# 2 years of Chronic Constipation, but hardly a problem now



## BanjoKazooie (Feb 9, 2017)

I'm a 23 year old male. I offer a short description of my history with chronic constipation, and then 7 pieces of advice, and finally some encouragement for you.

I have dealt with constipation since January 2015 (so about 2 years). My constipation went from periodic episodes (one time I didn't poop for two weeks and had to take GoLytely), to feeling like I can't poop at all without laxatives (since Fall 2015) and even then I thought I wasn't pooping enough. But, since about December 10 2016 (so 2 months now), I poop every day (almost always in the morning), 1-3 times a day, and each bowel movement is effortless and relieving, and I have about 50 grams of fiber a day (in food, I don't have fiber supplements).

Here are 7 pieces of advice that I have to offer:
(1) Go watch every video on bowel movements at nutritionfacts.org (http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/bowel-movements/), and become a vegan (which is not the same thing as vegetarian) and have at least 35 grams of fiber a day (in food, not fiber supplements) ("35" is not a hard rule, the point is to not try to minimize your fiber intake, and to actually make sure you get enough fiber). I recommend http://nutritionfacts.org/video/bowels-of-the-earth/ as the first video to watch, and perhaps http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prunes-vs-metamucil-vs-vegan-diet/, and http://nutritionfacts.org/video/food-mass-transit/, as the next videos to watch. I did not find this website until late November 2016, and I wish I had found it sooner. 
(2) Hydrate properly. There is such a thing as drinking too much water, and I ended up having a full-blown seizure for doing so. But that's probably because I was forcing myself to drink a lot water in a short period of time, even when I wasn't thirsty. But for most people, you can trust your thirst mechanism, and make sure your urine isn't a deep yellow (I guess 'pale yellow, close to white' is what I would aim for).
(3) Do cardiovascular exercise. I suggest that every other day is good enough. And then I still make sure to walk for about 20 minutes a day. If you're body is a couch potato, then that's an issue. My mom recently got constipated after surgery on her knee. She had to mostly sit in bed for a few days, and I suspect that that is partly why she got constipated. Before surgery, she complained of having regular diarrhea!
(4) I have 2 doses of Miralax a day (the first one is as soon as I wake up, and the second is right before I go to bed) and 8 ounces of prune juice a day, that's the only medicine I have (except that "food is medicine" when you're eating healthy that is). I have a nurse-friend who takes 1 dose of Miralax a day, and that works for her. I hesitate to try to give advice about all the different constipation medicines out there, so I won't say much more about it. I'm actually gradually weaning myself off of Miralax.
(5) Manage the psychological component (you may be 'over-managing' constipation, and that may be a bad thing).
I'm not talking about stress (maybe that causes constipation for other people, but it doesn't affect my constipation, in my opinion). But there is perhaps a much more fear-related component of your constipation than you may think. Namely, you are perhaps afraid of stool accumulating in your intestines over time, to the point where you never poop again and you die. That was the case for me at least, given that I have tried very hard to 'measure' how constipated I am. I hesitate to give this advice, but I say that you should try to minimize your worrying about constipation. That is, I eventually realized 'as long as I eat like a vegan, hydrate properly, take Miralax daily, and exercise, I'll probably poop eventually.' And I do, I poop every day (almost always in the morning), 1-3 times a day, and it is effortless and relieving. And on a day where it seems like I didn't poop much, I don't worry about it. Before this realization, I was so worried about constipation that I was unemployed while living with my parents and most of my waking thoughts were about managing my health. After that realization, I am now working as a substitute teacher, and am going to try to become a full-time teacher. This is saying something, given that I used to be afraid at the prospect of being a teacher because I worried about "what if I finally have an urge to poop when I'm in the classroom? I can't leave, I have to watch the students." (Now, if I do get that urge, I'm sure I'll get the urge again eventually, and when I am free to use the restroom. I'm no longer worried about the poop traveling in reverse through my colon, or something like that.) 
