# Colon Clenz, Triphala



## Mary5 (Apr 17, 2006)

Has anyone tried Colon Clenz? It includes senna, cascara sagrada, slippery elm and others. Also has anyone tried Triphala (a 3 fruit blend from India)?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

Hi Mary yes i've tried triphala. i first started taking it about eighteen months ago. took the laxative dose --6 capsules in the am before breakfast and at first it worked really well--had a complete bm in about thirty minutes to an hour later. i took it like this two or three times a week. but after about six months or so it stopped working well for me for some reason. i still take it occasionally--once every few weeks--with varying success. i know there's a smaller, maintenence type dose that one can also take but i haven't tried that yet.i'd say it's worth a try. we're all so different in our reactions to drugs and supplements. play around with the dosages to see what works for you. i also searched this board to get more info before i tried it. and here's a link to some info on it. http://www.planetherbs.com/articles/triphala.html


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## Mary5 (Apr 17, 2006)

Hi Annie, thanks for responding. Which of the formulas did you or do you still take?http://www.planetherbs.com/estore/search.phpWhat else are you taking? I have a serious motility problem. (Already tried Miralax, Zelnorm, Amitiza). Senna was working well and my GI said that was fine but as usual that stopped working, or maybe it is a question of changing dosages and/or times you take it, and/or combining something else with it. But as you know it is exhausting and discouraging, not to mention painful, when trying out new combinations.So for now I am having to take 2 Dulcolax (bisacodyl) every other day. Otherwise I am in terrible discomfort and pain with lots of backup. But I do want to find something more "natural" and Triphala sounded interesting. So which of the formulas do you recommend?Also have you tried flaxseed oil ?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

Hi Maryye you're right --it is exhausting and discouraging trying things out--it's hard. i use triphala from Solary. 500 mg per capsule. i just bought it at the health food store. Solary is a big company so i imagine you can find it online too.i have a motility problem too and also i seem to build up a resistance to the various drugs or otc things that i take for it so i use things intermittantly and alternate them. currently this is what i am doing:for the past year and a half i've been trying to manage my constipation and incomplete evacuation problem by keeping my stools almost liquid with nightly milk of magnesia (miralax doesn't work for me) b/c for me it's easier to go more completely this way. i've been experimenting with stool consistency for quite a long time and medium hard as well as soft stools are harder for me to completely evacuate. but the mom alone isn't enough. i also need the peristalic push to evacuate completely. zelnorm works great for this but unfortunately zelnorm does not work if i take it every day so i take it every two or three days with periodic holidays. i seem to build up a resistance to drugs pretty quickly. on the days when i do not take zelnorm i alternative various stimulant laxatives like senna, cascara sagrada, triphala, ducolax--i rotate them and i take a weekly two day break from all of this so as not to over do things and to give my body a rest. i also take longer breaks from the stimulants for about a week or so periodically.and like i always do when discussing this i want to add a disclaimer here and say that i am not necessarily advocating this particular routine for others--since it might be considered a bit extreme and not "natural". it's just what i personally have chosen to do after suffering for 40 years with ibs-c and incomplete evacuation, trying everything and finding nothing that would really work for me. so this routine usually works. when it doesn't, i either just bear with the pain and misery or try a plain glycerin suppository or an enema.good luck to you! oh and yes i tried flax seed and the oil too and it didn't help but anything is worth a try--since we all react so differently to stuff. (but yes, trying is hard i agree)


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## Mary5 (Apr 17, 2006)

Thank you for all your advice! I am shocked to hear you have been suffering for 40 years?! Did I read that correctly? Have you tried Zelnorm when it was out, and Amitiza? Surely there will be something for you out there.I have been suffering for the past 5 years, each year it seems that it gets worse. Like you every now and then I try to go off everything artificial and work with liquids and prune juice and such, and sometimes it will work (with much pain, gas and patience) for a couple of days. Then the backup becomes intolerable and I go back to a drug. Per my GI I could take senna indefinitely. However, as you say one builds a tolerance...So now I am taking bisacodyl (Dulcolax). It works but then there is like a "rebound" effect in that I end up super "dry" and I don't know what to do about that except to drink broth and water, and sometimes it seems like olive oil helps.I also bought coconut oil but haven't tried it yet.I also bought Prunelax pills (prune concentrate + senna) that I haven't tried yet.This disease is truly terrible, I have a difficult time staying active and interested in anything at all.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

Hi Maryyes i wholeheartedly agree with you--this is a terrible disease and yes, it is hard to stay active when you're in so much pain and discomfort all the time. and yes i've had this since i was 14 (back then they called it spastic colon) and now i'm almost 56--so it's been awhile. thankfully in recent years there has been more research done on ibs and information available on treatment options plus some drugs like amitiza which i tried but unfortunatley didn't work for me--horrible bloating and no results. zelnorm works only if i take it intermittantly--but i'm grateful it works at all for me , even like that. when it works it's great. so hopefully some new drugs will come out. i know renzapride is in the pipeline--it sounds promising. http://www.alizyme.com/alizyme/products/renzaprideand yes, some people have posted here that coconut oil helped them and also coconut milk--actually drillng the coconut and drinking the milk--you could do a search to find the posts.i know what you mean about feeling dry. yes, olive oil and lots of water help and i drink low sodium v-8 juice which helps--some people say gatorade helps with that too.thank goodness for this board where we can all share info and help and support one another!


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## Plugged in Canada (Jan 18, 2008)

Hi everyone this is my first time on this form, I live in Canada so all the drugs except the zelnorm I have never heard about, I, like everyone is so upset about them taking it off the market I have one left and am so depressed but it works only once and awhile for me, but like others so grateful that something does. I was in the states a little while ago and bought miralax but scared to take it thinking it would bung me up more!!! Fiber does nothing for me, and I am sitting here looking at a bottle of bioxy cleanse thing about trying it out has anymore tried this before. I am going to the states in the near future and thinking about going to a walk in clinic and getting a perscription for amitiza do you think a dr. would percribe it for me if he knew i was from Canada?? I am just happy to have come upon this site and found it so comforting to hear other peopel with the same problem living with this for my entire life (turned 48 yesterday) and sad that I feel like hell most of the time because of this, thanks will keep you posted if hear anything to help you also


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