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Q: Irregular Bowel Movements ( No Answer,   5 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Irregular Bowel Movements
Category: Health > Conditions and Diseases
Asked by: mnatenshon-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 07 Sep 2004 15:27 PDT
Expires: 28 Sep 2004 10:57 PDT
Question ID: 398075
For the last six months or a year I have had the following schedule of
bowel movements and have no idea how to fix it.  Basically, I
regularly go to the bathrooom at work monday thru friday mornings and
never go to the bathroom on the weekends.  the problem is that Monday
i end up going 3-4 times becuase i haven't gone for a few days.  Here
is some more info about my eating habits, etc:
-I have coffee and oatmeal every monday thru thursday morning
-bagel egg sandwhich and coffee friday mornings
-various breakfasts on the weekends
-Last weekend i tried taking some fiber with my breakfast friday and
saturday to try and be consistent, but all that did was give me gas
and hurt my stomach.  didn't end up going to the bathroom until monday
night.

-i eat a pretty balanced diet usually in the form of 5-6 small meals a day
-i exercise everyday
-i do have a sensative stomach and take rolaids/pepcid ac maybe twice a week
-i don't drink much sunday thru wednesday.  usually go out and have
4-5 drinks thursdya night.  none on friday and 6-7 on saturday night
(sometimes more).
-I try and rehydrate myself on the weekends to counter-balance the drinking.
-I drink two cups of coffee on average 7 days a week.  usually with
soymilk or non-dairy creamer b/c i am lactose intolerant.  I still eat
yogurt periodically with about 14000cc (a bit mroe than extra strength
dosage) of lactase enzyme pills right before.  this works alright. 
not great.  sometimes i still get looser bowels if i have yogurt.  but
i seem to have loose/unclean bowel movements anyway so not sure what
it is.
-my bowel movements on monday are generally not that clean and hard. 
in the middle of the week they tend to be better, but not always.
-Also, i tend not to go to the bathroom when traveling for weekends,
etc.  two weekends ago i went to baja mexico for a three day trip and
didn't go to the bathroom saturday/sunday/monday.  it was painful/hurt
my stomach and tuesday i probabyl had 5-6 bowel movements.

Do you have any suggestions as to why i have this irregular bowel
pattern? anything i can do to fix it or improve the cleanliness of
these movements?
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Irregular Bowel Movements
From: just4fun2-ga on 07 Sep 2004 16:32 PDT
 
Eat 2 servings of oatmeal in the morning EVERYDAY.
Subject: Re: Irregular Bowel Movements
From: p1212-ga on 07 Sep 2004 19:33 PDT
 
It would seem what you're eating on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday would
have a lot to do with it. How much water are you drinking?  Are you
getting the recommended 64 oz. a day?  Aside from this, remember that
on Friday morning you're eating a bagel -- pretty much the #1
least-fiber food, especially a plain one.  Remember that white flour
is fiberless -- it's made of white flour and water, which you can use
to literally put up wallpaper with.  There's very little bulk to it. 
Add to this eggs, and/or meat and this type of meal is going to have a
much slower transit time in your system because it has little or no
insoluble fiber (the kind of fiber needed to make your bowels move). 
Also, I would suggest dropping your coffee -- not a healthy food at
all.  How did you try and add fiber to your morning breakfast?  Did
you use psyllium?  If you used psyllium with not enough water, that
can actually make things worse.  Suggestion: make sure your breakfast
is high fiber enough, make sure you're drinking a lot of water, and
throw in a few prunes with a lower fiber breakfast.  Wheat bran is a
good form of insoluble fiber.
Subject: Re: Irregular Bowel Movements
From: p1212-ga on 07 Sep 2004 19:35 PDT
 
Also, for your sensitive stomach, I would go on a juice fast for a
week to replenish the enzymes.  Juice all sorts of fresh vegetables
and fruits.
Subject: Re: Irregular Bowel Movements
From: mdpa173-ga on 07 Sep 2004 19:44 PDT
 
Safest and best idea is to see a quality Gastroenterologist.  From the
sounds of it you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is basically
spasms of what is basically a non-pathological system,  however the
only way to rule out anything more severe such as Colitis, or worse,
is to have colonoscopy and-or stomache scoping.  I would stop all
coffee, experiment with dietary changes, but most of all, SEE A GOOD
GASTROENTEROLOGIST.  If you do have Irritable Bowel there is excellent
safe prescription medicine which should improve you, but the most
important thing is to Establish a Diagnosis, by a doctor.
Subject: Re: Irregular Bowel Movements
From: kateri-ga on 09 Sep 2004 20:31 PDT
 
Do you drink coffee on weekends?
Caffeine is a stimulant to your whole body, including your digestive system.
If you are drinking it during the week, your body may become dependent
on that stimulant effect to 'move things along' and not work as
quickly when caffeine is not present.

kateri

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