Gentle natural laxatives

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
One thing this stroke has done is put me more in tune withe my body, and its needs. Several medications I take induce painful constipation. This is no joke, if I try to ignore it I will become very ill physically, Sleep for me can also be hard to do occasionally, so I limit myself to 3 cups of coffee/day and cut myself off at 1:00PM, and switch over to teas instead. I like green tea but it also has caffeine, so I cut that out at 4:00 PM for a week I suffered major diarrhea until I figured out this was the culprit.

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Now it's funny. I use tea as my primary method of hydration.This will be one of my go-tos when I need a xlax. I suspect most people eat enough food to offset the effects. Another herbal tea that is much, much gentler is this one It is so gentle you might miss the effect:

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Other than that Perfect Peach and Pure Peppermint are safe for any time of the day.
 
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jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
You might make some analogies (see threads on what's happening in wires):
1) The bladder is like a capacitor. Current (flow) precedes pressure (voltage, urgency);
2) The bowel, of course is like an inductor. It's somewhat coiled and pressure produces flow (cramps, tenesmus). :)

I just spent a day in the hot sun. Maybe I will reconsider later.
 
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Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I think I mentioned both pain and illness? I try not to be a hypochondriac, but as you get older it gets to be more of a problem. Looks like I will live to see another birth day next year.
 

SLK001

Joined Nov 29, 2011
1,549
Try magnesium citrate for your problem. Most people today are deficient in magnesium due to their diets. I use Vitacost's brand of MC. I mix it with a packet of Emergen-C raspberry and a squirt of Great Value's (Walmart) strawberry-watermelon drink flavoring (it's like MIO, only without the aspertane poison). Once you get your dosage dialed in, you won't have "those" problems.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
There is a distinction between laxatives that act to increase motility of the bowel and those that act osmotically.

I would be concerned about using the former as self medication or for long periods. For example, Ducolax (bisacodyl) acts to increase motility. It is somewhat similar to older laxatives like phenolphthalein.

Osmotic agents (Examples: milk of magnesia and Docusate) are considered milder and safer for self medication.

See:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/constipation/in-depth/laxatives/art-20045906
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisacodyl (related to phenolphthalein)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docusate (osmotic)
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
One thing this stroke has done is put me more in tune withe my body, and its needs. Several medications I take induce painful constipation.
I too have suffered with this after my two stroke, for 10+ years until a couple of weeks ago. And since my heart attacks a year ago, I have to take statins now which was affecting my legs. Couldn't hardly walk. A guy I met saw how painful I looked walking and told me to get a bottle of curcumin, it's an extract of turmeric, the stuff that makes mustard yellow.
After only a few days my bowels started acting better and my knees were less painful. Now after 2 weeks I can walk without pain and even climb steps, which was a real hard thing before.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcumin
 
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