TO wonder if my chronic constipation IS actually my own fault?

[BladdersRoom]

Been chronically constipated for years. A while back, this resulted in me being rushed to hospital in agony with an impacted bowel.

Doctor's have always said I need to eat more fibre and my response was always "I do! That doesn't work for me!"

However I've been following my fibre intake on MFP recently and have realised I NEVER hit target. In fact, the most I've ever managed was 15g one day but most days it's between 2g and 7g

So is this actually the cause of my constipation?? I'm considering going veggie so that my meat substitutes contain so much more fibre but I'm worried that I'm going to end up a bloater.

Is my fibre intake (or lack of) really enough to have caused this long battle with constipation?

Just a point I don't think anyone has mentioned yet, protein shakes cause constipation, my ex was always constipated and once he quit the protein shakes he went back to normal. The protein shake for breakfast combined with the other meals you eat is undoubtedly the reason you are constipated.

Just a point I don't think anyone has mentioned yet, protein shakes cause constipation, my ex was always constipated and once he quit the protein shakes he went back to normal. The protein shake for breakfast combined with the other meals you eat is undoubtedly the reason you are constipated.

This is worth looking at

I did some training with a chap at work recently and he has a bag - food bag size with some raw vegan on to snap k, radish, Cauliflower florets, chopped carrot, celery, cherry tomato.

He nibbles on this whilst others nibble on biscuits in the office.

It ups his fibre, it ups his vegetable intake and stops him snacking on crap

I'm hesitant to offer advice, taking your feelings about food into account, however this will not hurt you:

I'm vegan. And I still didn't get enough fibre and suffered the same as you. You can, however, snack on these and not gain weight. The calorie content in them is negligible.

Carrots
Celery
Cucumber
Broccoli.

Shit posted too soon. After upping my fibre massively with all those veggies, I went from twice a week to daily and it was a massive relief.

I've just realised you mentioned that you are afraid of putting on weight and afraid of the sugar in food causing weight gain. Not sure if you said you'd had an ED or if someone else said it, but as someone who went through anorexia/purging for a number of years (it reached a head when I was in my late 20's), it has just occurred to me that the reason for your constipation could be because you aren't actually eating enough food, full stop.

When I was going through this time, I could go for a whole week without pooping, simply because I didn't have enough food in me to push its way out.

What is your portion control like? A snap shot of your lunch would help us to guage if you are eating a decent size meal or not. Sorry to be so prying, don't feel you have to do this if you don't want.

FWIW, I think some people live very sheltered lives if they think your diet is THAT terrible.

Well, I don't think anybody would be too bothered if the OP had not specifically been experiencing chronic, painful constipation, but I take your point!

Given that the OP has fairly significant issues with food and also possibly an ED, I think we should all refrain from giving any more specific food advice, though. I think this is a job for the professional support of a dietician and GP.

I've been suffering from chronic back pain and constipation for years. Recently I switched my breakfast to Greek yoghurt with a handful of walnuts or pistachios and two teaspoons of mixed flax, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds with honey. I have also taken up swimming three times a week. Something has happened, my back pain is almost gone and I go to the loo daily (sometimes twice) that was unheard of for me. I feel better and am convinced that the simple breakfast switch has made a massive difference. I don't eat fruit either but I do eat salad leaves most days.

I see a few people are recommending flax seeds. Just a word of caution, I started adding a large spoonful of ground flax seeds to my porridge every morning because I had heard that they could help lowering cholesterol. I had not had previous issues with bowels as I am mostly veggie, eat a lot of high fibre foods and drink plenty of water. But the flaxseeds really pushed me over the edge! Irregular, frequent and pretty foul. I stopped taking the flax seed after a few months and thankfully things are back to normal.

They are effective , but be careful what you wish for, I would hope the op can revise her diet by using natural unprocessed foods (oats,bran,pulses,legumes, green leafy vegetables,water) rather than relying on additives to a healthy diet.

Op, you need to eat lots of fruit - try apples, bananas, oranges. Have a piece of fruit as a mid morning snack or as "pudding" after lunch or dinner. Rather than use meat substitutes, cook proper vegetarian meals using vegetables and pulses - curries and casseroles, for example.

Your diet 😳 It's pure stodge!
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but the protein shake could make you constipated.
When I was weight training, certain brands of protein powder did NOT agree with me, and made me bloat as well.

Just another thing to consider changing.

I started adding a large spoonful of ground flax seeds to my porridge

That's too much. I add a table spoonful which is C.

I'm sorry you have had such problems, OP. It's hard to know what to advise seeing as you have such issues with food and that must be very hard for you, too. But to give some perspective, I also suffer with awful constipation and the only way I can beat it is to eat around 400g of raw vegetables per day. I have a dinner plate full of raw carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, cauli, tomatoes, and peppers every single day, and that's as well as a good portion of fruit with my breakfast, and usually some cooked veg with my dinner.

I chop the raw veg up in the morning and make sure I make my way through it during the day, or else I suffer the effects. I know this would be a big change for you and I'm not suggesting that you start doing that all at once, but I thought it might help for you to see the difference between what you're eating and what works for me. Your diet really is extremely low in fibre and I am not surprised you're having difficulties.

Best of luck with it all.