There is probably a physical component to constipation, I can't deny that. People do end up not pooping and getting impacted, of course. But with chronic constipation, there is probably at least some psychological component. Perhaps it would help you to have a confidant who can help you to not manage the psychological component of constipation (of course, there is a balance, you can possibly 'under-manage' constipation (by relying too much on your confidant and having them make all the decisions about your health), but again I found that much of my problem was excessively worrying about constipation). This individual can be a friend, loved one, nurse, psychiatrist, doctor, you get the idea; it's helpful and comforting for this individual to be as 'medically knowledgeable' as possible. I hesitate to try to tell you how much of your problems are 'just in your head.' But what I can say, from my experience, is that it is possible to worry excessively about chronic constipation. For example, by June 2016, I scared myself into thinking "if more fiber in my diet means more stool inside my body, I better have less fiber!" And so I went from about 38 grams of fiber a day, to 2-3 grams a day, and still thought that I was completely filled with stool. This was pretty unhealthy, because my diet was a glass of v8 juice, and jello, for a total of about 1000 calories a day, and I went from weighing 135 lbs to 114 lbs and could not stop losing weight and developed terrible gut pain. Now, I have around 50 grams of fiber a day and at least 2000 calories a day (not metamucil, I mean fiber in terms of fruits and vegetables and nuts), and no longer have such terrible gut pain, and I've stopped losing weight, and I'm slowly gaining weight (not easy to gain weight as a vegan, but I'm a vegan because it just seems like that's helped me manage constipation best, and because of watching a few nutritionfacts.org videos (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/food-mass-transit/, http://nutritionfacts.org/video/stool-size-matters/, http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prunes-vs-metamucil-vs-vegan-diet/)). 
(6) Here is some advice about increasing your fiber intake (in food, not fiber supplements) to at least 35 grams of fiber a day. You should do it gradually. I would suggest that adding 4-5 grams of fiber (in food, not fiber supplements) every week, that is gradual enough, you probably don't need to be more gradual than that. I believed at some point that I would never be able to increase my fiber intake, and so I stopped increasing my fiber intake for about a month (I remained at around 17-22 grams of fiber). But eventually I decided that I would increase my fiber intake every week, regardless of how constipated I thought I was. The point is that I had to learn to increase my fiber intake gradually, but not too gradually (like how I got too scared to continue increasing my fiber intake).
(7) I offer some advice about gut discomfort symptoms (that is, belching bloating nausea and gut pain, and these symptoms may or may not be related to constipation but I don't think that they are related for me). My health issue used to be only constipation, but, probably because of my Summer 2016 unhealthy diet (a glass of v8 juice, and jello, as mentioned above), I developed terrible stomach bloating and belching and nausea and gut pain (I don't think these symptoms are related to constipation... I thought that they were, but one day I had just jello for lunch and then was in terrible stomach pain and then I said to myself 'these symptoms are probably not the same as constipation, because jello is not constipating'). I've found that I no longer have these symptoms when I eat only fruit, veggies, and nuts. It may be that 'starchy' foods (potatoes and corn (these are the only veggie I don't have), and grains) cause these symptoms, but I'm really honestly not sure. The point is, I find that a diet of fruit and veggies and nuts is helpful, and you might want to experimentally consider if 'starchy' foods contribute to any gut discomfort (not constipation-related) that you might have.

Finally, here is what encouragement I can offer you. God (that is, the God of the Bible) really really really really loves you, no matter what; an actively loving relationship with Him is even better than having good health. Perhaps you think that God does not like you, so he gave you medical problems. That's not true- God really really really really loves you and every individual. He's not santa, He probably does not grant you your every wish... when I say "He really really loves you" that includes that He wants what is truly best for you. For a heartwarming and funny sermon on God's love and God's will for your life, and the best sermon I've ever heard, here watch this 



 For me, having an intimate relationship with God, especially praying to Him, that has helped me through my darkest days of dealing with constipation. Even still, I'm fearful for my health, but then I remind myself that God truly knows what's best for me (and I do not know what is best for me), and wants that for me, and one day I'll wake up and everything will be okay (God eventually will make all things right in the universe). I recommend https://www.carm.org/ (even more than I recommend nutritionfacts.org). May God bless you and change your desires so that you are passionate for what you are created for (that is, to love God with every fiber of your being, and to love others).


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