had this investigated?
Presumably you have tried a fiber supplement by Metamucil. Have you tried ground flaxseeds ? could add them to your porridge.

Lactose intolerant?

I'm sorry you're suffering. I rarely get constipated but when I do it's miserable.

You said you don't eat fruit (I don't eat much) but it looks like you don't eat much veg either - you really should try to have some fruit and up the veg intake markedly.

I know a sandwich is quick and easy, particularly if at work, but it's not doing you any good or helpful in any way towards managing the constipation.

And one glass of prune juice in the evening is not enough - have some at breakfast as well.

As for tons of sparkling water - replace some of this with hot tea/coffee/lemon water.

Good luck.

3 kiwi fruit a day- game changer. Can’t get my head around the fact you haven’t been eating fruit.

Exercise. Running has made me super regular.

How active are you?

How many grams of fibre do you get per day in your diet ? Doesn’t matter if you don’t eat fruit as long as you get the grams in

have you tried elimination - common things like dairy for a month and see what happens

are you getting lots of vigorous exercise

id find a shop bought vegetable soup no good at all - a sandwich can be fine but depends on the quality of the bread ( we tend to make our own wholemeal bread )

Your diet is stodgy, if your constipated, replace sandwich with a vegetable soup with a wholemeal roll. Eat plenty of nuts too, a handful of nuts a few times a day will help.
Replace your daily chocolate with chocolate nuts, Brazilian nuts cover in chocolate are delicious. Chocolate causes constipation.

I'm sure you have tried all these and mine isn't chronic but this is what I have found.
Bread (including gluten free), potatoes & processed food make me constipated so I don't eat them often. Try to identify the foods that make it worse for you.
Drink a decent amount of water every day.
A quarter lemon squeezed into an inch of water and taken just before bedtime helps me a lot.
Grapefruit as part of life helps things keep moving.
When I need extra help prune juice is great.
Movement like yoga where you are bending and stretching your stomach helps move things. General physical movement is good too.
Massage of the stomach when things are bad helps me.
Iron supplements make me constipated, some types of iron are worse than others.
Look into magnesium supplements, some forms of magnesium (you'll need to research which) help act as a laxative.
Aloe vera juice helps to keep things moving too, just a shot in the morning.

Hope things get better for you.

Edited to add I also don't eat meat or dairy, I believe they slow digestion. Do some reading on whole food vegans and how often and easily they eliminate waste. There are some threads about it, I think on reddit. If I was you I'd be changing my diet entirely for relief.

Ferrous fumerate... Doesn't that often cause constipation?

Also, be careful with how much porridge you eat. Too much can actually cause constipation. www.behealthynow.co.uk/nutrition/can-oat-porridge-oatmeal-cause-constipation/

Then I'd focus on eating more healthy fats - olive oil etc. We need fat for bile production which in turn helps our colon.

Just generally, I'd honestly say if you're serious about fixing your constipation then you need to get radical. I know most people have sandwiches and crisps and are just fine, but you are not fine. You are suffering. Perhaps what's necessary for your body is extremely healthy eating, at least for a while to reset.

2 cups of coffee don't get things moving, wow.

Do you gets lots of exercise, equivalent of at least 1 hour walking outside every day at brisk pace?

I think OP said she consumed "too much chocolate" but also didn't list chocolate in her daily diet example. So ... what else is missing? Just how much chocolate do you consume daily?

Why would you only have meat & veg for tea? How many veg and how big is the meat portion? Is the bread for sandwiches wholemeal or white bread?

Squatty potty definitely helps.
Add seeds to your meals, crushed bran-flakes, reduce carbohydrates, my Dsis has a immune disorder, chronic constipation, she changed her diet to a vegan diet, cut gluten, sugar she's much better.

I can go from constipated or just managing rabbit droppings to explosively loose
I am under colorectal consultant and manage my symptoms by low FODMAP - low dairy and take lactase tablets - I use suppositories when needed and have a bowel irrigation device

Also from your diet you need to eat more fibre and especially more fruit. Fruit such as conference pears, apples, and kiwis are great for constipation. I would ditch the sandwich and crisps for lunch and replace that with something higher in fibre such as a pasta salad or a grain based soup with some wholemeal bread, and also some fruit, and have a piece of fruit with breakfast as well. Even having beans on toast (brown bread) for lunch will give you a ton of fibre that you won't be getting from a sandwich and crisps.

Have they tested you for coeliac? My daughter was diagnosed and constipation was her main symptom rather than diarrhoea

Ferrous Fumerate is terrible for constipation and won’t be helping, can you try something softer for a couple of weeks like Floradix?

You have had a colonoscopy to look at your lower bowel, but have you had a gastroscopy to look at your upper intestines?

I had really bad rabbit poo like constipation and it turned out to be Coeliac disease. So all the bran and porridge I was trying to eat was making it significantly worse! Ironically I was also taking Floradix for anaemia which has gluten in it too! There is a gluten free version thankfully.

There is a Coeliac blood test, but also a gastroscopy (camera down your throat) may see issues higher up.

I'm not sure how old you are or what your periods are like but have you ever been investigated for endometriosis? One of the signs that my undiagnosed endometriosis had reached stage 4 was that I was having terrible constipation all the time because the endometriosis lesions had spread to my bowel and were causing bowel issues and pelvic floor dysfunction.

I am absolutely not a dietician but I had two thoughts. I don't usually have digestion problems but I've just been away and realised after a few days I was eating much less fruit than at home-and had mild constipation. I usually have a banana with breakfast, seems to do the trick.
Secondly, how about a bowl of salad for lunch instead of a sandwich?

Make big batch of veg / pulse soup and add a bowl of that to your lunch sandwich. Fruit for second course

Are you drinking enough water? My daughter has improved since I bought her a stanley cup. She drinks the whole thing every day.

OxyTech by Dulwich Health - recommended by an osteopath. Worked a treat for me. I think that is magnesium plus other things. Sold as a colon cleanse.

My husband used to take Dulcoease Stool softener - it really worked well.

I second this too.

From your diet you need more fibre. Try adding a tablespoon of soaked Chia seeds and a tablespoon of blended seed mix to your brekkie. Add yogurt into the day somewhere. And Kiwis with skin on. Sweet snacks of dates. You don't necessarily want one big fibre bomb, but can add it in small amounts through the day. One more thing that no one has mentioned - have you seen a women's health physio? Constipation can also be compounded by pelvic floor/prolapse issues, and they have exercises and strategies to help.