# Prunes? Old wives tale?



## Meg04 (Mar 9, 2003)

hi, i'm wondering if prunes are effective in relieving constipation. i've tried everything, but have ignored the most obvious..i've just swallowed a small glass of prune juice, and eaten 6 prunes. we'll see.. has this worked for anybody?


----------



## Hdog (Mar 9, 2001)

Prunes work well for me --if I soak them overnight in water so they swell back up. But, they don't work very well for my wife.H


----------



## lesa (Mar 5, 2003)

Hi. I have tried prunes and prune juice but neither have done anything but aggravate my system. I have found that most anything with high fiber will cause me bloating & pain. Anyone else out there experience this same reaction? Meg - it's worth a shot. I hope it works for you!


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Prunes (and other fruits with stones and apples and pears) have sorbitol in them.Diets high in sorbitol (like summer when people pig out on fresh produce) can cause loose stools in people with normal GI tracts.Sorbitol can cause an increase in gas in some people that is bothersome. lesa--if fiber makes you feel more constipated you may need to be evaluated for slow-transit constipation. The general recommendation for that is low fiber rather than high fiber that is good for "run of the mill" constipation.K.


----------



## Meg04 (Mar 9, 2003)

slow transit? i've never heard of anything except for increase fibre, increase fibre!! gggrrr.. i'm a vegetarian my diet is fibre!! i will look it to that..lesa.. (and h-dog's wife) i'm in the same boat.. prunes do nothing.. but i do like their taste.i was suggested prunes by a pharmacist yesterday evening, i was inquiring about magnesium (oxide?) as relief for constipation, since i've heard it does wonders for some on this board. she told me not to mess with the "balance" of my chemistry.. i don't know.i walked away muttering something about IBS, 7 years, etc.well, anyway.. that's how i decided to give prunes a shot.


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Most people with constipation DO NOT have slow transit. This is a specific disorder and is not the case for most people with constipation.For Run-of-the-mill constipation or IBS-C adding fiber is what most people need.When you have more fiber the stool is a better consistancy and more likely to move along when the colon says move.In slow transit no matter what the consistancy of the stool the colon never moves it along. So for theses people all eating fiber does is fill the colon up with stuff it is never going to even try to move. So these people usually need no fiber and lots of osmotics to get stuff to move at all. You can get yourself in this state if you abuse stimulatory laxatives enough as well. If it is just laxative addiction you break that and the colon starts working again. People with transit problems just don't move stuff in the colon well no matter what is going on.For regular constipation the colon still moves things along, but the stool consistancy makes it hard, dry and hard to pass, so it won't move along nicely.K.


----------



## flacker (Aug 20, 2001)

I'm very surprised that people do not speak about energy medicine on this board. Allergies etc.Info is on http://insomniafatigue.com/allergies.htm#Therapies I was cured of my constipation for a year with NAET. I didn't continue treatment which is probably why it came back. I'm starting something better now called NMT which I feel will help sooner. It took about 2 months for me to get better with NAET. I recommend NMT, bioset or a dr that practices metabolic protocol.


----------



## lesa (Mar 5, 2003)

Thank you for the input Kmottus! I have always wondered why anything with fiber immediately causes me bloating and pain. And never works for bm's. It's a shame because I love veggies and high grain food but have learned the hard way to watch my intake. All those different fiber pills or formulations never worked either. There are 2 products that I have tried in the past that actually caused me such crucial pain I was ready for the hospital. One was a colon cleanse supplement and just 1 pill had me in dire pain for a few hours. The other was a simple pill from Dr. Atkins regimen. If I saw the product list I could remember the name (lol-old age) but anyway, it was an EFA combo and just 1 pill sent me into excruciating pain again! Is it that I have a very sensitive intestine/colon? This is the pitts because I have major C (can go weeks without a bm.) I have never tried an anti-spasmodic........what is a good one? Is it available otc? Would it help or worsen my condition? Thanks for any input.


----------



## wellenzohn (Mar 19, 2003)

If you are desperate, try magnesium citrate. You buy it over the counter at a drug store and it is fizzy like soda. I ended up at the emergency room once and this is what they prescribed. It liquidated everything and I had to be near the bathroom for 6 hours, but it cleaned me out. It takes a few hours to start, but you won't stop until you are empty.It tastes pretty gross. Pour it over ice. It makes it a little more tolerable. You have to drink the whole bottle. I think it was 12 ounces.This doesn't solve the problem, it just gets you out of a crisis. Good Luck.


