Need Help For Chronic Constipation And Digestion Problems

[fradon]

i think you constipation is related to all the fiber in your diet. when you say you add white potatoes and sweet potatoes and that makes you more constipated they are both super high in fiber. all the fiber pulls water out of your body and colon and then it shuts you down.

you do eat a lot of vegetables and i wonder if they are prevent you from absorbing nutritents effectively or efficiently. fiber as good as it is, is really a double edge sword and it prevents the absorption of vitamins, minerals and cholesterol. because fiber binds all this nutrients then takes them out, this could be the result of your poor melatonin so you can't sleep.

now you say that adding bread has no bad effect on you and that is because it has low fiber. the starch is also very easy to digest. the human body is almost designed to digest wheat is a weird way that wheat turns to sugar right in the mouth when mixed with saliva...all other starches do not do this and root vegetables can be hard to digest as they ahve resistant starch.

i think your efforts to have a good healthy diet are really back firing on you. I have been there too thinking that eating alot of vegetables will help but vegetables can really mess you up.

three bowel movements a day seem excessive. the farting you get is from food that is not digesting well or too much fiber.

all i know is fiber pulls water to it so if you eat a lot of fiber it will pull water from you colon and make you constipated. just like when people take METAMUCIL they have to drink a lot of water with it or it will make you constipated.

 

[jitsmonkey]

cascara sagrada is your friend
will both help short and long term
won't fix it on its own you have a lot of work to do
but as far as constipation and improving motility consistently and in a way
that will improve your situation. CS is your friend.
But ONLY good quality CS.
I've used several, my preferred is from HealthNatura.com

 

[Guacamayo]

@fradon Over the course of several years I've tried both high-fiber and low-fiber vegetable diets and didn't see any big changes in terms of constipation relief. I think you may have misunderstood my original post where I said that bread has no effect. Bread does have an effect, but a lot less compared to rice, potatoes, pasta - anything more than one small slice of bread will have a constipating effect. Lentils (which actually contain more fiber than any other starch) are one of the starches that actually I digest better and can usually (but not always) eat in the range of 50g before the constipation symptoms set in. Also, for most people suffering from constipation it's the insoluble fiber as opposed to the soluble fiber which is the cause of many problems. But after years of experimenting I've found that it doesn't make much difference to me. Initially a low-fiber diet did help (maybe for a year), but now it doesn't.

Also, my sleep is actually worse when my bowel movements are better. Every time I get a good night's sleep I can almost guarantee that my constipation will be a lot worse. I've yet to figure out an explanation for this, but perhaps there's a hormonal issue at play there.

@jitsmonkey Cascara Sagrada is similar to senna in that it leads to dependence after a while. But for me I've found that cascara Sagrada isn't as effective as senna or high-dose vitamin c, and in order for it to be as effective I have to take absolutely massive doses which would lead to dependence much quicker.

I'm already taking laxatives around 3 times a week. Once a week I take high dose magnesium oxide before bed. Another time I will take high-dose vitamin C in the morning. And finally I'll take senna once a week as well. I'm mixing them up like this so as not to cause dependence, however as I mentioned before, it's the Senna that provides the feeling of most relief, followed by vitamin c, and finally by magnesium. Magnesium citrate used to work for a while but I found I quickly became dependent on it, and had to keep constantly increasing the dosage.

@JustAGuy I've tried Betaine HCL and it didn't notice any effects on bowel movements. It did help me digest my food and remove that feeling of food just sitting in the stomach, but that didn't translate to better BMs. It's similar to the experience I had when I was putting my meals through a blender. The food digested easier, but that still didn't help the constipation symptoms. The results from the low protein/vegan diet was mixed. It was definitely easier on my digestion, however I tried it one week and my constipation symptoms improved. But several months later I tried it again for a couple a week or two and saw no changes. I think it may be related to the amount of starches I was eating, or perhaps their type. I'll give it another shot again in the future and change up the types of starches.

@Amazoniac I take 25mcg T3 (cynomel) in the mornings around a half hour before my grated carrot. And I eat that around a 45 minutes before breakfast. The magnesium content in my breakfasts is really low. And when I do supplement magnesium I haven't found that it has any effect on the T3. As I mentioned before I don't feel much from the T3 that I'm taking but I take it because my free T3 is always low, and my Reverse t3 is high. I'll try and switch it to Natural dessicated thyroid again in the future and see if that gives a better effect on the bowels.

I used the Life-Extension B Complex, but I've also used another good B Complex that they had in Australia but that became worse after the recipe was changed. The brand was an Australian one called Nature's Way or Nature's Own or Nature's something or other.

