I'm so frustrated right now. I had a setback and got constipated and, as usual, I can't pinpoint what caused it. It's that time of month, so that's always a possibility. I'm always so diligent out my diet and routine, so this is really upsetting for me. I went to lunch this weekend and had a mushroom burger for the first time. I ate it without bread but I wonder if it was too much fiber? Any thoughts?
The only other thing that I did differently (but this one was bad) was that I had a shot of kaluha in my decaf. coffee. That was only the second time that I've had alcohol since this started and I thought it would be fine since it was such a little bit. I'm just confused.
I ended up not being able to go at all yesterday and every time I tried, I couldn't pass anything without discomfort and straining. I tried prune juice a few times (!) and I finally was able to go this morning after several efforts. This may be way too much information, but it's like there was a whole section that I couldn't pass, but when I got that out, it was ok. It was a much larger size and greater volume, though. I'm a little sore and I'm crossing my fingers that things will return to normal tomorrow. I'm still taking the colace (300 mg) and keeping up with my fiber, activia, olive oil, and water regimen. That's been working pretty well for me, so far.
I'm just so bummed. We went to a birthday bowling party, and when I looked around at everyone drinking beer and eating burgers and fries, I felt like crying. I know that I'm doing really well for the most part. I also know that I'm lucky bc I haven't gone through anything like the pain that some of you have endured, but that still doesn't make it easy sometimes.
Thanks for listening. It's just been a rough 24 hours...

Yeah, this condition is riddled with setbacks. We can all attest here to that. It is hard to pinpoint what happened and probaby an exercise in futility anyway. When I have a hard time with constipation which I am now since I have my period I just kind of up the regimen a bit. Maybe it is time for you to try a something new like Miralax. I have to be honest and say I didn't find colace to do anything for me. But that is not to say not to use it if it is working but our bodies habituate over time and I try to shake things up a bit so my body doesn't adapt.

If you are already constipated try a few tablespoons of MOM before bed tonight to loosen things up. I don't find olive oil to be as coating as fish oil or flax seed as either. There are tons of threads here with people going through setbacks that feel the same way you do and hopefully you can glean some info from those as well. Kind of hard to do to go back so far and some of the titles aren't as descriptive as they could be.

I know how you feel though. My daughter told another little girl at the park yesterday when my husband took her that her mom doesn't leave the house. That made me cry that my5 year old already knows I am different. Hang in there. Once your period settles down I bet you will imporve immensely!

Yeah, its really hard sometimes. I am post surgery over one year and I still get set backs. It is upsetting and it does make you feel like "why me!" when everyone around you appears to be so happy and healthy. Its hard watching people be able to eat anything they want. For instance, my boyfriend can eat anything he wants! Pizza, burgers and fries, pasta, and nothing seems to slow him down. You just get that "its not fair!" feeling, but eventually you have to come to terms with what is... is. I am trying to do that right now.
Lecia is right about the fish oil though. I recently just started taking it and its been great for helping me pass things more easily and less painfully. Plus its really good for building your immunity!
I guess my best advice to you is to just keep doing your diet and routine, if you have a set back, just keep going. If you can pinpoint why it happened then that may help, but I wouldn't drive myself nuts trying to do it.
I hope you get better soon. I know this is a hard condition to live with, particularly since its so "taboo" and we can't share our pain and frustrations with a lot of the people in our lives.
Be brave, stay strong, and try that MOM. If you can get over the taste, it works like a charm.
*hug*
kate

I have known for years that when it is time for my period....I always get constipated. it is a bad part of pms. When your period starts, its almost a relief from a week of bloating and constipation. That is what happened to me 2 weeks ago when I was only 5 weeks out from my surgery. It was awful!! I think I will talk to my gyn when I go about this. I have had some alcohol a few times, and only once did it effect my bm's. But, the water, and prunes are really helping me alot. Also, I take colase.

I get constipated the weekend befoer the period. What seems to help me is being aware of this and uping the water fiber and especially the magensium.

