# Alternatives to coffee for bowel movements



## wigglesmom

Drinking lots of hot coffee really helps me go to the bathroom. I really don't like coffee and would prefer not to drink it. Has anyone found that anything else helps them go? I am wondering if it's the heat or the caffeine or a combination of both that's helping me have bowel movements. I'm reluctant to experiment too much as one bad day usually sets me on a course to impaction. I'd appreciate any input.


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## SueL4

This may sound obvious but are you drinking decaf coffee or tried green tea?


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## wigglesmom

Currently, I'm doing half caffeine coffee. I guess I could experiment with less and less caffeinated coffee and see what happens.


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## wigglesmom

I'd love to switch to one of those coffee substitutes that are sold in health food stores, like Inka or Pero but am wondering what'll happen.


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## annie7

i always drink one cup of coffee first thing in the morning which does help me go. but i've also found that sometimes hot/warm water (drunk a bit later, after the coffee) also helps. so maybe heat does help a bit..

i've heard people say that "morning thunder" tea helps them go--it's aptly named, it seems--lol..

"This blend's earthy flavor begins with roasted maté, an ancient herb whose oak-like flavor is wildly popular in South America. We combine roasted maté with rich, floral black tea to produce an exhilarating morning blend with no coffee jitters. Maté and black tea are both rich in antioxidants, making this a delicious, healthy way to start your day."

http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal-teas/morning-thunder


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## annie7

oh and--wigglesmom--i sure do understand about how hard it can be to take a chance and experiment and oh yes--one bad day definitely sets me on a course of impaction, too.


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## wigglesmom

Thanks, Annie! I'll try the Morning Thunder as I love mate anyway. It surely wont go to waste.

Yeah-so tough to experiment when there's so much to lose.


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## wigglesmom

And, then I found this article, and after reading it I think that maybe I should just continue with the coffee. http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/01/coffee-and-the-ritual-bowel-movement


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## storyofmylife

annie7 said:


> i always drink one cup of coffee first thing in the morning which does help me go. but i've also found that sometimes hot/warm water (drunk a bit later, after the coffee) also helps. so maybe heat does help a bit..
> 
> i've heard people say that "morning thunder" tea helps them go--it's aptly named, it seems--lol..
> 
> "This blend's earthy flavor begins with roasted maté, an ancient herb whose oak-like flavor is wildly popular in South America. We combine roasted maté with rich, floral black tea to produce an exhilarating morning blend with no coffee jitters. Maté and black tea are both rich in antioxidants, making this a delicious, healthy way to start your day."
> 
> http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal-teas/morning-thunder


Eeew....coffee make me sad  But, I need some thunder in my life. will buy now. Thanks for mentioning it.


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## storyofmylife

wigglesmom said:


> Drinking lots of hot coffee really helps me go to the bathroom. I really don't like coffee and would prefer not to drink it. Has anyone found that anything else helps them go? I am wondering if it's the heat or the caffeine or a combination of both that's helping me have bowel movements. I'm reluctant to experiment too much as one bad day usually sets me on a course to impaction. I'd appreciate any input.


I'd stay away from coffee if I were you. It was one of the main reasons for my tummy problems. From a calm, focused, alert n smart, strong ,deep sleeper I turned into a nervous, anxious, sleepless, frail zombie. Coffee is really a legal "narcotic". They should label the damn thing as dangerous instead of conducting random studies from time to time like - coffee makes you look healthier, blondes prefer gentlemen who drink coffee and other such self-serving shite.


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## horridguts

I've got a complicated relationship with coffee. It helps me go but it also gives me horrid cramps, and sometimes a kind of charley horse in the upper part of my bowel/under the ribs that hangs around all day and is my absolute least favourite ibs symptom. I now drink tea with lemon but it doesn't give me the urge, or only does it about 25% of the time. And now I'm largely hooked on suppositories as a result


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## wigglesmom

I am hooked on suppositories as well. I need at least two at the end of a bowel movement in order to get more out.