----------



## lesa (Mar 5, 2003)

Thanxs for the input Mom. About 9 years ago I drank almost 2 bottles of that citrate (yucky) liquid before going on vacation.....it didn't work. (Probably because of the stress of worrying that I wouldn't go.) I did find that twice when I used magnesium it worked but did give me D but who cares! LOL I think I will try it a few days a week and see what happens. What I did , on recommendation of a friend, was put 2 tsps of magnesium citrate into a half glass of water along with a few squirts of lemon juice. The reason I stopped was after 2 days of cleaning myself out it stopped working. I think maybe if I just use it 2 x a week it might be good maintanence? TY again for the advice. Always looking for something new and trying to stay hopeful.


----------



## moxie (Mar 22, 2003)

Meg:Sound info. from kmottus and other posters on this thread.For people with the usual sort of constipation (which is defined by hard, dry stools, not by frequency) the order of interventions is water, water, water, fiber, both soluble and insoluble, and exercise. If that fails to make a difference and you start feeling as if you have a 'brick' or 'stone' in your gut, then it may be that you have a slow transit problem in the colon and you may need to reduce or change the fiber you are ingesting. Keep up with the water and exercise, though.Try the lubricant laxatives such as a little olive oil, mineral oil, in small quantities at first. If no resolution, then move on to the osmotics such as lactulose and finally the stimulants such as senna. Never overuse any of these - they only aggravate the problems long term. You are going to have to be your own caregiver and detective. It can be done, just keep careful records (a journal of everything you eat with stool results) and think about everything you put in your mouth. Loads of info if you look hard around this site. Ghitta posts good infor on food, but your triggers may be different from anyone else on this site. Remember that, always.Good luck.


----------



## EYEBSER2 (Apr 27, 2003)

It depends on the person whether prunes work or not. According to my fiber chart 1/2 cup of dried prunes have 3.1 g. of soluble fiber and 2.7 g. of unsoluble fiber. (This chart is put out by Metamucil and was given to me by my gastro.) For me I was told by one doc to stay away from prunes because of the sugar, and to eat fiber, any kind of fiber, during the day. No luck...it only bloated me, gave me pains, and nothing happened. What I also realized is that it DOES matter what kind of fiber you consume. Soluble is the one you want the most of. When I switched to a more sensible approach for ME things started to work. Here is my routine. No high fiber foods during the day, small meals, etc. Then just before bed time, load up on the fiber, 6 plumped prunes, 2 rounded teaspoons of Konsyl in water. (Konsyl is pure psyllium but ground differently so a bit easier to take. It's available in most drug stores. Sorry, I'm not a believer in Metamucil because of the additives.) Also, a small bowl of high fiber cereal with Rice Dream beverage on it. (I like Simply Fiber which is corn and wheat bran with no sugar, 14 g. of fiber per cup.) Also, 2 capsules of Black Walnut, available in health food stores, and 2 Fiber Con with water. Next morning, before or after some aerobic exercise things move. Gets me off to a pretty good day.


----------



## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

I eat prunes every night and take magnesium and other fiber products at night-citrucel, daily fiber rx, prodiem. I guess you could say I "load up" at night with fiber too and it almost always works by the next morning after several cups of coffee.


----------



## ghitta (Jul 6, 2002)

yeah, it's a funny thing. i don't think i have slow motility because i can test that by eating beets (like last night) which then come out of me the next morning, within 10 hours, (stool is reddish) yet eating certain fiber really throttles me with pain: whole grains, pysllium, raw cabbage, in fact all raw veg except salad greens, - the one thing that i seem to assimilate well is brown or white rice. on the other hand, since taking my mag supps, i've been having relatively little or no C in the mornings, stool plentiful and loose, yet, often by late afternoon i have to "go" again and then the stool is hard, small and dry. what i'm trying to say is, i don't believe i have a motility problem as i seem to eliminate the next morning after a good dinner of greens, artichokes, what have you, yet, a traditional high fiber diet causes me great pain, bloating and gas. who knows? g-


----------

