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type 2 -change in bowel habits

nybrid

Active Member
Messages
36
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
fear of diabetes complications
Hi,
Hopefully you are not eating but I have been a bit worried about my toilet routine on the bowels side.

Just before I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago my bowel habits changed from 2/3 times a day till now only going once every 2 to 3 days. Is this normal or cause for concern?

In the last week I have cut carbs and bowel movements remain at once every 2/3 days. As for urinating I am happy this is normal 5/6 times a day with a fairly colourful liquid. I am trying to drink more water.

Any advice welcome

thanks

Mike
 
hi nybrid
can't really offer any help on this one but am bumping and tagging @Mike D , @catherinecherub , and @nosher8355
as 3 of the wise T2's on the forum that may know or have some advice.
 
Hi Mike

Keep drinking the water. As for the movements, yep, it can happen although I'm surprised you had a 3 time a day habit in the first place. Was that every day or 2nd day?

That said, a 3 visit a day can happen (although VERY VERY rare for me) and yes, I can go 48 hours without one (again, very rare), but not 72 by any stretch. I suspect your dietary changes (amount and content) are influencing your trips.

If they remain inconsistent, go see your GP.
 
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I took a variety of probiotics when I changed diets to low carb..diabetics have different gut bugs than the normal population..cause or effect?..anyway I want mine as normal as possible.
are you on metformin..that can play with your gut.
 
I found I got a bit "bunged up" to start with on a low carb diet. If you've cut carbs, you're no longer getting the fibre.bulk from stuff like bread and cereals, so bowel movements can slow down. Plenty of water, vegetables, nuts, flax seed, and a bit of extra fat, together with a week or two getting used to the change in diet all sorted me out again.

There's some vile stuff called psyllium husks that's recommended for this situation that you could try if desperate, but it made me feel as though my appendix was getting bunged up instead, so I chucked it out.

Robbity
 
Thanks. I need to speak with the GP
jack412 said:
I took a variety of probiotics when I changed diets to low carb..diabetics have different gut bugs than the normal population..cause or effect?..anyway I want mine as normal as possible.
are you on metformin..that can play with your gut.
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jack412 said:
I took a variety of probiotics when I changed diets to low carb..diabetics have different gut bugs than the normal population..cause or effect?..anyway I want mine as normal as possible.
are you on metformin..that can play with your gut.
Click to expand...
Thanks 1 metaformin tablet a day. I stopped going to the loo twice a day pre metaformin and diagnosis and now it's once every 2 days after years of twice a day. I need to speak to the GP as the diagnosis of type 2 shocked me so now I'm thinking maybe something else is wrong ie bowel cancer etc. I'm just worrying for nothing but will discuss with specialist next wk. Thanks again, mike
 
Don't distress yourself with that stuff Mike. T2 does interfere with your system without doubt and the last thing you need is worries about something else. Of course, get it checked but the imaginings of those with this condition can run wild at times.
 
I know your right thanks again for the advise
 
My pleasure. You would be surprised (maybe not ) as to just how many other unrelated issues are tied to diabetes. Sure many are but many are not.
 
I could go 6-7 times a day before starting lchf. I had awful IBS and suffered haemorrhoids, and an anal fistula. It was in a terrible state 'down there'. since changing i go 1 sometimes 2 times per day and am a LOT more comfortable. I also no longer pee every hour during the night-i don't wake to pee, even though I drink loads of water daily, and I don't have the same urgency during the day that I used to. It's amazing and rather wonderful
 
Low carb is a great way to eat masses of veg and drink lots of water, herb teas and sparkling mineral water. Both of those are great for regularity.

Sometimes people think that LC eating means lots of meat, but there's really no need, and normal meat, plenty of veg, and small amounts of berries works best for me.

And green smoothies work wonders. See the link in my signature.
 
Hiya if your poo is soft (not hard and hurting like passing glass) and comes out easily ( and not like rabbit droppings) you should be fine. If it is hard or coming out very sloppy then you will need to see GP. It doesn't sound like what you are fearing. If your bunged up it gives you terrible stomach ache and can make you feel sick. Hope your feeling ok
 
I saw our local dietician yesterday. I was well aware I was substantially overweight and need somehow to drop about 4 - 5 stones - hence the dietician. I was hoping for some advice on how to lose weight by diet since I am no longer able to exercise. About 6 weeks ago I was at the same clinic and was given a diet sheet for weight loss. I commented at the time that the new diet was more than I eat normally but I was told to try it anyway. Well, I did but put on half a stone in the first 3 weeks so gave up on that and decided to try my own ideas with thoughts of low carbing. I cut out potatoes, rice, oats, pasta and drastically cut down the bread to one, or at most 2, slices of home made wholemeal bread in the morning. I ate more fat (despite no gall bladder) and cut down on meat - just bacon for breakfast and vegetables for the rest of the day. I put on another half stone in the last 3 weeks! For years now I have had to get up a minimum of twice a night for the loo - usually 3 times and quite often 5 times. I take Furosmide to shed the fluid and although I can't go far from the loo, it doesn't reduce the swelling. My legs and abdomen are swollen and I have some sort of rash on my lower legs which I am sure is something to do with fluid. My doctor recently said he thought it was eczema but it isn't reponding to his treatment.

