So, this is a little TMI, so look away if you'd rather not hear about my bathroom habits
I am usually fairly regular in the BM department, but for the past 2 weeks or so I haven't gone once. Like not at all! I'm guessing this isn't good, but I haven't had any pain or cramping so I don't know if it's that serious. I've changed my eating habits, but not so drastically that things should be at a standstill! I'm a broke college kid, so I'd rather try to take care of it at home before going to the dr with my crappy insurance.
Has anyone else been "stopped up" for a long period of time? Besides coffee (which hasn't worked) or laxatives (which I'd rather not resort to), is there anything that helps make things happen in that area?
You could always try a glycerin suppository. They're safe enough for newborns so you don't have to worry about funky side effects other than how you might feel during insertion.
cod liver oil is supposed to be pretty good at getting things moving along, if you can handle eating a spoonful of oil!
make sure you are getting plenty of fiber AND lots of water to go along with it - fiber absorbs water so if you're not getting extra water a lot of fiber can actually have the negative effect of bulking things up TOO far.
2 weeks is a super long time, and I would strongly suggest looking for medical advice if nothing changes in a few days.
What exactly did you change in your eating habits? Like others have said, make sure you're getting enough fiber and drinking lots of water. If you can't go within the next few days, after trying some of the methods previous posters have mentioned, you should definitely see a doctor, though. Two weeks is a long time!
That is something I would be concerned about since they say it can be a good way measure your health. I know that exercise and water help, but if you dislike the idea of laxatives ( I do too) then try a fiber drink or fiber pills, even the cheapo generics should help.
You very likely aren't getting enough of one or all of three things....water? Are you drinking a lot? Vitamins? (This includes fish oil and regular vitamins =) and are you exercising?
I make sure to maintain a LOT of grains in order to sustain this problem. I too had this same problem lol. After that first week I had to add grain to my intake, and boy has it helped!
The pills always hurt my bowels, so I usually buy the tea. Right now I'm trying a tea called Smooth Move... hehe it sounds so funny. Anyways it works without giving me horrible pains so you might want to try it. It's just herbs and such, but if you don't like licorice I wouldn't recommend it.
I second all of the comments about fiber, water, and exercise. Sometimes all it takes for me to go is a good run... no kidding.
If you think you might be low on fiber, try metamucil. You can pick up a small container for about $2-3 at any Rite Aid/CVS. You just take it to add fiber to your diet and it'll help it to move out.
Even if you count fiber and it's fine, you still might want to try the metamucil. I eat enough fiber with food, but my body is just weird so I have to also supplement with metamucil to keep things moving.
Thanks everyone! Things finally, uhm, started moving (lol) tonight, and I feel sooo much better! I ended up using a laxative (yuck) but I definitely think it was the lack of fiber. I realized I was hardly getting any! So I'm upping my fiber intake and hopefully this won't happen again.
Glad things are moving along for you, If you start eating more veggies it will help, if you cant make that happen then take a fiber pill everyday, you need to flush these toxins from your body, it's not healthy at all to go at the bare least 3-4 days. And thats super pushing it for time, you should ideally be going every day at least every 2!
I too have major issues in this department! I love Fibre One (honey clusters) and the other night I made bran muffins (a low fat prepackaged mix) and I added blackberries and blueberrie and a mashed banana. They were so good and they certainly helped get things moving!
Just remember lots of water!
Glad things are better!
Favorite cereal HANDS DOWN is http://www.target.com/Archer-Farms-B.../dp/B0015R2BNG - you can get it from Target for 2.50. It is AMAZING and sooo good for moving things along =) It has flax in it but you would NEVER know with the taste!
Bathroom Regularity, and Way too much info!
