Uncomfortable topic... constipation

B

BertaBoy

Active member
Trusted Member
Hey guys,

Recently crossed the threshold of 60lbs lost since October.
I also just quit smoking weed, and was a chronic everyday user for over 10 years. First day no smoke was on Monday.

Giving you these details because...
On Tuesday I took a shit, first time in a few days and it was rough. Since then have not taken a shit.
No discomfort or anything just something I noticed, and wondering possible causes or if I should be concerned.
Just went out and bought a bunch of blackberries and strawberries to try and increase my fiber intake.
Any ideas or things to watch out for would be much appreciated.
Also of note, have not been sleeping very well since quitting the smoke but I expected that, not sure if that might be contributing
 
Oh another thing that might be contributing is I recently stopped drinking caffeine, something that I was clearly drinking way too much of and was giving me weird blood pressure readings when I would go to the doctor. After a couple days off the caffeine my blood pressure is consistently in the optimal range, however so many changes might be causing some digestion issue too I guess
 
BertaBoy said:
Oh another thing that might be contributing is I recently stopped drinking caffeine, something that I was clearly drinking way too much of and was giving me weird blood pressure readings when I would go to the doctor. After a couple days off the caffeine my blood pressure is consistently in the optimal range, however so many changes might be causing some digestion issue too I guess
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Yea caffeine stimulates your intestines and causes them to contract. You'll probably bunged up for a while. I use psyllium husk powder it helps a bit.
 
Caffeine cessation is probably root cause...Possibly i should say.

Don't fill up on fiber if you are not moving, recipe for disaster....
Get prune juice, it moves things quick, without plugging you up with fiber and lack of water.

If you need to get it moving quicker, 500-600 mg of Magnesium citrate will help quick.

Saltwater flush is amazing for this as well. Google it, several ways to do it, i use 1 Tablespoon with 5 g of vitamin c if ever i have this type of issue. Lots of water thereafter.
Increase water now regardless of what you try.
Don't fill up on fiber when bowels slow down, worst thing one can do at this point.
 
If you want a fix that is non script, ask a pharmacist for lactulose. Start low and build up. The gastroenterologist I saw said it was not habit forming and can be used as needed.
Agree with the gents above, probably lack of caffeine and you may just ‘level out’ with time.
Periodically I have the same issue and a teaspoon or two of lactulose a day and within two days I am back to normal. It just draws liquid to your intestines if I recall correct.
A very slow increase in fibre is good but as Ironwilll said don’t overdo it and lots of water.

Good luck
 
Just a few thoughts: Your metabolism might be getting slowed down quite a bit from a long weight loss phase, could be a good time to take a maintenance phase, increasing your calories, boost up your metabolism again, just a possibility.

For walking, how many steps do you get in a day? If you have no idea, I suggest getting a pedometer or keeping your phone in your pocket to track steps. You should be getting at least 10 000 per day, many reasons for this, but metabolism is one of them.

Are you eating infrequently? Are you on a low carb diet? What does your electrolyte intake look like? Do you know who Stan Efferding is, he wrote the Vertical Diet, I suggest looking into that diet. Also he talks quite a bit about how the reason for a lot of people having constipation issues is because they're lacking electrolytes, specifically potassium. Although you need to have all your electrolytes up and have balance.

I know when I was keto and intermittent fasting, after a long while...I was down to maybe only one bowel movement every 2-3 days... My metabolism was slowing down big time, as I was shredded and only eating about 1700 calories a day at one point.
 
ironwill said:
Caffeine cessation is probably root cause...Possibly i should say.

Don't fill up on fiber if you are not moving, recipe for disaster....
Get prune juice, it moves things quick, without plugging you up with fiber and lack of water.

If you need to get it moving quicker, 500-600 mg of Magnesium citrate will help quick.