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## horridguts

wigglesmom, I am so glad I am not the only one who does that! It's exactly the same for me. I have my tea and lemon in the morning and wait a while, and often I will go naturally, but only a bit of it comes out. Then I use the suppository, one after another, until I get the rest out... otherwise it just sits there making me feel awful. I actually do this at work believe it or not, because I can't move anything early in the morning. My colleagues probably wonder why I walk back and forth from my desk carrying a brown paper bag! But hey, it's none of their business...

How long have you been using them if you don't mind me asking? Do you worry they will stop working, or do you worry that you are making it harder for yourself to go without them?

I posted a separate thread about this but nobody's responded so I would love to compare notes. Its something that bothers me a lot - especially since I quit coffee and can't rely on that anymore!


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## horridguts

And wigglesmom, r.e. coffee - it isn't the heat or the caffeine, although it is partly that. It is actual acids intrinsic to the chemical make up coffee. I've read that the acids cause your gallbladder to very quickly dump bile and some of it floods into the intestines, causing irritation which then causes your colon to contract. I could have that slightly wrong but that was the general gist.

This is why you don't get the same result from tea - but you probably will get it with decaf coffee. I personally haven't found anything as effective, but at the same time, it is absolute torture on my guts.


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## annie7

horridguts--about glycerin suppositories---i've been using them since the 80's (yes i'm old--lol) with mixed results. often they hep but sometimes they don't--and this is the way they've always been for me. they haven't quit working on me--it's just always been mixed results for me.

i've had chronic constipation problems since childhood and originally had a dx of "spastic colon" as they called it back then. in the last couple years i had some tests which dx'd slow transit (a colonic marker study or sitz marker) and defogram (defecatory proctogram) which dx'd pelvic floor dysfunction as well as a rectocele and a vaginal prolapse. and also an anal manometry (pfd) my gastro has told me to "take what i need to go" which for me means nightly stimulant laxatives (dulcolax) and one cap of milk of magnesia as well as suppositores as need--which lately has been most days.

i also put my feet on a shoebox when using the toilet. and that helps too. elevating the feet helps straighten out the anorectal angle and to allow for a more complete evacuation.

i was told a long time ago by my docs that glycerin suppositories are safe to take--"they are just soap" as one doc put it. taking them has not made me worse. age, menopause, mitochondrial disease and all my other problems have made my constipation worse but not the supps.

i think you mentioned in your other thread that you were going to see a gastro doc? that is good--it's best to have a doc's advice on all this. and maybe he/she will decide to schedule other tests for you to see if you have pfd or other outlet problems that are making it difficult for you to go.or you could ask for the tests, which is what i did.

good luck! wishing you all the best,


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## Tara L B

Hot water - especially freshly boiled - is probably the best bet for natural solutions if you would not like coffee. I also second the green tea, because that helps with BMs as well as being loaded with other good stuff.


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## horridguts

Thanks for the reply annie. It's good to know that the suppositories haven't stopped working for you. I found when I first started using them they didn't work too well... I had to experiment with the amount of time to keep them in. Not long enough, I won't get enough out, too long the urge will go away.. either way I OFTEN have to do the second one. It's not a morning routine I particularly enjoy, but it's better than the alternatives. I do thing they have improved my quality of life. I used to often feel bad in between the BMs that would come naturally... now I feel a lot flatter and less gurgly and crampy during the rest of the day.

Yep I think I do need to have some tests. I'm kind of suspecting I might have outlet problems. It seems like the poop works its way down to the sigmoid and a bit piles into the rectum and then it just quits (TMI I know). Hence the suppository. But some mornings, miraculously, it all comes out by itself. I've noticed I empty better on the weekends... not sure what that is about. Maybe being more relaxed, or that I tend to drink wine on Fri and Sat evenings. Alcohol definitely helps me have more complete evacuation.

I'm interested to try that tea you mentioned - I haven't tried yerba but I'm now reading all over the web that it helps people poop, so I'm definitely onto it!


