# How exactly does Metamucil work? Did it work for me?



## Manick (Feb 21, 2010)

I've been taking usually two rounded teaspoons a day with 8 ounces of water a day, sometimes only once if I forget the second one. It seemed to help prevent constipation, but it didn't really improve my regularity necessarily. But yesterday, I decided to take about 3 teaspoons with 8 ounces of water, and today, for the first time in like a couple of months, I finally had a complete bowel movement. I've been having to go a minimum of 2, sometimes up to 6 times a day, until this morning. I took it right before I went to bed. My stool was still very loose and thin-like, but it was all bulked and formed together, and I assume I voided completely because I haven't had to go yet again in about 6 hours, which is unusual for me. I didn't do anything else that would have effected that bowel movement. Oh, also, it may be reducing my post bowel movement pain somehow, which I've almost always had. Is it fine to continue taking it the way I did since it seemed to work, which would be 3 teaspoons with 8 ounces of water? I drink a lot throughout the day anyway, usually up to 2 liters.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I would not say it is only a stool softener and nothing else, so not just a natural version of the chemical you can buy in the pharmacy. It works like any other soluble fiber you get from food (I assume you are OK with people eating real food with things like soluble fiber in it as part of a healthy lifestyle, right? some people aren't, but usually that isn't something people find really objectionable), but in a bit more concentrated form all at once than you might be getting from diet alone.

Soluble fiber absorbs and holds onto water, so it both holds water in the stool (which is what could be a stool softener kind of action) and provides bulk becasue it is a fiber and takes up space. Usually to get a good stool once a day most people do need some fiber in the diet as well as enough water to keep it from drying out. Even the healthy people.









Most people think adding fiber even in supplement form is a fairly safe way to add bulk and water to the stool and most people with IBS-C are constipated because they have a colon that may not regulate things under as wide a range of conditions as a person with a totally normal colon has. Some people find it hard to get enough soluble fiber from their diet alone and may find a fiber supplement helps them get the right amount for their system. Like I said they may just need more to keep things moving as they can't get things working well with the amount they can eat in their diet (and supplements sometimes have more soluble fiber than some higher fiber foods as well).

Most peope here do have a diagnosis of IBS and that means things aren't working quite right. Now you may have your theory as to why (not sure if it matches the standard medical model) and you may have particular ways of dealing with the symptoms, but generally you aren't going to find people here who have normal elimination most of the time under most of the conditions a healthy person can still manage one perfect poop a day. Because they have IBS, that is why they are here after all.









You go to an IBS support group it probably is wise to just assume no one here is having normal BM's regularly. People who can do that don't usually seek out a support group to help them.  Sorry if that was a bit snarky, but really, assume people aren't regular (may have a variety of different issues) but on an IBS board you aren't going to find people who can go as easily as most people. You just sounded a bit concerned that someone on an IBS board isn't going normally. That seems a bit odd given where we are.


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## nigol (Jul 7, 2012)

shouldnt the body be able to form stools without a diet?


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## rudibear (Jul 28, 2012)

So how is it these supplements can help with BOTH constipation and diarrhea?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Question One:

If you eat no food what-so-ever you will still have some waste products from the bacteria in there and the shedding of the lining of the colon (it is like skin).

Expecting your body to make really well formed normal poops once a day every day out of that may be asking a bit much.

Generally, if you have no diseases or disorders of any kind, you still need some fiber in the diet to make a nice well formed poop that is easy to pass every day or every other day and with enough fiber you may go 2-3X a day rather than just once. Now a non-disorderd colon may tolerate a larger range of dietary residue but your colon is designed for you to eat a diet with fiber in it. If you eat real food you eat some fiber. Humans have always had some fiber in their diet since we became human and expecting that even a healthy system will always perfectly handle whatever you dump into it may be asking a bit much of any biological system.

People with disorders may tolerate a smaller range of dietary fiber intake (so instead of doing fine from 10 to 50 grams a fiber a day and having not much be different from day to day, although people who usually eat 40+ grams of fiber a day are more likely to poop 2X a day or so where if you only ever get 10 you probably will do well to poop every other day) you might tolerate 10-20 or you might need a minimum of 25 grams. But like I said, even healhy people are supposed to eat some fiber every day and your colon really works best when you do that. Healthy people with no disorders often find very meat intensive diets with little or no plant material of any kind constipating. So I don't think you can say a normal colon functions perfectly under all dietary conditions.

