How do I wean myself off of Laxatives, retrain the bowl and regain control?

by Tan
(Canada)



This isn't a story so much as it is a plea for help!




I have suffered on and off for 5-7 years with constipation. Starting out with only hardened feces that eventually caused severe anal fissures.




At one point I started using the occasional laxative, then an oral fleet here and there. I got to the point where I too, was addicted to that "empty feeling" and found I was using a stimulant lax or an oral fleet at least once a week.




I know I have abused laxatives and I am completely ashamed of it. I'm 32 yrs old and I've had a colonoscopy and everything is fine, except the lining of my bowel is stained black/brown from the use of Senna! I requested the scope, as I was worried about the condition of my large intestine.




I now go through stages where I'm ok for a week or so, then I get really bunged up and no matter what I was doing as a regime, and no matter what I do I cannot produce a BM. I know that some of this has to do with my 12-hour shift work days and nights.... which will be coming to end soon... thank the lord! I'm hoping this will have a significant impact.




I'm so sick of this, all I want to do is poop like a normal person! Does anyone have any good tips on retraining the bowel?




I'm moderately active (gym 3-4 days/week), I use organic prune juice (as the regular stuff does not work for me), organic black cherry juice daily, I use ground flax seed in as much food as I can, I eat bran daily, I drink 1.5ltrs of water/day. I eat my veggies/fruit (although I could eat more I guess).




Last week I went to the ER because I was so backed up. The ER Doc recommended to take PEG daily until no longer needed (aka Lax-a-Day/Restor-a-lax). I've been taking it for 7 days and little-no BMs have been produced. I've had a few little tiny ones, that are soft, and very thin, indicating that the stool is moving a round a blockage. Last time the blockage was too high, so no suppositories would be helpful. It seems I have problems in the transverse colon and where it turns to descend into my descending colon.




I am at the end of my rope here... I cannot deal with this... I'm trying my hardest to not go the store and buy an oral fleet. I know it'll only take care of business for a few days.




HEEELLP!!!


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How do I wean myself off of Laxatives, retrain the bowl and regain control?

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starstarstarstarstar 		diet tips to resolve your problem
by: Anonymous

Hi Friend,

My family abused laxatives and that led me to rely on them whenever I was having issues. I think it started at uni and I was pretty much dependent on them for a long time. I would stop from time to time but use increased when I got 'blocked'.

I recently stopped using them and went back to normal bowel functions. However, I usually get constipated on holidays and found after a trip in Feb, that I turned back to them. Particularly, I found Agiolax has a very strong reaction and every time I tried to stop I got blocked.

Last week I was determined to quit for good. And it has taken about 5-6 days (not able to fully empty) but patience finally paid off! I have literally made a conscious effort to change my diet drastically from 80% meat and 20% veg to 75% veg and 25% meat consumption. Cut out beef completely. Only fish and chicken breast and LOTS of vegs, salads, cooked (boiled) veg. Loads of fruit (plums, oranges, grapefruit, papaya, banana) and prune juice. Regular exercise. Drinking LOTS of warm water a day.

Try propping a stool right beneath your toilet as I find this helps. I see light at the end of the tunnel as after about 5-6 days I feel things are going back to normal function again. You just have to be patient and wait it out.

GOOD LUCK.
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starstarstarstarstar 		HI
by: Anonymous

Hi

You need to talk to a specialist.

Firstly get a whole panel of bloods done for electrolytes...NOW! they could be dangerously low and this can cause terrible trouble don't be afraid to talk to your doctor and you need to see a gastroenterologist to see if the is damage.


Your bowel is lazy....prune juice etc will not work until you are off the laxatives.

You need under the supervision of a doctor to wean your self off them....10% a week so if you talk 20 or more at the most divide that by ten...you get 2 and you are going to reduce by two per week..

The bowel is dependent on them....it needs to be weaned off.

