I only poo once a week. Please help me go more often

[Cheeseandlobster]

I should be going more often. A typical days diet involves - no breakfast, lunch is a spicy scrambled egg but really more like vegetables binded together with 1 egg ( courgette, mushroom, pepper, spinach and jalapenos) followed by grapes. Dinner is usually a mega salad with chicken, fish, quiche. Small bar of chocolate, another fruit portion and maybe a yogurt. I drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily. Do Hiit training for 20 mins daily.

Yet the only thing that gets me going is having a beer at the weekend and then I think I poo for the whole week, though only once so its uncomfortable and unpleasant.

I have tried a colonic. The lady told me I will be more susceptible to bowel cancer (jeez thanks lady)

I really don't want to become dependant on laxatives but I think I might have to .

Can anyone advise me please?

Linseed, sprinkled on a stew or curry

Unsulphered apricots, make a compost and have with French toast or pancakes

Dark choclate square

www.healthline.com/health/psyllium-health-benefits This can also be added to foods, it’s a natural laxative

5 dried prunes or 5 dried unsulphered apricots per day

Increase your fibre to 35g per day, do this in increments and certainly not all at once but over a 6 week period increase 3/4g per week

Add 30 different plant based foods each week to your diet- this includes herbs and spices

So things like turmeric, parsley, cabbage, carrot, linseed, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, oats, fruit berries, melon, pineapple, fennel, broccoli, onion, kale, sweet potato, lentils, chickpeas

Eggs are terrible for binding you. I could have 1 egg and be thoroughly confident I won't poo for a good 3 days afterwards unless I take action.

It seems to be a female thing, this. Many men seem to be able to poo on demand! It's a sacred and well announced event every afternoon where I work.

I used to have the same problem. Peppermint tea everyday, even if it's just one cup works for me.

I find that going for a run helps. I'm not a super athlete and I just plod around the streets for half an hour but it's amazing how it gets your body working. Try c25k.

If your struggling to eat more fibre try psyllium husk tablets.
They are just fibre, I started taking them when keto.

https://solgar.co.uk/products/solgar-psyllium-husks-fibre-500-mg-vegetable-capsules-pack-of-200?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmterm=&utmmcampaign=Search+%7C+DSA+%7C+Products&mkwid=s_dm

Prunes help get things going. Add some brown rice to your diet. Grains help things go as well. Like pp said, it doesn’t seem like much you are eating. Apples as well help. Bananas do the opposite.

Brown rice, oatmeal and bread help you poop. If you have meat veggies and fruits it will clog you. The only time I was pooping every other day or even every third was when I did a diet like that. And now I’m not doing it and poo every day no problem.

My DM used to eat All Bran each day.

Goodness. I go every day, practically at the same time. And I have at times, low carb'ed a lot. Is there something else going on here? Maybe chat with GP.

Your diet is super low in carbs and quite low in fibre, although a lot of veg. I'd try increasing for a few weeks some carb-based fibre like weetabix/special K/porridge, along with the classic prune juice and coffee options and see if that helps.

You poor thing. If I miss one day I hate it!

You’ve had good advice and I’d agree your diet has not enough bulk or fibre.
Apples and pears work for me.
Flaxseed or chia seeds in porridge too.
Most veggies.
Beans, lentils etc A jacket potato eaten with the skin with beans in is great.
Lots of water.
Yoga twists.
Magnesium supplement.

I tried a high protein low carb diet once and it had the same effect on me.

It can really mess up your hormones too as you need to flush excess out each day otherwise they re-enter your bloodstream via the gut wall.

I find a bowl of porridge or some seeded batch loaf toast and a cup of tea makes me go in the morning. Not great if you're doing 16:8 and low carbing though.

Has once a week always been normal for you?

Quick fix: strong black coffee or diet Pepsi. It's all about the caffeine.

Lifestyle change: anything with more fibre.

I have fybogel daily and also lactulose.

I have a 35 year old in the family with IBS. Swings between IBS-D and IBS-C.

We've found increasing fibre helpful for both, adding two Weetabix a day, Nairns Oatcakes, seeded Ryvita and a daily orange to his diet. Tesco sell frozen Baby Broad Beans (£1.15 for a 650G bag). These are delicious and like peas, are higher in fibre than sweetheart cabbage. They take 8 to 10 minutes to cook from frozen and can be eaten as a hot vegetable, or added to soups and casseroles at the end of cooking or to stir fries, pasta dishes etc or cooked and added cold to salads. I find them less "gassy" than cabbage and cauliflower. He also eats a handful of walnuts every day.

If you are trying flaxseed, you might want to grind them to a powder.

Someone has mentioned lactulose liquid. I've used it when on iron tablets and found it gentle and effective.

Tuna in sunflower oil used to sort the cat out, if he was "bunged up".

@Thighdentitycrisis

I’m surprised how most of the recommendations are for diet changes

I only poo once a week, my GP calls it a “lazy bowel”, mines made worse by long term medication

I know I eat healthy food and do eat fibre (muesli, brown rice, pulses as well as lots of kale and fruit) but diet doesn’t really do it for me

I have random successes which then wear off, ie my gut seems to get immune. Coffee, prunes, oranges, hardly touch it

Sometimes I find yoga or doing really intense squats triggers a movement, try abdominal twists, like canoeing. In fact canoeing made me go !!

I'm glad it's not just me this happens to. It feels like anything I try diet-wise might work for a day or two, but it's like my guts just prefer being slightly blocked up and go back to that. I've tried everything on the list so far, nothing has worked for more than a week!

Infuriating!

I eat berries (blueberries and raspberries) with Greek yogurt and mixed seeds every day. Also 1 square of (very) dark chocolate. I go every morning.

You are not eating any insoluble fibre. Read up. Low carb and 18:6 should allow you to eat enough of the right carbs to make your guts function better. Be careful with linseed and quinoa as they can irritate.
Low carb is not no carb. Eating things that rush things through is not a long term plan, ie figs and prunes. You need bulk to make a nice poo every day. Whole grains, whole baked potato or sweet potato, pulses.if you are only eating for an eight hour window you don’t need to be so restrictive. Keep a diary so you will learn what works well and also what things (like onions) possibly trigger you ibs and you can avoid that in future. Protein and salad /vegetables. is not a well balanced diet that is going to promote a healthy gut.
Remember 80% of your immune system resides in your gut so you need to look after it. If you like sour things try some sauerkraut, the raw stuff from the fridge in the healthfood shop, not the pasteurised pound a jar kind. Your gut will thank you. You can do this, good luck!

The op hasn’t claimed to be doing “no carb” (which isn’t possible - even eggs have a tiny amount of carbohydrate) - she’s eating fruit and drinking beer

I'd go easy on the eggs. Eggs are renowned for bunging you up. I would suggest a strong coffee, fresh orange juice, and my physio always suggested linseeds. Try and get some high fibre snacks in your diet as well - nuts, fruit etc. Jacket spuds with the skin on with beans should sort you out!

Porridge or bran flakes in the morning . Top with cranberries or raisins. Don’t skip breakfast .
Oranges and kiwi fruit too .
Maybe reduce eggs as they can be binding
Replace with whole meal bread?
Dates are good too.

Eat some prunes for breakfast

Wow - just got back on and so many replies. Thank you all. Will read them now

@AtrociousCircumstance

The lunch sounds delicious by the way. Do you stir fry the veg first and then scramble them in the egg? Do you add and herbs?

It really is very tasty. I stir fry loads of veg then add a little bit of butter before the spinach and finally the egg. The jalapeno creates the flavour but extra spices might be lovely too

It does hurt a bit but only just before a poo where I get a bit of cramping