Question Two:

Fiber absorbs water. In loose stools (not really for severe watery diarrhea) it may absorb enough excess water to firm things up. In a constipated stool it will hold that water in (your stool enters the colon as a liquid as you dump a bunch of water into your food as you digest it) so it is less likely to become hard and dry and hard to pass. It is more of a stool normalizer than just a laxative.


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## pukekonz (Nov 14, 2012)

Metamucil makes me bloated unfortunately, but after switching to fine ground flaxseed(linseed) I am making some progress, I consume around 3-4 tablespoons of ground linseed a day.


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## nigol (Jul 7, 2012)

all i can say is that metamucile feels not normal, not just the bloating but the stool seems artificial to me.


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## Manick (Feb 21, 2010)

pukekonz said:


> Metamucil makes me bloated unfortunately, but after switching to fine ground flaxseed(linseed) I am making some progress, I consume around 3-4 tablespoons of ground linseed a day.


Is this basically what you use? Should I try it out?

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Flaxseed-Organic-14-Ground/dp/B00012NHAC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357788275&sr=8-1&keywords=ground+linseed

Also, what about digestive enzymes for helping with my regularity? I've been trying Life Extension Vegetarian Capsules, but I can't tell if they help or not. Aren't there different kinds of digestive enzymes though, that work better for different diets? Does the fact that they are called vegetarian capsules mean they are more suited for people who eat vegetables?

I should also add that metamucil hasn't been working really the same as it did the first time I tried it on that high dosage, and I'm back to going multiple times a day. I have no idea why not. However I have no other sources of fiber in my diet currently. Would adding soluable fiber to my diet help with regularity? I never found it to cause me any pain, unlike insoluable fiber can sometimes.


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## nigol (Jul 7, 2012)

the weird thing is that metamucile is the only one out of the other fibers that actually work almost, what do they add to the psylum husk that differentiates them from others? I rather just use psylum husk naturally and not something filled with sugars.


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## Manick (Feb 21, 2010)

Manick said:


> Is this basically what you use? Should I try it out?
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Flaxseed-Organic-14-Ground/dp/B00012NHAC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357788275&sr=8-1&keywords=ground+linseed
> 
> ...


Still hoping for some input on this.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I've never heard the vegetarian ones are just for vegetarians.

However, animal enzymes also act as signals so may have different effects. The only study on Digestive Enzymes and bloating used Pancreatin and you can't get that from papayas and pineapples.


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## TVgirl (Sep 16, 2009)

It forms a gel in your gut. Look at what metamucil does in a cup of water. It gels up and swells. It will absorb water into a gel so it helps constipation because it will soften and help hard stools slide along. It helps diarrhea because it absorbs the excess water thickening it adding bulk to the stool.


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## TVgirl (Sep 16, 2009)

The whole problem with ibs is our poor lifestyles and poor quality food supply. We eat garbage, processed junk, whole grain breads ...yeah from genetically modified wheat, fruits and veggies, from poor quality soils. From all that garbage abd pollution our guts are damaged abd dont function as they should ... Millions of people have ibs. Eat as natural and as clean as you can.


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## TVgirl (Sep 16, 2009)

We shouldnt have to rely on enzymes and vitamin supplements and medications just to poop properly. Its really sad.


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## Manick (Feb 21, 2010)

One of the differences I noticed about the Metamucil I was using and some other Metamucil I saw at a CVS pharmacy today was that the one I was using only had dietary fiber and the one at the store had 2g soluble fiber per serving. Normally when I am looking at the fiber in foods, if I see the fiber labeled as only dietary, it's worthless to me. If it's insoluable, it's not only worthless, but sometimes even harmful to me. Plain old dietary fiber as far as I've always known doesn't do anything for people with IBS. Would the Metamucil I saw at the CVS pharmacy possibly work better than the one I am currently using, which only has dietary fiber in it?


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