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## Dr. Dani

I agree with one of the other members, coffee, even decaf is one of the Top IBS trigger substances for some people. Rooibos tea, an African shrub not an actual tea is caffeine free, super high in antioxidants and has a bit of a laxitive effect too


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## storyofmylife

Danielle Gordon said:


> I agree with one of the other members, coffee, even decaf is one of the Top IBS trigger substances for some people. Rooibos tea, an African shrub not an actual tea is caffeine free, super high in antioxidants and has a bit of a laxitive effect too


*Can you answer some questions about your udemy course -*



> IBS symptoms are caused by an injured gut lining & a disruption to the guts specialized nervous system & immune system.


What kind of injuries are these and what do you mean by disruption ?



> Groundbreaking research has started to come out now in the fields of Integrative Medicine and Pyschoneuroimmunology.


I am not sure what integrative medicine means. Can you show us some examples of such research so that we can educate ourselves more about these fields ?



> A landmark 12 week study on hypnotherapy and IBS involving patients with severe IBS, left all subjects with either mild or absent symptoms at the end of the 12 week, with the most dramatic improvements in the first 4 weeks and no significant changes between weeks 8 and 12.


We'd like to know more about this study. Can you post some links ?

and finally, what is the success rate of this 28 day program ?

thanks for reading


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## SarahLund

I try drinking water, but man, the flavour is boring. Water is a good duiretic though. The more I drink, the more the pains stay away.


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## storyofmylife

SarahLund said:


> I try drinking water, but man, the flavour is boring. Water is a good duiretic though. The more I drink, the more the pains stay away.


LOL ! diuretic - i think you meant coffee.


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## Dr. Dani

Hi!

Yes, happy to clarify

Integrative Medicine as defined by our governing body, the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine is:

Integrative holistic medicine (IHM) then becomes the art and science of healing that addresses care of the whole person-body, mind, and spirit. The practice of integrative holistic medicine integrates conventional and complementary therapies to promote optimal health and to prevent and treat disease by addressing contributing factors. http://www.abihm.org/

What I mean by 'injuries' to the gut are functional damage unable to be 'seen' by standard western medical tests and microinflammation. One example is the tight junctions in between the epithelial cells fo the gut can become 'looser' than they should be, leading to a 'leaky' gut.

Pyschoneuroimmunology is an emerging field of medicine that looks at the complex interplay between our nervous systems, our emotions and our immune systems, and because of the brain-gut-immune axis, changes in our emotions, stress levels and brain peptides affects our gut and it's functioning as well as it's physiology.

So far, every person who has completed our full program has achieved remission of symptoms, lasting for months and almost one year now after completing the program. The program has been running with my personal patients for almost one year now, although the online version was quite recent on Udemy

The Hypnotherapy study that you looked at is one of many, and the citation is here if you're interested http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6150275

As for the other studies used to create the evidence-based backbone of the course, over 45 studies on non-drug treatment of IBS were used, compiled by my medical reserach librarian from the University of British Columbia and myself

Thanks for the questions



storyofmylife said:


> *Can you answer some questions about your udemy course -*
> 
> What kind of injuries are these and what do you mean by disruption ?
> 
> I am not sure what integrative medicine means. Can you show us some examples of such research so that we can educate ourselves more about these fields ?
> 
> We'd like to know more about this study. Can you post some links ?
> 
> and finally, what is the success rate of this 28 day program ?
> 
> thanks for reading


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## wigglesmom

Horrid-I use 2-3 suppositories a day. I, like you-sometimes do one at work after a couple at home in the morning. I am typically the only person at work in the mornings, so it works out well. I've been using suppositories for over 5 years at least.

In terms of the coffee-I don't have a gall bladder (it was removed many years ago). the coffee works though, so I don't think I'm at a point at which I can consider stopping it.


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## storyofmylife

Danielle Gordon said:


> What I mean by 'injuries' to the gut are functional damage unable to be 'seen' by standard western medical tests and microinflammation. One example is the tight junctions in between the epithelial cells fo the gut can become 'looser' than they should be, leading to a 'leaky' gut.


If western medicine cannot "see" or detect these injuries, then how do you see/detect them ? For example, how did you come to know that these junctions became 'looser' ?


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