Saltwater flush is amazing for this as well. Google it, several ways to do it, i use 1 Tablespoon with 5 g of vitamin c if ever i have this type of issue. Lots of water thereafter.
Increase water now regardless of what you try.
Don't fill up on fiber when bowels slow down, worst thing one can do at this point.
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I had a very similar issue, and i took in fiber and water. I ended up with bowel blockage. Get it moving prior to more fiber...Very important as i stopped a product and it slowed my bowels, caffeine stimulates the gi muscles to spasm slightly and push and move the feces downstream.
Many folks have this issue and i know several that buggered themselves up temporary with fiber during this time...
I am on carnivore diet right now, with zero, zero fiber and i poop like a champ a few times per day.
 
Wow ok, tons of awesome info, thanks guys!

So I'm not filling up on fiber, just noticed I've been a bit low on the diet for a bit so thought tht might be the cause, but thank you for the words of warning I will try other things first before attempting to increase my fiver intake.

I thought maybe the coffee, but then I thought maybe I was giving it too much credit.

As far as diet goes, I fast from 6am-3pm on weekdays (while I'm at work) then eat the rest of my cals, I get about 2000 cals per day which is still stripping fat off me right now so it's seems like a good amount

Not sure how my electrolyte intake is right now, I'll check more closely, thanks for the idea. I eat a banana everyday and I know I've been getting plenty of sodium if that helps
 
BertaBoy said:
Wow ok, tons of awesome info, thanks guys!

So I'm not filling up on fiber, just noticed I've been a bit low on the diet for a bit so thought tht might be the cause, but thank you for the words of warning I will try other things first before attempting to increase my fiver intake.

I thought maybe the coffee, but then I thought maybe I was giving it too much credit.

As far as diet goes, I fast from 6am-3pm on weekdays (while I'm at work) then eat the rest of my cals, I get about 2000 cals per day which is still stripping fat off me right now so it's seems like a good amount

Not sure how my electrolyte intake is right now, I'll check more closely, thanks for the idea. I eat a banana everyday and I know I've been getting plenty of sodium if that helps
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I can almost guarantee you're not getting enough potassium with fasting and only eating 2000 calories per day. One banana is literally fuck all.

You really need to actively try to reach the daily recommended amount when on only 2000 calories. It's not easy.
 
Magnesium will do nothing but help get things moving and you're probably lacking in anyways so it can do nothing but help. I have had my eyes opened to this by Naturopath. I take 600mg throughout the day (200mg x 3) just don't take too much or you will be hating life and living in the can for the day. Start with 400mg and take 200mg in the late afternoon and then another at bedtime.
 
Brbpuppy said:
I can almost guarantee you're not getting enough potassium with fasting and only eating 2000 calories per day. One banana is literally fuck all.

You really need to actively try to reach the daily recommended amount when on only 2000 calories. It's not easy.
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So I just looked up symptoms of low potassium....
Ya every single problem I've been having over the last... 3 months... on that list...
Checked my calorie tracker, yup, been missing the mark consistently on potassium for months...

Thank you @Brbpuppy really appreciate you taking a second to think outside the box, I think you might have nailed it 👊🙏

Really appreciate everyone's help here, I'll update in a while to let you know how it goes

This community is awesome, so glad I stumbled onto this site
 
BertaBoy said:
So I just looked up symptoms of low potassium....
Ya every single problem I've been having over the last... 3 months... on that list...
Checked my calorie tracker, yup, been missing the mark consistently on potassium for months...

Thank you @Brbpuppy really appreciate you taking a second to think outside the box, I think you might have nailed it 👊🙏

Really appreciate everyone's help here, I'll update in a while to let you know how it goes

This community is awesome, so glad I stumbled onto this site
Click to expand...

I Keep the balance by using a product called half salt very liberally. https://windsorsalt.com/product/half-salt/
Full ingredients list here - https://www.gtanutrition.ca/product/windsor-half-salt-350g/

I also keep a bottle of "colon blow" around because I would rather piss out my as like a race horse than tear up my asshole from trying to pass a 2 foot long clump of concrete because I fucked up.
Ok, it's not really called colon blow. I think that was from an old SNL skit. It's the stuff you take to clean you out before surgery. If you have to resort to that stuff ever drink a ton of water cause otherwise you risk getting dehydrated. Not to be taken regularly unless you are an anal sex receiver.
www.instacart.ca

Life Brand Lemon Magnesium Citrate

Grocery Delivery
www.instacart.ca www.instacart.ca

And yeah, pretty damn fine bunch here eh?
 