When I avoided dairy I replaced the milk with almond milk or water (for the once or twice a week I would eat oats or cereal), and I replaced butter with olive oil. I didn't replace cheese with anything and as mentioned I would eat around 60grams of cheese (give or take) on most days.

I usually space my meals about 5 hours apart, so I eat when I'm just starting to feel hungry, but even that has no effect because when I used to eat my meals spaced around 4 hours apart without hunger, the symptoms were more or less the same. I only started spacing my meals 5 hours apart over the past year as my stomach digestion has gotten worse. And yes, sometimes they taste nice, other times not so much. But their taste has no effect on my BM.

I haven't tried to eat more phosphorous, since from what I understand, consumption of calcium should be greater than consumption of phosphorous. That's why I'm always trying to eat more foods that contain more calcium than phosphorous, but that hasn't had any effect on my bowels.

As far as current supplements go, I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil every other day, I'm also taking ashwaghandha, systemic enzymes between meals, and occasionally vitamin c and magnesium.

The only goitrogens I really eat now is cabbage (usually at 2 meals), and even then it's well cooked in soups. I've tried going goitrogen-food free for around a week but didn't notice any major change. I should also mention that all my food is very well cooked, and the only vegetables I would eat raw would be lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, garlic, olives, and capsicum.

The only legumes that I currently digest well are red split lentils, and they're always soaked overnight (as were other legumes when I ate them) and cooked for around an hour.

I'm currently based in Israel so the quality of water here isn't great compared to Australia. But I find that the quality of the shower water hasn't made any difference.

 

[Amazoniac]

@Amazoniac I take 25mcg T3 (cynomel) in the mornings around a half hour before my grated carrot. And I eat that around a 45 minutes before breakfast. The magnesium content in my breakfasts is really low. And when I do supplement magnesium I haven't found that it has any effect on the T3. As I mentioned before I don't feel much from the T3 that I'm taking but I take it because my free T3 is always low, and my Reverse t3 is high. I'll try and switch it to Natural dessicated thyroid again in the future and see if that gives a better effect on the bowels.

I used the Life-Extension B Complex, but I've also used another good B Complex that they had in Australia but that became worse after the recipe was changed. The brand was an Australian one called Nature's Way or Nature's Own or Nature's something or other.

When I avoided dairy I replaced the milk with almond milk or water (for the once or twice a week I would eat oats or cereal), and I replaced butter with olive oil. I didn't replace cheese with anything and as mentioned I would eat around 60grams of cheese (give or take) on most days.

I usually space my meals about 5 hours apart, so I eat when I'm just starting to feel hungry, but even that has no effect because when I used to eat my meals spaced around 4 hours apart without hunger, the symptoms were more or less the same. I only started spacing my meals 5 hours apart over the past year as my stomach digestion has gotten worse. And yes, sometimes they taste nice, other times not so much. But their taste has no effect on my BM.

I haven't tried to eat more phosphorous, since from what I understand, consumption of calcium should be greater than consumption of phosphorous. That's why I'm always trying to eat more foods that contain more calcium than phosphorous, but that hasn't had any effect on my bowels.

As far as current supplements go, I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil every other day, I'm also taking ashwaghandha, systemic enzymes between meals, and occasionally vitamin c and magnesium.

The only goitrogens I really eat now is cabbage (usually at 2 meals), and even then it's well cooked in soups. I've tried going goitrogen-food free for around a week but didn't notice any major change. I should also mention that all my food is very well cooked, and the only vegetables I would eat raw would be lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, garlic, olives, and capsicum.

The only legumes that I currently digest well are red split lentils, and they're always soaked overnight (as were other legumes when I ate them) and cooked for around an hour.

I'm currently based in Israel so the quality of water here isn't great compared to Australia. But I find that the quality of the shower water hasn't made any difference.

Oftentimes piecing nutrients doesn't work, they all have to be present together. If you tried to increase your potassium without magnesium, it can't work. Same for B-vitamins, which are usually of poor quality, overdosed, and missing choline to save volume. If you tried magnesium without B-vitamins, it's also ineffective.

Have you tried Raj's magnesium water? Or Zeus' product to bypass any malabsorption?
Cod liver oil can increase its need, in case you're already low on it. Is it benefiting you? Because it's dispensable.

If I'm not wrong that dose of T3 can be depleting, especially before a meal that doesn't provide enough nutrients.

The diet changed quite a bit from your initial description!

 

[jitsmonkey]

ascara Sagrada is similar to senna in that it leads to dependence after a while. But for me I've found that cascara Sagrada isn't as effective as senna or high-dose vitamin c, and in order for it to be as effective I have to take absolutely massive doses which would lead to dependence much quicker.