Anyway, back to the dietician with a food diary covering the last week. Not eating enough, she said. Calories are well below the recommended 1400 per day. But my 7 or 8 cups of tea is too much. Not so much too much fluid but too much caffeine (I take my tea like dishwater) and my small bottle of sparkling water per day is a no no - it should be plain tapwater. Can anyone explain to me why 8 cups of weak caffeine should be so bad, or my minor indulgence in fizzy water?

I know the powers that be don't like talking about LCHF and will not advise on it, but why my fluid intake and output should be of so little interest and why there seems to be no connection to the 4 stone of extra weight I m carrying, I can't make out.
 

Oh @Annb that has got to be depressing. I really do despair of dieticians.

If it is any help at all, then if I eat bacon more than once or twice a week, I get a strange eczma like scabby itchy encrustation effect in my eyebrows. bizarre, but true.

I only know that it is the bacon (and other processed meats) because it used to happen the day I went for a fry up with a mate. Oddly, I can eat good quality bacon, with no effect.

So I think (and this really is a guess) that the bacon has preservatives or smoke flavour, or something in it, that causes the break out.

Of course, I have no idea if that might be part of your problem, but may be worth checking out.

What does the extra weight feel like? could it be fluid retention, rather than actual fat?
 
It could be the bacon - I'll try cutting it out for a while and see what happens. The swelling in my legs is definitely fluid - anything pressed into it leaves a long lasting dent but around the "rash" there is an extra swollen band right around both my legs of hard flesh which feels like bands of bandaging. It is about 7 inches from top to bottom and raised about 5 mm from the rest of the swelling. The original rash started a couple of years ago on one leg and was diagnosed as folliculitis and cellulitis and treated with antibiotics. This left red, lumpy scars but no heat, swelling or pain. What I now have is red, sometimes warmer than the rest of my legs, occasionally itchy and frequently painful. That's why I went to the doctor - might as well not have bothered because the steroid cream he prescribed hasn't got rid of it.

I assume that some of the swelling in my abdomen is fluid because it gets bigger during the day. I never took too much notice of this because I was told - about 10 or so years ago that I had an enlarged "fatty" liver about which I could do nothing and I believed that the enlarged abdomen was something to do with this. It wasn't as big then as it is now - now that I have discovered that doing nothing wasn't the only option. That's why I need to lose weight and try to get rid of some of the fat accumulation around my liver.

Actually, thinking about it, the advice I have received from the NHS over the years has been pretty poor and hasn't helped my physical condition very much, if at all, and has sometimes made things worse. So I will just have to sort myself out.

Right - no bacon for breakfast then and I'll take it from there. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Have lots and lots of salad low carb one I mean. You need roughage and with lchf since you are eating so little this tends to happen. I also have this problem but if I have salads I am ok
 
brettsza said:
Have lots and lots of salad low carb one I mean. You need roughage and with lchf since you are eating so little this tends to happen. I also have this problem but if I have salads I am ok
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I bought some flaxseed from the health shop and sprinkle
a teaspoon of that on my food.
You could get the Chia seeds they do the same thing.
I put a tsp of the Chia seeds in water, but drink it quick
because the water goes a bit gloopy.
Also green veg will make you go, like cabbage or spinach!
 
Chia seeds i
Chia seeds is something I have not treid yet but I do get through about half a kilo of spinach in a week and believe me you don't even want to get to the colour part of business after so much spinach couldn't increase this more. But I get through almost 5 cucmbers 2 small packs of radish 1 to 2 lettuce 2 to 3 tomatoes few carrots 2 to 4 avacados so I eat a lot of salad to maintain the bowel movement. But your suggestion of Chia seeds is nice I will definitely give that a shot.
 
Oh and how did I forget 4 peppers and 2 broccolis 1 cauli. And we haven't even got to the protien part
 
I eat loads of veg - not many avocados because here, on the islands, supply of them is a bit hit and miss. However, dropping the bacon will mean I'll have to look for another protein source - so I'll just get some under-ripe ones and ripen them at home to keep up a supply between shopping days. I tend not to eat salads - not keen on raw veg but in any case don't have any issues with an underactive bowel - far from it. I go through lots of Loperamide to keep it under control.

Thanks all for advice. If you all have managed to improve things for yourselves, surely I can.
 
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