What do you eat during a day and how much water do you drink? What other fluids do you consume?

I cant remember if we touched on this in a previous thread.

Usually if someone is having these issues it's a diet issue or a dehydration issue if one doesn't have any other underlying Gi issues.
 
Novitec said:
What do you eat during a day and how much water do you drink? What other fluids do you consume?

I cant remember if we touched on this in a previous thread.

Usually if someone is having these issues it's a diet issue or a dehydration issue if one doesn't have any other underlying Gi issues.
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Drink quite a bit of water most days, I'd say probably average 3L, sometimes more, sometimes less, but all I drink these days is water, and I only ever do one travel mug of decaf coffee in the morning now, so it's been decent I think.
Food wise, it's usually banana in the morning, then I fast, then when I get home I'll do like a protein mug cake, usually have white fish or chicken breast for dinner with usually 200+g of some veggies, usually broccoli or lately I've been into this stir fry mix of veggies, I just steam them, but it's like water chestnut, carrots, some greens etc.
Other than that, I snack a lot on turkey breast deli meat, cheddar cheese, some crackers here and there, a lot of times I'll just have a white fish filet for a snack that I air fry... stuff like that mostly
 
BertaBoy said:
So I just looked up symptoms of low potassium....
Ya every single problem I've been having over the last... 3 months... on that list...
Checked my calorie tracker, yup, been missing the mark consistently on potassium for months...

Thank you @Brbpuppy really appreciate you taking a second to think outside the box, I think you might have nailed it 👊🙏

Really appreciate everyone's help here, I'll update in a while to let you know how it goes

This community is awesome, so glad I stumbled onto this site
Click to expand...

Yeah buddy my wife was having this problem after delivering our baby. We fixed it with actively trying to increase potassium.

Keep us posted how things pan out please.
 
If I don’t drink lots of water, eat a couple servings of fruit and vegetables , and use Metamucil daily then I get bunged up with the amount of meat I smoke.

One of the most uncomfortable things.

Restoralax pulls a little more water into your digestive trac which will make it easier to pass your stool

Stay away from true laxatives because your body can become reliant on them
 
You really should of been taking magnesium to begin with and if you did you likely would of run into the effects magnesium citrate has (its not absorbed as well as other magnesium) take that and if you want take a low dosage digestive enzyme. Also are you doing enough moving around during the day? You really shouldn't get constipation unless you're not living an active life style and you are eating junk.
 
If you get bunged up and want a good boner, cialis will help you shit as well. Pop 20 mg in the morning, increase your water intake and you'll shit by the evening. You can surf porn as you are shitting then pull one off after you are done, lol.

I wouldn't worry unless you haven't pooped for like 5 days and you are not farting anymore. Then you can give yourself a enema. Its not bad to do. I had to do it a couple of times. Just have about a free hour or so. That is what they try first when you go to the hospital. UIt will not harm you, even if you have to do it twice, lol.

Maganisum citrate will work, I believe that is the main ingredient in a colon cleanse, but likely a pretty high dose. Now that would get things moving, do a colon cleanse, lol.
 
I had a real bad bout of constipation doing my first show that I literally had to reach up in and dig it out ( took 4 hours to remove the blockage). If you can handle it ... one big mouthful of extra virgin olive oil in the morning a boom everything slid out. I did nothing else once I found this out and continued with my Keto diet.
 
I was gonna start a thread and call it “Let’s talk poop 💩 “ but there’s no more need for it thanks to this thread.

I stopped drinking so much tea and noticed the effects today. I hate the damn feeling.

I have been using Metamucil every morning for a couple of years now. But sometimes I get constipated during stressful times. Water and movement are very important like everyone said. The olive oil hack is pretty good too. Works with lots of fish oil as well on an empty stomach. Prune juice I agree with as well.

Be careful with pushing out concrete logs and pushing out loose stool or water, the high pressure will cause hemorrhoids.
 
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