This is incorrect.
They are not similar. One acts by strong irritation, one contributes to better tissue health in the gut.
By "effective" you mean senna is more irritating not stronger. the irritation produces a stronger response.
Cascara is contributing to your recovery the others are not.
Dependence is a concern but lack of motility and slow transit is a MUCH bigger concern
I'd rather be dependent on CS permanently vs permanently using irritants to keep bowels moving.
In addition based on what you are describing you already have a serious dependence on laxitives. May as well be dependent on one that's got some recovery properties.
Your concern seems to be with dependence on given substance which at this point is irrelevant imo. I'd be much more concerned that you are 100% dependent on irritation and without strong irritation your bowels don't move. I'm not telling you to stop doing whatever it is you have to do, I am telling you that CS should be part of your recovery plan however that plays out. CS is not purely a "laxative" and shouldn't be categorized as such.

 

[Wilfrid]

T4 level can have a strong influence on the ion and water transport across the intestinal mucosa, i.e resulting either in diarrhea or constipation.
The intestinal chloride/bicarbonate exchange is regulate by thyroxine.
Simply put: low T4 levels are associated with an enhancement of chloride absorption and bicarbonate secretion ( in this case constipation ) while high T4 levels are associated with chloride secretion and bicarbonate absorption ( diarrhea ).
Your alternance between constipation and more than " normal " bowel movement probably mimics your " high " and " low " fluctuation of thyroid activity.
Finding a solution to this situation can be tricky. Very few supplements should be use in this situation, and regulation of thyroid antibodies must be achieved first. A product like Tiroxil (4.0 ) can be safely try in this situation if your TSH is not too high.
Monitoring, through bi-monthly blood test, creatinine, aldosterone, T4, TSH, PTH and vitamin D is very important.
Try to reduce hypotonic fluid intakes between meals and drink only 250-300 ml of water with your meals. Small amount of baking soda in water between meals can be try as well.
If you feel the need to drink between meals, try to put your hand on a rehydration solution for babies and make a drink with it. In France, such product is called Adiaril.
Keep also in mind that electrolyte transport requires protein synthesis, this is where Ray's scrambled potatoes juice can be also very helpful.

 

[Guacamayo]

@Amazoniac My diet hasn't really changed a lot from what I initially described. The only major difference now is that I'm eating a little less of the goitrogenic vegetables. To be honest, the cod liver oil (which I take for several months a year at a dose of around a teaspoon every other day) doesn't benefit me, but at the same time it doesn't hinder my health. And although experts' views on it are all over the place (selfhacked.com and Chris Masterjohn support its use while others, particularly on this forum, are against it) I've decided that it's a healthy supplement to take now and then.

Also, I wasn't aware that magnesium and b-vitamins work better when taken together. You've already recommended the magnesium bicarbonate product, are there any b-vitamin complexes that you'd recommend?

@jitsmonkey The problem with dependency is that after years and years of increasing the dosage, it's possible to get to a point where the laxatives no longer help. I am aware of Cascara's health benefits, however I was under the impression that the healthy compounds in cascara were also present in senna. Also, according to the gutsense website: Ageless Nutrition: Hydro-C the high-dose vitamin c does not cause inflammation/irritation in the gut. Also, for me it's not an issue of irritating the gut to have a BM, since often times when I do have a normal BM it's after the grated carrot or the vegetable soup which I eat most days, or even after a big and filling fruit smoothie. It seems to me that normal foods which do indeed irritate my gut (hard solid foods without liquid, starches, etc.) may be leading to an increase in constipation.

If I may ask, do you take cascara Sagrada regularly, or did you take it regularly in the past and were able to then come off it?

@Wilfrid Could you specify what you mean by hypotonic fluid? I've found that fluid intake doesn't have a large bearing on my constipation symptoms. I've tried decreasing and increasing fluid intake and the symptoms didn't change. Similarly, I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I take soda in water a few times a week and it doesn't have much of an effect on my digestion.

Yes I know I need to boost my T4 levels (and my T3 levels) and I'm still working on that. I know that when my Hashimoto's antibodies started dropping quite quickly for some reason at the beginning of this year, my constipation symptoms didn't improve. However, at the beginning of 2014 when they also began to drop quickly at the same rate (which coincided with my dietary changes - the same diet I have more or less been on these last few years) my constipation symptoms did improve. So I'm not sure if it's related.

Also, as I mentioned in my original post, my blood results keep showing that my protein levels are below range. This is something that's been ongoing for a few years now. I'm already eating substantial amounts of protein and if I increase the amount then I'll just worsen my digestion. Any ideas on how I can increase protein synthesis to aide in electrolyte transport?

