Curing Digestion Naturally page

[CiKi90]

I am trying to wean myself off of the digestive aids that CW and doctors have prescribed for me.I was diagnosed with IBS-C, and ever since I was a small child, I've been put on digestive aids, laxatives, etc. About 5 years ago, I was told to take Miralax daily, along with fiber laxatives. I've been diligently taking them ever since. Here's the dosage and frequency of everything I take at the moment:
Aloe vera caps (2-3 every night)
Magnesium (a mixture different types of magnesium) 2-3 nightly
Fibercon laxatives: 3-5 every night
Miralax: 2 capfuls every night (currently trying to reduce, taking 1.5 capfuls for the past week)
Raw Food multivitamin for Women (3 daily)
Zinc: 1 after my first meal
L-Glutamine: 4-8 daily
Digest Gold: 2 before a large meal, 1 before a snack
BCAA: 5-20g, depending on workout levels
Recently: Probiotics (5-8 billion daily, still figuring out how much I need)

Some of those supplements are not for digestion, but most of them are. I want to eliminate the unnatural ones and not depend on pills so much for my digestion. I am constantly bloated, feeling sick, and just irritable most of the time. Has anyone ever taken any of the unnatural supplements (Fiber laxatives, and Miralax) and weaned themselves off successfully? I would very much appreciate any advice. Is there anything I'm simply just missing? I shouldn't have to live like this!

[Damiana]

I can't comment on everything you take, though honestly they seem excessive and largely unnecessary. Magnesium works, and instead of the probiotics which can get expensive and IMO are less effective, eat some probiotics instead. Have some miso, eat some kimchi or sauerkraut, eat some yogurt. Those have solved my digestion issues. The more you use laxatives, the more dependent you will become on them.

[YogaBare]

I think Damiana speaks sense.

Also, I think that for as long as you're taking the supplements you don't know how your digestive system actually functions anymore. It might be scary, but would you consider coming off everything for a short period, just to see how you respond?

What's your IBS tendency?

[Derpamix]

Carrot salad, cascara sagrada, no laxatives besides this(stop with the miralax), coffee and magnesium

going to sound contradictory to what you're likely to hear, but no probiotics whatsoever.

Cascara, energy, cancer and the FDA's laxative abuse.

[PaleoMom]

A serving of homemade yogurt, kefir or fermented veggies will have around a trillion bacteria. It is much cheaper to use food for probiotics. Each type of fermented food provides different strains which will give you a lot more variety than even the really broad spectrum probiotics. They are full of enzymes as well which will stimulate your natural HCl production and help you digest your food.

The only things I would keep on your list are the magnesium and keep up with the L- Glutamine until you are healed.

[RaeVynn]

One of my very earliest memories is having some doctor sticking his finger up my bum.

My mom tried to get me to take MOM frequently. It just about made me hurl. I assume that the doctor ordered it. I also remember having maybe one BM every few days. Hell, for most of my life, a BM was a Really Big Deal.

Naturally, I grew up in the era of "healthy whole grains!" and increased fibre breads. I have no real clue how many tons of bran, oat bran, apple pectin, cascara sagrada (not a good choice for long-term use), and sienna-based teas I've gone through, or which have attempted to go through me!

I've used enemas, flushes, fasts, juice fasts, raw vegan diet, yadda yadda yadda.

Now, now that I'm in my frickin' 50s, I have normal, happy, regular BMs (well, except for this week, I have the flu). It took a few months of the paleo/Primal eating style, and retraining myself to realize that all that fibre was hurting, not helping.

Give yourself time. I'd cut back on the artificial BM helpers over a few weeks, until you are off them. Then, do be patient. Avoid fibre in all forms - no fibrous veggies, definitely nothing that could be considered a grain or seed. Try some lovely bone broth or unflavored gelatin (I mix mine in my buttered coffee) as often as you can for the healing effects.

[CiKi90]

I have IBS-C(constipation), and I feel I have a dairy sensitivity, so I only eat yogurt sometimes. I also eat kimchi on occassion but havent had any for a while. I know that everything I take seems excessive, and I know I'm making it worse with continuing fiber laxatives and miralax, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I stop taking everything. should I just go cold turkey, or gradually decrease over time?
Also, why no probiotic supplements? What's wrong with that. Oh! And my aloe supplement has cascara in it. Thanks for the responses. I've been thinking about trying GAPS and/or FODMAPS, any takes/opinions on this?

[YogaBare]

I have a lot of problems with my digestion. It's gradually getting better as I reduce fibre, and for a while I was totally reliant on yogurt to make me go. I decided to try cutting dairy, and when I did I was constipated for five days, but since then things are actually getting better. I think I got dependent on the probiotics in the yogurt and it was stopping my body from sorting itself out.

Basically it's going to be a process, and you'll have to chop and change what you do. I started craving bone broth like there was no tomorrow and I've eaten it every day for the last week, and I feel like something's happening (in a healing way). Try to listen to your body and see what it tells you.

Maybe it's best if you stop the supplements incrementally. Get rid of the fibre ones as soon as you can.

[Cryptocode]

Yes, I've taken all those, and more, until I got so sick I could hardly stand up or walk.

My advice is pretty severe, because that's what I had to do.
Read The Primal Blueprint. Then read Fiber Menace. Then you're ready to begin. Just go cold turkey and be very strict.
Stop taking all that. It doesn't work and makes things worse.

A very good probiotic and Omega-3' with every meal.
Eat 65-70% fats, 25% protein, 10% carbs, in which the carbs are leafy greens or roots, no potatoes; and only healthy fats.
Start with Mark's Damage Control multi-vitamin,-mineral,-antioxident. Yes it's expensive, but so is everything else you're taking. After 1-2 months you can switch to something else.
Try for one prebiotic a day (sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.). Eat some fish and meat daily.
Take an additional Magnesium Citrate and a Potassium. Additional enzymes might not hurt.
On any day you are constipated take whatever laxative you like that evening and is not overly strong. At first this may be daily. That's OK. Over time it will decrease. Never push or strain. NEVER.

One result of this diet is to drop the amount of fiber way down; the lower the better. (Don't tell your doctor.) GAPS and FODMAPS doesn't seem necessary, but many have tried it.

It should take no longer than 1-2 months (although I'm older and it took 4 months for me). After a lifetime of rock hard stools, the pleasure of soft, yellowish stools with no effort and no bloating is fantastic.

[Bifcus]

Have a read of this:

Study finds dietary fibre is more likely to be cause of, rather than a cure for, constipation and other bowel symptoms | Dr Briffa's Blog - A Good Look at Good Health

Probiotics are more important if you are eating lost of fibre - you need the good bugs to break them down.