Consequences of Laxative Overuse

For around 8 months now I have been using laxatives regularly (almost every day) as anorexia has caused me to become very constipated, even though I have been in recovery for about 5 months and have worked my calories up to an adequate amount. I dont exceeded the recomended dosage.

Anyway, I have decided to quit taking them any more as I am aware of the damage they can do to your digestive system.

My question is, will this have slowed down my metabolism? And if so, how can I repair the damage?

have you been using them or misusing them? as in... how many are you taking a day?

No I haven't been misusing them - I take 2 a day, sometimes just 1. Before I started recovery I would occassionaly take 6-8, but have not done that for about 5/6 months.

well good for you that you want to get off them.its tru they make your gut lazy. they wont affect your metabolism.

a high fibre diet would be a good start to getting off them. something like a big bowl of all bran would be ideal and lots of veg and fruits. but be careful to make sure your calorie intake doesnt dip.

another important factor is to make sure you are getting enough water. the large intestin is a funny ole thing. its job is to reabsorb water from the stool. even hard stool it will try to absorb water. so if you are eating all this bulk and not taking in enough water, the colon (large intest) will reabsorb water anyway making you even more constipated. so its NB to drink PLENTY fluids......

you might find that going from 2 to 0 is a bad move. work it down slowly. like have a tab less, then do it every second day. then one tab on day 1.5 then next etc etc

Miralax is a healthy alternative to laxatives if you continue to suffer from constipation despite eating, drinking, and exercising correctly. I was given it on a daily basis while gaining weight after suffering froma  physical case of Anorexia. My doctors informed me that it is gentle to your system, and as long as you use it properly, it does not harm your body in any way--it helps it, actually! This stuff is nasty tasting, though, and it's best when mixed with juice. When I drank it mixed with water, it tasted like pennies (yes, I was a crazy child and I did lick a penny once ).

This isn't an answer to your question, but I thought that I'd throw that out there. I don't honestly know for sure if your metabolism was slowed by it, though I've never heard of that before and I've visited a BUNCH of GI doctors.

One more thing--I do know that your body can become dependant upon laxatives if they are overused...which may well be your issue.

Thank you both for your replies and advice. The frustrating thing is that I eat a decent amount of fibre in fruits/veggies/bran etc anyway, and I probably drink about 3litres of water a day! But I know it will be the best for my gut in the end.

Fidget, I think I will follow your suggestion of cutting down slowly. Thank you for that idea.

Every time I've been in treatment for anorexia they prescribed Miralax for me.  I'm taking it at home now.  I agree, it tastes disgusting.  So I usually mix with with miralax (don't mix the powders though--make the crystal light and add the miralax and stir like crazy).  

I too have used them in the past and found that when I stopped I was a little constipated for a while. It just takes a little while for your body to get back to normal, which will happen.  I don't think that they actually slow down your metabolism but not eating enough can do that.