Something which I should also mention (which I may have forgotten to mention in my original post) is that I've noticed before that when I drink around 3 cups of organic full-fat cow's milk (I can't remember if it's only true for full-fat cow's milk or if it's also true for low-fat milk, raw cow milk, raw goat's milk, unhomogenized milk, A2 milk etc.) for breakfast, along with cereal, or fruit, or most any type of food really, it will usually have a laxative effect on me within 30 minutes - 1 hour. After that I'll be gassy and farting all day after lunch. This isn't always the case though, and sometimes it has the opposite, constipating effect, which is a bit of a head-scratcher. Obviously I'm not digesting lactose properly, or most any other food for that matter, but maybe someone has some insight into what it is that's having this effect. I know that the microbiome changes after major changes in diet and that that could have an effect on why sometimes a lot of milk has a laxative effect and sometimes it doesn't, but my diet has stayed more or less the same throughout these years.

I don't drink milk that often (or in such quantities) specifically to avoid that gassy feeling, and whenever I do drink milk, I usually boil it first and then let it cool down slightly so it's still warm. However, I remember that even cold milk from the fridge would usually have a similar effect.

Finally, I've noticed that whenever I do have a proper bowel movement (BM) which leaves me feeling emptied (e.g. after drinking milk in the quantities noted above, or even after a liquid soup or smoothie that also sometimes works to clear me out) it's usually followed several minutes later by a slight dull pain around the liver area. Maybe it's my liver, or maybe it's another organ, but the pain is centered around that part and it lasts for several hours. It's not an uncomfortable pain and I would register it as a 1/10 or 2/10 in turns of actual pain, but it's still there and it only comes around after a complete BM, meaning that I won't usually have any pain in that area after I've had a small or incomplete BM. Also, it's like that way in the mornings. If I were to have a complete BM after lunch (which is very rare these days) then the pain would still be that low-dull pain, but slightly sharper and greater. I know other people who've suffered from constipation have mentioned similar symptoms. Could it perhaps be an issue with bile release or gallbladder function? Again, I'd appreciate any feedback on this as well.

 

[Motif]

I think at least for me it's a bile/ gallbladder / liver issue. But no idea how to fix this.

I'm trying Tudca now. Let's see what it does for me

 

[Wilfrid]

@Guacamayo ,
I meant ordinary water for hypotonic fluid.
As for your issue with protein synthesis, thyroid-calcium-vitamin D all interact in a powerful way in this process.
Ray has a point regarding the needed homeostasis between those 3 factors.
If calcium synthesis is ok, if vitamin D synthesis is ok and if thyroid function is ok ( I know a lot of "if"....), a very very large number of health problems can be solved.

 

[japanesedude]

I have an IBS too and VitaminB2 have been really helpful for me to maintain my digestive health.

 

[Guacamayo]

Another bit of useful information that may help and which I forgot to mention was that according to one naturopath I visited recently I have a sluggish gallbladder. He used some special device to check how well each of my organs were functioning, and it was only the gallbladder that was underperforming. I don't what the exact name of the device is, but you hold two small metallic rods (one in each hand) and then he would place the end of the cable that ran from these rods to separate points on your feet/toes and the computer would signal if that spot is over or underactive. On a previous occasion I had a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner also mention that my spleen is weak. I believe that in TCM the spleen is the gallbladder.

Anyway if the gallbladder is the one in charge of producing bile, then it most likely plays a key role in this puzzle.

 

[Guacamayo]

Just as an update, I tried Ox Bile for over a week at a dose of 500mg per meal and saw no change. Similarly with Taurine, taking 1000mg per meal has not led to any noticeable changes.

 

[Motif]

Even for me it doesn't work anymore.
My digestion was perfect with it a half year ago. No idea what's wrong now

 

[Amazoniac]

Just as an update, I tried Ox Bile for over a week at a dose of 500mg per meal and saw no change. Similarly with Taurine, taking 1000mg per meal has not led to any noticeable changes.

These high doses of single nutrients aren't sustainable, especially when you go from little to a lot and don't allow the body to adapt to the greater intakes. Sometimes there's a confusing signal for the body because it can't adjust to anything for being unpredictable.
It's better to use about 150-200 mg of taurine a day.

