Have to work hard to not be constipated. Anyone else?

[eurovisionfan]

Struggle to poo for past ten years. The only way I can overcome is trying to drink nearly three litres of water and loads of pears and seeds and whole meal bread etc etc If I do this I am fine but I don't see other people having to make such an effort. If there is a day when I only drink 1.5 litres and only have one pear I'm straining! Feel fine otherwise. Anyone else like this? Oh I often have a few tea spoons of calfig of syrup to make sure I'm getting fibre in. It's exhausting remembering to do all this. Anyone else have this issue??

So you just bite into the skin? Wow never thought of this

I take wellwoman daily!

One of my children has a milk protein allergy (which took us ages to discover) he was often constipated and pale despite a varied diet… on advice of a dietician we cut out milk and introduced a prebiotic and no more constipation

I have been constipated for as long as I can remember. I drink lots of water based drinks and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. It's much worse when on holiday. I started having 30ml of Lactulose a day, but it didn't really help much. My friend then told me about eating two kiwis a day with their skins on - I've been doing this since last summer and it's changed my life. I am no longer constipated. I went on holiday abroad last year, and the hotel didn't have kiwis, so I didn't go for the week! I'm looking for something to take on holidays in case they don't have kiwis. I have seen some kiwi tablets which I might try.

It is exhausting. And miserable.
Sure fire foods / drinks for me are
Pears/ apples
Coconut water
Medjool dates
Staying extremely well hydrated.
Lentils/ beans

But my system is so so slow. Grinds to a halt most days.

Tinned pears for me, I like them anyway! I get the ones in juice and drink the juice too

Celery 😊

I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow to discuss this! Had it all my life including a prolapse as an infant but has got so much worse in my 40s. I can barely go.

Under normal circumstances, a portion of (in ascending order of effectiveness) cabbage, spinach and celeriac usually create the conditions for success for me.

Double espresso after the meal and ... shall be very satisfactory.

When away from home, or places where I feel at home, such as when on holiday in an unfamiliar location, I drink a cup of tea brewed from senna pods before going to sleep at night and don't stress too much if nothing happens for a day or two.

I'm all for more discussion about these things.

I have a big bowl of All Bran with dried cranberries in the morning, to cover both bases 😄

Randomly, I've also found that hiking seems to get my bowels moving significantly (like runners poo!) which can be awkward if I'm in the middle of nowhere but really does help (apparently, hiking gets all your muscles working, including those in your lower intestines so things start to happen if you put in some decent mileage!)

I have the opposite problem. Not sure which is worse!

I don't find I have a problem, but I eat porridge every morning, loads of water and strong cafetière coffee. Along with the usual veg, wholemeal bread etc

My son also had a milk protein allergy , which is different to a milk lactose allergy. He has cut out cows milk and it’s changed his bowel movement.

He has goats milk (smaller protein) , soya milk etc. He can have hard cheese - protein is processed out if it apparently, but not soft cheese.

Glad to find this thread, 42 and been struggling 12 months. Bananas used to work . Was thinking of going back to the doctors.

Magnesium works wonders for me.

Same. It's a pain in the arss, no pun intended.

I take magnesium nightly. It works really well to keep you regular and has virtually no side effects and is beneficial more generally

Same here. I find that psyllium husk capsules help. They are high fibre. The same as the fybogel sachets, but easier to take and taste better!

@ChronicallyOversharing this is just so so true re it being really prevalent in the memo/ peri. I wish there would be more research into the link between female hormones and the digestive process. I recognised this myself and am now basically out of the other side. But so many women experience it and yet it doesn’t seem to be ‘officially’ recognised. Thank you for your post.

1-2 tablespoons of linseeds in my breakfast and that's all I need. I was just like you until I started doing this.

Can cut into slices if you find that easier.

Buy some sugar free Werther's sweets. They have sorbitol in them. It stops constipation.

I’d say it’s very common.

There are easy ways to manage it, and once you do them it becomes second nature:

Lots of water
Plenty of walking if able
Tbsp of seeds everyday
Plenty of fruit and veg

@caringcarer
Wow I didn't know this

Ok will try this I do seeds but not sure they are linseeds