# Doctor Recommended Everyday Senna Tea...Slightly Concerned



## Pinskers (May 16, 2013)

Hi there!

I've been dealing with IBS-C for about a year and a half now, and while the GI specialist I went to seemed unrattled, he recommended I try drinking a dose of Senna Tea every day to help regulate my digestive system or continue with the Miralax treatment I was on.

I was slightly concerned when he mentioned the senna considering it is a stimulant, so I went the Miralax route-up until a few weeks ago when the medication just stopped working (I'd been taking it for over a year, so I'm assuming I began building up an immunity). Stimulant laxatives do work for me, but I'm concerned everyday usage, such as with senna tea, will cause "lazy bowel syndrome" in the future, which is not something I want. (I brought up this concern with my doctor, but he said not to worry about it and had never heard of it happening with someone using senna tea.)

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is very little evidence of stimulatory laxatives causing cathartic colon, or at least the modern ones. Most of the evidence shows that if your colon gets "lazier" over time that it would have done it without the laxatives as well.

Some things are much more medical myth and I think most of the concerns may be hold overs from a laxative no longer on the market. That people feel that they need to legally cover their butt by putting as many warnings as possible even if it is just a myth doesn't help.









Now eating disorders where people take huge amounts of laxatives on top of eating in very unhealthy ways does seem to cause problems but how much is from the eating disorder vs IBS is common and a lot of people with anything will also have IBS I don't really know.

2009 paper http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20107583

"(1) there is no convincing evidence that the chronic use of senna has, as a consequence, a structural and/or functional alteration of the enteric nerves or the smooth intestinal muscle"


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## Pinskers (May 16, 2013)

Well, as it were, the Senna doesn't really put much of a dent in my BM's. I think my issue lies with a very constricted/tense colon (if the thinness of my BM's are anything to go by), so I switched to Ducolax's Stool Softeners and am having much more success. I can actually hear my intestines digesting again (they'd been insanely quiet for months, which was slightly worrying)! My whole system seems much more relaxed, and I don't need to rely so much on the stimulants anymore.

Hooray!


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## Double Trouble (Apr 8, 2013)

I have had IBS-C since June 1996 and chronic constipation since very early childhood but have found a way to combat my constipation without the use of stimulant laxatives.

I use a bowel retraining program to make my bowels to move on a regular basis. It does take time, commitment, and patience. I sit on the toilet for 30 minutes every day at the same time to move my bowels. The first three days when starting this program, I had to use a glycerine suppository to help me to go. I drink at least 64 oz. of water a day and 25-30 grams of fiber a day. I have found that if I listen to soft relaxing music on a portable CD player it helps me to relax so that my rectal and anal sphincter muscles relax. I also found that if I do slow deep breathing exercises while sitting on the toilet it actually helps me to move my bowels without pain and I don't have to strain. I have learned not to allow myself to go beyond 48 hours without having moved my bowels or it hurts to try to go the next day. When this does happen then I use a glycerine suppository to help make it easier for me to go. I hope this will help you to be able to move your bowels on a regular basis.


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## ResponsibleYou (May 21, 2013)

The best things to do, in my opinion, are:

1. Soften stools naturally 
2. Increase oxygen and CO2 availability for intestines 
3. Introduce and maintain adequate microflora 
4. Eliminate all grains and dairy from diet

1 to do this, you need to introduce high doses of electrolytes into your system (mainly magnesium), coupled with vitamin C. 
- whenever you have an empty stomach, make a glass of warm water containing 400-800mg magnesium (in ionic form, easiest to use liquid), potassium (coconut water sourced or natural, whole food powder/supplement), and vitamin C powder (from natural source, like ascerola cherries, up to 2g). 
- if you notice your urine turning bright yellow, you can reduce the dose of vitamin C until it turns clear.

2 focus on your breathing, all day, until you average 10-12 breaths per minute. 
- always breathe from diaphragm 
- to begin, use either "4 corner breathing" or: 
deep inhale and slow exhale, then relax until you feel urge to get air,
take the smallest inhale possible, relax again, and continue this pattern (without exhaling at all). Your goal should be to reach between 1-2mins doing this. 
- this will largely increase the concentration of O2 and CO2 in your blood, which in turn increases the sensitivity of the colon

3 to introduce, purchase a pharmaceutical grade probiotic supplement. The only one that I know definitely works (I have spent a lot of money and time trying various companies) is Dr. Ohira's. If you are on medication, always consider yourself needing therapeutic dosages of probiotics, as medication destroys your gut. 
to maintain, eliminate fibre from grains, eliminate dairy, eat/drink quality fermented foods, and continue with a maintenance dose of probiotics.

4 dairy and grains increase your likelihood of developing, if not cause, constipation.

For more info/advice, feel free to email me:

[email protected]


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## Pinskers (May 16, 2013)

Double Trouble said:


> I have had IBS-C since June 1996 and chronic constipation since very early childhood but have found a way to combat my constipation without the use of stimulant laxatives.
> 
> I use a bowel retraining program to make my bowels to move on a regular basis. It does take time, commitment, and patience. I sit on the toilet for 30 minutes every day at the same time to move my bowels. The first three days when starting this program, I had to use a glycerine suppository to help me to go. I drink at least 64 oz. of water a day and 25-30 grams of fiber a day. I have found that if I listen to soft relaxing music on a portable CD player it helps me to relax so that my rectal and anal sphincter muscles relax. I also found that if I do slow deep breathing exercises while sitting on the toilet it actually helps me to move my bowels without pain and I don't have to strain. I have learned not to allow myself to go beyond 48 hours without having moved my bowels or it hurts to try to go the next day. When this does happen then I use a glycerine suppository to help make it easier for me to go. I hope this will help you to be able to move your bowels on a regular basis.


I'm still terrified to go to suppository route. My brother jumped on my intestines when I was little and my parents had to give them to me for a solid year...nothing's been quite right since then and I've had a negative association with them ever since.

I definitely think it has to do with taking the time off to relax, and if given the chance, I normally go in the morning around 8-ish, but if I miss that window, I'm screwed for the day.









The Stool Softener seems to work, but is still not helping with my incomplete evacuations. Stuff is definitely moving in there-I can hear it, but it just won't go (and it doesn't help that I can't use unfamiliar bathrooms). The senna tea doesn't seem to do much, and the stimulants are the only things that keep my discomfort down and get my muscles moving (FWIW, I still have not tried warm prune juice, magnesium citrate, or mineral oil-fiber used to do it for me, but now it just makes me feel bloated an uncomfortable). Enemas sometimes work and sometimes don't.


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## storyofmylife (Jan 26, 2013)

Pinskers said:


> My brother jumped on my intestines when I was little and my parents had to give them to me for a solid year...nothing's been quite right since then and I've had a negative association with them ever since.


OMG !!! Are you sure that your IBS was caused by your bro jumping on your tummy ? If really, then it would be very surprising to me. Kids should really be put under a 24/7 watch.


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