Irregularity

I have been so irregular lately, I can't go number 2. The last time i went was sunday, and I went 3 times, but it's been 2 days since.

I did start a new diet recently. I'm gluten intolerant, and I my body has a hard time digesting grains, so I've been staying away from them. I don't eat sugar other than what I put in my coffee, I eat veggies for breakfast, lunch, and most dinners, and I snack on fruit and eat nuts. I don't know what's wrong. I have also been eating meat 3 times a day.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to solve this problem? Any good vegetables or herbs or something that help with constipation? I don't want to take laxatives because i don't want to rely on them... help?

I had a similar problem, but It was because I was not taking enough fiber, so if your eating alot of fiber I am not sure what maybe wrong.  When I ate 3/4 cups of fiber one mixed with a cup of yogurt for breakfast, and eggplant and lentil soup for lunch and dinner , and some light activity, the next day I was back to normal.  Make sure you drink lots of water because if your dehydrated your body will use the water in your poo for body function and that will definatly back you up.  Hope I was some help.

Rather than suffering, take an over the counter laxative tonight to clear the backlog.  One dose will not lead to dependency but allowing the backlog to get worse could lead to you needing to see a doctor for stronger medication.

In the meantime, don't add to the blockage by eating more.  Choose nourishing liquids like fruit juices, soups and broths.  Rest the gut for a while

Going forward, maybe cut down on coffee and drink a lot more water or tea (black/green/herb).   I would also suggest eating less meat and more things like beans, lentils and tofu - too much meat (also eggs) can be constipating.  Make sure your diet contains plenty of oils since these will help.  And specific fruits to keep you regular include kiwifruit & prunes.  Gentle daily exercise should also be on the cards.  Avoid taking iron supplements... they also contribute to constipation

Whenever I change my eating habits I often have this happen. It seems crazy to me that if I start a new healthy eating habit I'll get irregular for a couple of weeks, but that's what happens.

In the meantime, take an over the counter product as suggested above to feel better. Then drink lots of fluids. If you truly don't like OTC medicine, the best and quickest acting laxative in the world is prune juice. Drink an 8 oz. glass and magic will happen. It is also sweet and tasty.

Beware, prune juice can cause lots of gasiness when it starts to work and it may make you go a lot until you empty out, but it works quickly and is completely natural.

I kept getting blocked up when I was nursing my son and it was due to dehydration. I was producing so much milk I could hardly stay hydrated. I added a large glass of apple juice daily and that cured the irregularity.

definately water your self as much as possible.  Umm... i've heard that pumpkin and sweet potatoe can be good for this.  I understand you reservations about OTC's but if you go more than 4-5 days without a movement or if you start to get a sharp pain in your lower left abdomen you should go ahead and do it just this one time.  That pain would be your sigmoid colon asking for you to please please help it because it is full to to point of pain, which can be damaging if you let it go unchecked.

If you are are gluten intolerant, and have just begun to stay away from grains, then some irregularity is part of the healing process. Gluten intolerance is celiac sprue disease. When you eat gluten your body has an immunological over-response to the protein and this damages the cilia (the little hairs that line the entire gut and move the food through for proper digestion) in your gut. Eventually (if you continue to eat gluten) it leads to serious maldigestion, colon inflammation, leaky gut (food particles entering the blood stream causing immune responses like rheumatoid arthritis), and well down the line for undiagnosed patients: bowel cancer.

If you are completely abstaining from gluten (wheat, rye, barley...) and all the foods that have them, then your regularity should return within a couple of weeks. If, however, you are sometimes having gluten-based products, then that can trigger serious constipation (for some sufferers) or a cycle of large volume/diarrhea (like Sunday) then constipation for several days. Each time you eat a bit of gluten, you damage your intestines further and the damage is irreparable.

Being intolerant doesn't mean lowering the intake of the offending food, it means complete eradication of the offending food. Good news though, if you remove all gluten from your diet, then it will trigger a phenomenal about-face in your health, vitality and longevity.

If you have absolutely no bowel movements for 4 days or experience any fever, severe cramping or bloating, or any point pain, then visit a doctor. Otherwise, the previous recommendations to drink lots of water should help. Also, we have about a million neurons in our gut (it's our second brain) and it's awfully sensitive to stress -- so try not to worry too much about not going and that will help as well. Good Luck!

I have that problem if I don't drink enough water so once in awhile I take a little mineral oil.You can mix it with orange juice if you can't stand just taking it plain.

I think it doesn't hurt to miss a day because we are eating less than we used to but if you start feeling stuffed then you should help it along.

Best laxative in the world: Coffee and cigarettes.

i dont know, coffee works for me in the morning...but i eat a lot of fiber too.

you should try avocados! full of fiber, about 13gs per large avocado.

prune juice works, but its gross.

also if you want to do a natural cleanse (maybe its buildup in your system), try 4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of natural sea salt. do it first thing in the morning.