Wondering about BM situation

[Sassyteach]

Hi Everyone,

Hoping for some help or advice. i have been constipated all my life- I'm 46 now. Going "number 2" has always been a chronic issue and I usually went 3-5 days in between events and I used suppositories to help me go all the time. (I know unhealthy and wrong!). So, I vowed to not use suppositories when I started my W30 and I am super proud to be on Day 21.  Now, my bm situation has flipped completely. I go about every 2-3 days and it is only what can be called diarrhea. It is a large amount but not pleasant at all.

 

So, is this normal? Does it mean I am eating too much meat or fat? Should I just continue and see if it changes? I have been home when nature has called but I am worried my luck is running out and I will be caught off guard in an awkward situation!

Thanks for any advice!!

Susan

[ladyshanny]

Can you give us an impression of what you've been eating in the last little while? Include portions and meal timing, fluids etc. Compare this with how you were eating before and let us know if there is anythign that you are eating a lot of that you didn't prior to Whole30. We can take a look and see if there are any tweaks that you can make.

[Tom Denham]

After 46 years of constipation, this sounds like a good change. Don't expect perfection after just 21 days.

 

I have two recommendations. One, take a probiotic supplement every day. i take Primal Flora and like it a lot. Even though I have always been regular, I found that taking a probiotic supplement every day improved things. Two, if you are troubled by diarrhea occurring repeatedly, try taking an over the counter anti-diarrhea medicine to firm things up.  

[Brewer5]

I go about every 2-3 days

 

 

Two, if you are troubled by diarrhea occurring repeatedly, try taking an over the counter anti-diarrhea medicine to firm things up.  

 

I would never make this recommendation to people here -- but for someone who is only able to go once every 2-3 days -- no way.

 

There are so many possible causes of diarrhea.  It is one of the body's ways of letting us know something is wrong.  

 

Medications like Imodium DO come with side effects, and some of them can be pretty serious:

 

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/imodium-side-effects.html

 

OP ~ please do give us details about your food intake, so that we can help pinpoint what may be contributing to this.  There are many possibilities.

[praxisproject]

You might be going through a bit of an internal cleanout, if it's been an ongoing issue, there may be a lot of cleaning to do.

 

If you can, you might want to extend your W30 before reintroductions, so you have a stable baseline before introducing anything new.

 

Do you eat a lot of raw veggies? Many starchy veggies? Enough protein? Coconut oil? Anything fermented like Kombucha or fermented veggies?

How does your stomach feel? Different from your intestines?

 

You may need some time to build up the right bacteria in your guts, especially coming off medication. You may want to discuss with your doctor or pharmacist as medications can have specific withdrawal symptoms which may not be food related.

 

Some people benefit from Kombucha or other fermented things, but you might want to wait before adding those in as they don't usually firm things up. If you're feeling a bit sore, some peppermint tea might be soothing, avoiding nightshades can be soothing too.

 

It might not seem like a bonus right now, but going medication free is huge, take some time out today to reflect on this and your progress

[Sassyteach]

Hi- And thanks for all of your replies and concern. I guess we get used to our own idiosyncrasies and going #2 has always been one for me.

I was eating terribly in the months leading up to my start- cookies, candy, chips, ice cream, pasta, cheese, you name it and I consumed it! Especially over the holidays- drinking wine, beer, etc. I am not very heavy but definitely have added weight the last two years since quitting the gym and letting stress get the best of me.

 

I am consuming eggs every single morning (except once) with a veggie or greens, or potatoes, last week I had the sausage patties from the W30 cookbook. I have coffee with only coconut milk (not sweetened). That took me a long time to be able to drink without a face!

 

Lunch is either a soup (shrimp, coconut milk, peppers, onions, broth (homemade), beef stew, or salad and grilled chicken or chopped meat.

 

Dinner has been a variety of soup, chopped meat tacos (with lettuce), garlic shrimp and veggies, beef stew, or other combos. Steak and veggies, potatoes, etc.

 

I have been eating more veggies and meat than ever before! I unfortunately used to eat carbs for a majority of my meals and snacks. I have eaten fruit lately but truly the very loose BM started after a few days into the program. I agree that i might just be cleaning out a whole lotta bad stuff that has been there. I also thougth that I might be missing good bacteria also. So, today I will stop off and get some probiotics to start. 

 

I went last Thursday, Sunday, and not yet today (Tuesday).

 

I am not a stranger to healthy eating even though I sound like a disaster.  I went raw four years ago for like 4 months. I did the month long cleanse as detailed in the book Clean three years ago. Even then, the program indicated that you would be pooping like a champ daily or mulitiple times a day! I never experienced that at all.

 

I think this has shown me that maybe seeing a specialist is in order, to just check out the pipes. I am not worried but am glad to say this is evidence that we are starring in our scientific experiment!

Thanks again!

[Sassyteach]

Oh, sorry, I meant to mention that I am lactose intolerant and have Hashimoto's. I stopped my Synthroid last May because I just started feeling like it was making me sick. I also found a new endocrinologist after that who tested me for everything and found i was gluten- sensitive. This may or may not have any relevance to my system.

-S