Like I commented, it seems that your diet is nutritious, I suspect that if you tracked it on Cron-o-meter it would look fine (magnesium and calcium probably being exceptions). But needs for B-vitamins (and other nutrients) can remain elevated during or for a while after stress. According to Morton Biskind's experience, it's more or less 10x (sometimes up to 50x). However, I think it's better to assume that you don't require this much, so 5x the current RDA is a reasonable aim. Due to this, I think it's worth trying a good B-vitamins complex again (topically) along with magnesium and way less T3 at a time. It can be just for the sake of grasping how sufficient you is. You can put on a glove, dump the vitamin capsule there and add some water to facilitate absorption.

You mentioned feeling bad after sun exposure, and this can be a sign of existing deficiencies.

Laxatives, high-dose magnesium and vit C can mess up nutrient balancing. It's common for vit C in flushing doses to affect trace minerals. Your diet seems adequate in them, but perhaps not enough when you consider interactions.

Instead of a massive amount of magnesium once in a while, it's better to spread your T3 throughout the day with 100 mg of it. The absorption of magnesium is steep up until about 120 mg depending on the form. Most meals provide small amounts, so 100 mg should suffice. As a coincidence, this is the amount that Raj suggests to use along with T3.

There might be a vitamin E insufficiency making vitamin A not work and affecting thyroid hormones in a negative way. 25 mg might be enough.

The liver has several ways to catch toxins, but when it starts to work too hard to detoxify things, the brain is our second most active detoxifying organ, it has very intense enzymes analogous to those that break down toxins in the liver; but if the liver is spending too much energy detoxifying it becomes unable to produce albumin

 

[Guacamayo]

Bumping, because issues still haven't resolved. My liver is also now in a pretty bad state, with ALP levels chronically high, out of the normal range, and globulin low.

I got a helpful mention that it could be a copper toxicity issue, and my hair mineral analysis did show very high levels of copper, but decreasing copper intake and upping zinc and other metals didn't really help. At least after several months of avoiding high copper foods and taking all the supplements recommended by the Hair Mineral Analysis centre, I saw no overwhelmingly positive effects.

I had several good months mid-way last year (I was able to stop taking laxatives 3x per week and maybe take them 1x 2 weeks) after I started taking Thyrogold NDT, T3, and Ancestral Supplements Thyroid + Liver capsules in pretty huge doses. But after a few months the positive digestion effects wore off. I've tried stopping the thyroid meds and restarting again after a few weeks at the dosages that gave me positive results earlier, but I'm not getting any results.

Also, for some strange reason, the Ancestral Supplements Thyroid + Liver extract capsules provide a better energy boost effect than the NDT when taken alongside my T3. At least initially. This effect wears off, but initially it would give me an instant warm feeling all over the body with a rise in energy levels and generally better bowel movements throughout that week. NDT by itself alongside T3 didn't do this. Nor did T4 alongside T3. I thought it was the beef liver, but eating beef liver up to 250g per week has had no noticeable effect. I asked the producer of the supplements and he said that it's basically thyroid extract and liver extract, so I'm stumped as to why they have this great effect but eating beef liver doesn't.

The digestion issues I believe are also connected to my weak stomach digestion and low stomach acid. The food I eat never seems to digest in my stomach for a long time...it just sits there in my stomach...at least when my metabolism is low and the thyroid supps aren't working.

Anyway I'm still stuck in the same situation after a year and a half, so I'm just putting it out there - if anyone has any ideas or knows any specialists who may be able to help just shout 'em out.

 

[Dino D]

I didn't read through your post or all of the comments...
500-1000 mg mag malate a day, and after 3 days it will wor 4 ever...
500 will be probably enough after a time, going to 1 gram periodically or in the start... good luck

 

[Guacamayo]

I've tried high dose magnesium oxide (specifically designed for being a laxative) and even in doses in the 2 - 3g range (which was double what they recommended to induce a laxative effect), it had no laxative effect on me. I've also tried citrate, malate, glycinate and others with similar results. If anything it seems that magnesium constipates me more.

 

[Dino D]

I've tried high dose magnesium oxide (specifically designed for being a laxative) and even in doses in the 2 - 3g range (which was double what they recommended to induce a laxative effect), it had no laxative effect on me. I've also tried citrate, malate, glycinate and others with similar results. If anything it seems that magnesium constipates me more.

oxide does not work for me... but if 1gram of malate didnt work...

coffee, and 5gram of real good vit c would be my next advice... but still, maybe you have something more complicated going on there...

 

[Whichway?]

How is your potassium level? Magnesium can have the same effect on me. I find potassium gluconate powder from Now Foods is helpful. Also calcium if too reduced can reduce secretions and so effect the intestinal function.

 

[charlie]

If you like, check out the thread below and also the other threads linked in the first post:

Solved? - IBS, SIBO, GERD, LPR, Colitis, Constipation, Celiac, Brain Fog