BUT YOU NEED TO GET TESTS FOR ELECTROLYTES COLONOSCOPY AND WHATEVER ELSE YOUR DOC THINKS.

You need to be rigid about reducing ....you will get constipated a little but don't start taking more or eating less..it will just make things worse ask a special eating disorder doc or gastroenterologist what you can do..

But it can be done certainly and you will get better but it is also an addiction as well as a physical dependency.

You will need medical help physically and emotionally.

But lots of people have come off huge amounts of laxatives you can too and you MUST.

They flush out your electrolytes which can kill you they damage your kidneys and so much more.

YOU CAN DO IT GO TO A FEW SPECIALISTS AND A COUNCILOR.

SET UP A TIME TABLE OF REDUCING SHOW IT TO YOUR DOCTOR AND GET A CHECK UP EVERY WEEK TO MAKE SURE YOUR OK UNTIL YOU ARE OFF THEM.

Prune juice etc while you are on them will only work for a day or two then stop.

But when you are off them you can use SOME THINGS BUT ALWAYS ASK YOUR DOCTOR FOR SOME TYPES OF FIBRE CAN MAKE THINGS WORSE.

BUT NOTHING WILL WORK LONG TERM UNTIL YOU REDUCE, UNTIL YOU ARE OFF THEM!

YOU CAN DO IT!
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starstarstarstarstar 		A few Details Part 2
by: Candy Yee




I would like to share a recipe that I read in The Natural Woman's Guide to Hormone Replacement Therapy: An Alternative Approach, by M. Sara Rosenthal: this is a more intensive version of just drinking water in the morning. After water, insert glycerin suppository ( which I knew you have tried but probably not this way ) and move around a bit. For instance, you can make the bed or do a little warm up exercises for a few minutes. Then sit on the toilet and push for two minutes. If nothing happens, simply get up. It is important not to sit too long on the toilet bowl. Repeat this morning ritual every day up to six months if necessary. It should help to retrain your bowels.




Meanwhile, exercise your will power. Instead of being tempted to buy laxatives why don't you try consuming your prunes this way? Take 3/4 cup of prune-juice mix it with one cup of applesauce and one cup of coarse bran. Take 1 or 2 tablespoons a day and store the rest in the fridge for later. Drink lots of water with it. A friend who give me this remedy said it is quite powerful...I would love to have your feedback on this.




Here's something new about laxatives I learnt today. Laxatives should be nonirritating, nontoxic and act only on the descending sigmoid colon to produce bowel movement in a few hours. While your problem area seem to be the transverse colon. However, such laxatives do not exist. That's why all laxatives can cause dependency and should not be self medicated for more than two weeks.

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starstarstarstarstar 		A Few Details
by: Candy Yee

Dear Tan,

You have a strong weapon to overcome your addiction that is, the right desire - you want to stop! On top of that, you are trying to do sensible things like fluids, bulk food, exercise and visiting the doctors. These are the reasons that move me to respond to you.



First of all, I want to make clear it is unfair for me to comment on your situation because I don't know whether you are male or female. Generally, females are the major gender in cases of laxative abuse. Since you mention gyms, you are most probably a male. You mentioned using laxatives more than once weekly, and no weight lose issues are brought up so yours are most likely a case of dependency and not abuse. ( Please read the upper right column to read the definition of laxative abuse and laxative dependency ).



The point is, even some people with eating disorders are able to break free so take heart, you do have hope. As you yourself said to wean off laxatives, that means it has to be done slowly and gradually- decreasing the quantity of laxatives.



However, the colon that does not respond to dietary changes and bulking agents is not funny. Here again, I do not know how long you have incorporate food that promote regularity neither do I know how long you have been doing physical exercises. I would assume you need to give your self more time to see results. Otherwise, your doctor might have to prescribe medications that stimulate colonic contractions. Your other options may also be physical therapy and biofeedback...to be continued because this darn form does not allow long comment

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