# Smooth Move Tea -- Not Working?



## SandyF (Aug 5, 2013)

I decided to buy a box of organic Smooth Move Tea, after seeing some excellent reviews on Amazon.,com and finding some positive-sounding posts on here. Directions on the box recommend steeping it for 10-15 minutes, but reviewers had said to start out by steeping for only 5 to see how your body responds to it (most said that, if anything, it works TOO well).

So...steeped the tea for 5 minutes on Saturday night and drank it -- nothing the next morning. Steeped it for 10 minutes on Sunday night -- nothing next day. Skipped it yesterday, but steeped it for a full 15 minutes this morning and drank it instead of coffee -- as of 9:30 p.m. tonight, still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? I had a *very* small amount of cramping a couple of hours ago, but that was it.

Does Smooth Move Tea NOT work for some people? 

Thanks.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

With the pills that tend to have a more consistent dose and some sites suggest a higher dose than the tea they see about 95% effectiveness with the pills.

As Laurel said nothing is 100% effective in all people all the time.

I don't know how standardized the teas are (did they measure one of the active ingredients or not like a lot of the pills do) so herbal teas can sometimes have a lot of variability as each plant has a slightly different amount.

And there can be issues with not having the right ingredients and all that sort of quality control issues that you do tend to see in some companies that make natural things (so not only does the quality of the ingredients vary, but some companies aren't very good at getting the right amount in or sometimes even the right herb).

You may need a higher dose, or may not respond to these ingredients. I might try one of the pills with senna before deciding senna just doesn't work at all.

And it may work if you do other things, like drink more water, etc. that also help. Some things help but not all by themselves in all people.

Also, are you still able to fart? If you stop passing gas completely you might be obstructed (how long have you been without passing any stool at all?) and senna isn't going to unblock an obstruction.


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## SandyF (Aug 5, 2013)

Thank you for the responses.

Laurel -- I have been doing aerobics twice a week for a couple of months now, and try to walk for 30 minutes (vigorously) at least 3-4 days a week. I've reduced Gluten in my diet (I'm a vegetarian) and increased water intake. I generally have a couple of movements a week, BUT they are in very small amounts and generally small round, hard stools. I don't ever feel like I've eliminated completely.

I struggled for years with IBS-D until I gave up meat and figured out what my trigger foods are. In the past year or so, I'm having a lot more trouble with constipation and feeling bloated.

Kathleen -- good point about ingredients. I may check out Senna pills, although the pills make me a little nervous to try.


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## Jaydor53 (Aug 17, 2013)

Hi Everyone

I found this website because I'm in the middle of a bout and was looking for alternatives to my approach but haven't really found a better one. I've joined anyway, mainly in the hope of helping as I only get very occasional flare-ups of IBS-C, the last one being probably more than a decade ago, but I do seem to have found a regime which helps things keep moving when they occur.

Basically I use the "throw everything at it but the kitchen sink" approach. So for the last three days in the evenings I've taken 40ml or 50ml of a generic Lactulose equivalent which is much cheaper than Lactulose (Dulcolax or Miralax in the U.S. I think but would suggest searching out a generic as I've heard they are expensive there too), two senna tablets (Senokot is the brand name known in the UK but there are cheaper alternatives, eg. Wilkinson's own label version), two Colofac tabs (I know you're only supposed to take one but hey, it's just a muscle relaxant!), a Mintec capsule (mint oil, definitely only one of those), two ibuprofen tabs and to combat any acidity or acid reflux I drink the undiluted juice of a freshly squeezed lemon. How many just screamed "WHAAAT!" at the idea of drinking lemon juice to get rid of stomach acid? Well lemon juice is NOT acid it's alkaline and it's the perfect and healthy alternative to all those antacid remedies. When I go to bed I lie on my back on an electric heatpad to relax the back muscles (which often seem to be the main culprits in IBS in my experience). In the mornings I just take a Colofac and a Mintec because I need not to have to rush to the loo to often through the day! Through the day I just take a couple of Ibrofen to keep the pain at bay. A couple of things to note regarding Lactulose or equivalents is that it's important to keep sipping plenty of water (or mint tea which is what I use) for at least an hour or two after taking it. Also it can cause wind but that's really only if there's nothing for it to work on which is probably not the case for most IBS-C sufferers.

So let me tell you my IBS and constipation haven't stood the ghost of a chance against this lot. The first couple of days I had a reasonable movement in the morning followed by several small ones through the day. Last night the Lactulose finally worked its magic in full measure and this morning (day 4) I had another major clear out on waking followed by another an hour and a half later. The pain has almost gone and the bowel spasm (cramps or whatever you want to call it) I've had for the last three days also has relaxed considerably.

I hope this will help at least a few if not all. I realise that compared to most my IBS problem is pretty mild but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.


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## Jaydor53 (Aug 17, 2013)

Hi Laurel

Apart from prebiotics which I found under normal circumstances work too well (thanks for the reminder though I'd forgotten I'd got those stashed away somewhere. Will use them next time I have an IBS attack) I take all of those as a matter of course. At my age, and being on Omeprazole due to an hiatus hernia, they're more or less essential!


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