Oh did I try all possible tricks of the trade ; ))) !!!! My poop was soft and I would go 5 times a day but still not soft enough for the fissure and spasms were so strong that whatever was going out was thin as pencil. Since I already went 5 times a day , upping anything would mean having diarrhea : (((.
There was no other alternative for me but to make that muscle relax by having LIS ...

i would stay away from meat. it seems to pass through hard. just my take,
Bernard
I eat chicken, no cheese, pasta, soft things

I've dealt with my AF for about a year, and I can confidently say that I cannot control the size/texture of my BMs simply through diet/colace. I would have days where I ate exactly the same thing (high fiber, fruits, veggies, whole grains), but it would produce vastly different poos -- some gentle, some big and knotty that would tear me open. Drove me nuts that I was depriving myself of so much, but unable to control it. You know, after 8 months of a strict diet with little progress, I started to occasionally break my diet and eat garbage (meat, cheese, junk food, wonderfully unhealthy amounts of alcohol) and I would have a great BM the next day (other times this created problems). But never any consistent correlation between what I ingested and what I defecated.
Colace seemed to help for about a month, then it's effects dwindled, until i was popping 600-800mg a day with little effect. Recently, my doctor switched me from colace a mild laxative (kristalose a.k.a lactulose -- 10g a day). This worked wonders for about a week. Now I've been supplementing that with MOM (not sure if that's kosher to do, but I really don't give a crap) and I've been having pretty good poos...but still too early to tell if any of this will make a difference.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but for me, exercising after meals (a brisk 20-30min walk like an hour or two after dinner) helps keep things moving too. But again, not totally sure about that. Could just be my imagination.

I have to agree with Steve here. I only kept a high fibre diet initially when I first realized I had a fissure and came across this forum. I would really push myself to eat loads of fibre and I was on the metemucil and everything, but it only made my BMs heavier and MUCH more painful to bear.
So I stopped. Today I have some bad days if I eat something bad, but for the most part, everything is good...I don't keep a high fibre diet, I drink a decent amount of water everyday (e.g. 3 -4 glasses!) and I have maybe 4 fruit servings a day. The food we make at home is fairly healthy, stirfries, vegetables, bread, etc. I don't really have many problems with my diet, and I've been able to become regular after having chronic constipation for a year... Just by eating more fruits & veggies. I can't do the whole high fibre thing anymore because it creates huge painful BMs!!!
So I think each person needs to really understand their own body and become one with it... That's the only way you can realize that hey, whatever works for everyone else may not work for me.. Some people are helped more by eating fruits & veggies, and other people maybe by having more fibre.. I think we all have to find what helps US because our bodies are different.
I could be wrong... But I wouldn't even think of taking metemucil again, it made me feel like I was pooing bricks! Nowadays my BMs are softer and thinner, because of all the spinach, salads, fruit, etc. I don't take any oils and I only take Miralax (3/4 the recommended dose) when I have really bad days - just to get through those days with pain free BMs. & Keep in mind:: I have FISSURES not just 1 fissure... I have at least 2-3 fissures righ tnow, my doctor confirmed 2 on one side and I'm pretty sure I gave myself a 3rd 1 or 2 months ago. But I feel that I totally can't go on a high fiber diet, the only thing that helps me keep things smooth and regular is spinach/veggies/fruit. Water doesn't even help me much!
I just believe that everyone's bodies are different so everyone has to see what works for them... I just started hating my doctor when all she would recommend for my butt problems was "more metemucil", when it just killed me even more --I couldn't even walk, I would just lie down.
Sooo Sorry for blabbing but you will get better.. Sometimes prune juice and aloe vera and all the oils work for me, but my grandmother who has more chronic constipation gets no where with prune juice.. Maybe try the MOM or mineral oil.. P.S. I know what you mean about not having the food you want to have.... Today my mom bought a few new cereals and I was just dying to eat em with REAL MILK....... But my ass is more important than my cravings!
Take care..

Exercise is great for the digestion. Yes, setbacks are the norm almost with AF, and the condition keeps a person so stressed, that achieving consistently soft stools can be downright impossible.
If you are experiencing a round of hard poos, I do have one interesting suggestion for a temporary fix... I have found that if I drink more than one bottle of boost or ensure my stools are extra soft the next day. It could be an emergency measure if all else is failing, for a day or two anyway!