Chronic constipation ruining my life

your bowel is meant to be a passage way - if it’s been stretched due to constipation it’s become a waiting room and your muscles are weak.
the only way to allow it to reposition itself as a passage way is to keep it clear so it can shrink back down.
if you are up for it I would suggest you try colon irrigation. But look for a professional - someone who does it full time / some nurses retrain in it.

I saw something on instagram from a doctor who said that there are two types of people with constipation - one lot need more fibre to ease the constipation, and the other lot can’t tolerate as much fibre and increasing fibre causes their constipation. He said try increasing fibre and see which camp you fall into.

One of the things that’s really helped me is Inulin Fibre. I use it in syrup form and add a couple of spoonfuls to cereal/toast/porridge/yogurt etc. It’s a prebiotic which means it feeds the friendly bacteria in your gut rather than introducing another strain, which may or may not survive the journey through the digestive tract. If I don’t have inulin on a daily basis, I end up constipated.

Hi OP, you need to be referred to a specialist bowel motility clinic. Your GP may be able to do directly or it may be via Gastroenterology.

They can do investigations such as bowel transit time (you swallow capsules and they take an xray a few days later to see how far they have moved), anorectal physiology (to see how the pelvic floor works) and defecating proctogram (to see how rectum empties). You may also need a colonoscopy or CT scan.

Good luck

The thing that helps me is a mixture of veg plus fats e.g home made sweet potato wedges cooked in plenty of olive oil, or celeriac fries. Roasted cauliflower or brocolli with olive oil or butter.

I try and avoid processed meats like chorizo / salami / charcuterie as I find they really back me up.

A bowl of porridge a day is good too,

Definitely increase your fruit.

snack on nuts and sultanas

My thyroid is definitely an underachiever!

Exercise. Walking and slow jogging.

Good point, it's important to have enough fat in your diet for proper bowel movements

I only suffer from constipation on occasion but the squatty potty has never made any difference to me. Im always surprised to see it mentioned. The only thing that would help me would be laxido.

My DD has been diagnosed with CC and takes sodium picosulphate along with her movicol and that changed things hugely. The movicol/laxido alone was doing little.

Currently doing an Ayurveda "holiday" and one of the things recommended, apart from ensuring that your fibre intake is adaquate, is a mug of hot water with lime or lemon juice sipped first thing. I understand this is supposed to relax the intestines, if that makes sense.
I also take organic Triphala capsules, which are effective.

This.

What is your diet generally like?

If I eat high fibre foods ie brown rice, high fibre cereals, brown bread, I get stopped up, as there is too much bulk.

Pumpkin, fresh peaches and plums, lots of lettuce...basically fruits and veg with high water content help me move. Eating a small amount of biscuits or chocolate is enough to stop me pooing for a day.

Try:

Homemade lentil and veg soup. I use onion, carrot, sweet potato, celery, cabbage, cauliflower and courgette. 2 handfuls lentils. Chicken stock. Blend to serve.

Homemade apple sauce : literally apples and water. Peel and core apples before cooking.

Kiwifruit every day.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10226473/

Very European approach, but have you tried a glycerol suppository? They’re cheap & incredibly effective!

I have had chronic constipation for numerous years and like you @Puel the only thing that reliably helped is Bisacodyl , nothing else worked for me including all the usual remedies like prune juice , prunes , magnesium , using a stool to raise my feet etc . I’ve recently tried Kayam tablets which are basically senna ( which has never worked for me before) with some other stuff and they are brilliant , so brilliant that I am now just taking half a pill as I find one works too well .

op I’d be bunged too if I didn’t eat any fruit! Peaches, plums, nectarines, kiwis. Couple of those a day help keep me on top of it.

Definitely use a squatty potty and have 3 kiwi fruit for breakfast every day. Constipation can be caused by gallstones so if you are getting any other symptoms maybe check that out too.

I have this one, I think it looks quite nice - well nice for what it is! 😅

Are you taking any medication? Statins or blood pressure tablets? That might not be helping. I take chelated magnesium every night which helps. Also was advised to take linseed every morning with breakfast. That really helped me.

YES YES YES.

It literally makes all the difference. We're talking day and night OP. To the point where I've also got a travel one for when I'm on holiday. It is life changing.

Things that I've seen help clients over the years (as a therapist)
Linseed and chia seeds soaked in water
Reducing significantly dairy (best to try absolutely cut out for 6 weeks and see if it helps can be a complete game changer).
Lots of fruit especially plums, Kiwis, prunes, figs, peaches and fibre.
Water water water and Juice.
Acupuncture
Daily stomach massages (do on yourself) lots on the website to teach you.
Exercise. Move move move.
Eat less shit.

Things that work for me:

Magnesium citrate
Kiwis - these really do help
Fermented foods regularly
Massage - small clockwise motions starting bottom right then moving up and around the belly button and down to the left. Also helps move wind.
Coffee.
Making time to go in the morning. Seems weird but if you’re rushed your body won’t do it.

Oh, and just to add that drinking more water didn't help at all either. I tried it for months and all that would happen was I was constantly running to the toilet with a full bladder but no impact on the constipation.

I suffered from chronic constipation all my childhood and well into my adult years. No changes to my diet made any difference and increasing fibre/taking bulking medicines like fybogel made it worse as there was more to get stuck if you see what I mean! I would go about once a week and sometimes not for a couple of weeks. The medication that worked for me was Laxido. It works differently to some others because it draws water into the bowel to soften the stool rather than adding bulk. I started on one sachet a day every day and was able to reduce after a while to half a sachet a day. I took half a sachet a day for a couple of years and then dropped down to half a sachet every other day, and now I don't take or need anything.

Squatty potty, prunes, magnesium and a metric shit tonne of water help me.