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Low carb diet and constipation

Kristin251 said:
You can! We used to keep a tub in the fridge and freeze the rest and then refill the tub as needed
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Brilliant! So when it’s frozen can you still take a few spoonfuls out or does it all stick together in a block?
 
Thanks for all the responses am seeing GP soon in the meantime will take on board some of your many suggestions
 
this is a very interesting thread.
I have suffered with chronic constipation for over 30 years and I have finally discovered a way to practically eliminate it . I wrote about it in another thread here .http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/nerve-neuropathy-a-suagr-rush.129314/#post-1620422
but here is the gist of it.

The other significant change I made was to eliminate chronic constipation. I have suffered with this for as long as I can remember , at least 30 years. Back in June I had to have an Ambulance called out to me as I collapsed with acute stomach cramps . It started with extreme cramping/wind pain and within 15 minutes I couldn't stand up. My heart rate rose to 130bpm and blood pressure shot up to 178/95 & I couldn't breathe . I was completely incoherent and nearly passed out . I was dehydrated , and impacted .

This happened a further 2 times in the following week so i decided once and for all to do something about it. I saw my Doctor who referred me to a Consultant who booked me in for an urgent Colonoscopy . To say I was anxious would have been an understatement. I suspected the worse. meanwhile my Dr prescribed a course of Laxido powder oral laxitive .

Within 5x days my bowels were almost back to normal and the impaction eventually cleared .... It really does work if you can be patient enough to give it 2 weeks to fully take effect

I took about 8-10 days to regulate my digestive system and since then I take 1x sachet a day and I go to the toilet every single day about 30 minutes to 1 hour after waking up sometimes twice a day .

I cannot tell you what a blessed relief it is to simply go to the toilet regularly without effort or discomfort or constipation. I no longer suffer with wind or cramps and since quitting bread I do not have that horrible bloated feeling either. laxido works by reducing the extraction of water from the bowel.

I don't know if any of these suggestions might help you but they have made such a profound improvement in my quality of life I just had to pass it on to others. if anyone has any advice on improving this list I'd appreciate it
 
We are all different so what works for me may not work for someone else . I have a spoonful of milled flaxseed (I find bran unpalatable)- get it from Holland & Barratt and take it with water and I find important to drink at least 1.5 litres of fluid . I take a tablet of liquorice root each day as well.
 
Grateful said:
Huh?



I am thinking of taking that plunge, in an experiment to see if it helps head off borderline high blood pressure. It must have been tough, however?
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A couple of years ago I too decided to stop drinking coffee. I normally drink about a litre a day, freshly made from ground beans.
The first day was OK, but by the second day, all I wanted to do was sleep ! By the end of the first week I felt as if I was just existing in a mental fog. It was awful. I put up with it for one more week and it didn't get any better.
So, here I am, hands up, I'm a self-confessed, card-carrying caffeine junkie....and that first bowl of coffee after two weeks was pure nectar.
And within a day or so I was back to being handsome, witty, good natured, brilliant etc, etc........

And my blood pressure actually went up during the two weeks of cold turkey !
 
Fortunately for me it was very easy. A low grade headache for 2 days and that was it. On the up side I am no longer wired and tired. I drank coffee all day long. The more I drank, the more I needed and all it did was rev up my nervous system. It never woke me up or gave me energy. Just wired me. Now o have just constant even energy. I still crave that Nespresso crema occasionally but haven’t caved so far. We have decaf pods if I’m really desperate

Good luck @Grateful if you decide to take the jump.
 
YUP. Used a whole strip of Senakot. The trick is to add some fat to your diet. I went low carb low fat and was pooing bricks. Got the urge to poo, but the pan was clean. As soon as I added fat to my diet, normal service resumed. The first visit to the throne room after severe constipation was a great moment in my life. The feeling was joyous and I was happy all day.
 

I befriended a health researcher once - actually while in a research institute so his creds are good, whose particular area of research was coffee. (Sweden has and is super big on researching the health effects of coffee. They were the first nation to do it - coffee is REALLY important in Sweden.)

He told me that coffee does not actually affect your heart beat - it is just the affects of the drug that make you FEEL like your heart is beating fast and loud. It makes sense - it's a drug, and affects your perception.

Hope this reassures? (Read and responded to whilst sipping on my morning coffee .)
 
AloeSvea said:
Hope this reassures? (Read and responded to whilst sipping on my morning coffee .)
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Thank you, yes, it does. I am actually in the midst of a controlled experiment to see whether coffee really does have any long-term effect on my BP. It will take a while -- I am trying to be "very scientific" at the urging of someone else who successfully ran such an experiment. The experiment is in mid-stream so no conclusions yet.
 
Try a small incrase in your salk intake, say one stock cube in a mug of hot water two times a day. I found it sorted me out. These day I don't need it as I put a little more salt on my food, and my body is more used to low carb.

(On a low carb diet we need a little more salt then normal, and often due to having to cook a lot more for ourselfs, we reduce our salt intake from ready meals etc.)
 
Actually, the concern from @Grateful was regarding blood pressure rather than heart beat.

The Mayo clinic says, "Some people who regularly drink caffeinated beverages have a higher average blood pressure than do those who drink none. Others who regularly drink caffeinated beverages develop a tolerance to caffeine. As a result, caffeine doesn't have a long-term effect on their blood pressure." They also explain how to test whether someone is affected - "To see if caffeine might be raising your blood pressure, check your blood pressure before drinking a cup of coffee or other caffeinated beverage and again 30 to 120 minutes afterward. If your blood pressure increases by about five to 10 points, you may be sensitive to the blood pressure raising effects of caffeine. If you plan to cut back on caffeine, do so gradually over several days to a week to avoid withdrawal headaches."
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...re/expert-answers/blood-pressure/faq-20058543
 
It seems to be a fairly common problem and there's been plenty of threads - and advice - on the forum, if you have a search. I think it's often just a matter of findng the right balance of foods in a new diet.

I was slightly consitpated for a week or two until my body got used to low carbs. Enough bulk in the form of veggies and nuts & seeds keeps me going and eating enough fats helps ease things. I also make sure I drink plenty of fluids...

Robbity
 

Oh yes! Quite right. I was indeed just thinking of how it makes you feel, like any common garden-variety drug addict. . (Yes, I do think of this in a light-hearted matter, as I have as yet to meet anyone whose life has been trammelled by coffee. Which is not true for tobacco, alcohol, heroine, meth, and need I say - sugar?) I have not as yet got myself a blood pressure gizmo, so I guess I still think like a BP ingenue. I hope I am a tolerance level coffee addict with coffee having little or no effect on my BP.

Good to have all the info in order to make consumption decisions based on this. (And this time I am being quite serious.)
 
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