SwanRonson
Senior Member
- Messages
- 300
- Location
- Alabama
You can look at my post history and see that chronic constipation has been a problem for me my whole life, even before I got sick. But getting sick put it off the chart. That being said, I really have gotten relief the last few months. Here's what I'm doing:
For the last month I haven't needed the miralax. Things have been moving on their own reliably.
Lots of people take a lot more magnesium than that with mixed results, so my theory is it's the mineral water plus the magnesium oxide doing it. The Gerolsteiner water is really high in Bicarbonate, so I believe it's had an alkalizing effect on my bowel over time, leading to a change in gut bacteria makeup.
The most recent stool culture I did indeed showed a change in bacteria profile. I had always had a large strep component until this last culture. The strep dropped way down this time, which is good.
I think my transit is still slow, but the MagOx is keeping things soft so things don't get hard and dry from the slow movement. The magnesium oxide is a lot gentler on my upper GI than mag citrate. I'm already getting a lot of magnesium from the mineral water, so the low absorption of mag oxide is fine. Just means it stays in the colon and acts as a softener.
I also think it's important to drink the mineral water at least 15 minutes before you eat, so it can travel further down the GI tract before full absorption.
If you want to try this I think the most important thing is that when you start, be sure things are moving with miralax first. Nothing works when you're impacted, so take 3 or 4 caps of Miralax over a day or two and get some diarrhea going. Then start doing this regimen every day and see what happens. If you have to strain hard or you miss a morning going, hit a cap of miralax and just do the coffee for breakfast without food. Do this each morning until things start moving again. Then stop the miralax.
Also keep the fruit/veggie and non-PUFA fat intake high. Especially oranges, mandarins, sweet potatoes and coconut oil. I eat sometimes 4 or 5 mandarins per day.
Everybody's constipation is different, so this might not work at all for you. This is the first thing that has ever worked for me on a long term basis (except hyperthyroid, but that's not a good solution ), so I thought I'd share.
6:30 am:
1. Brush teeth immediately upon waking. I mean get out of the bed and walk straight to the toothbrush.
2. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
3. Drink a cup of decaf coffee with heavy cream while I sit on the toilet reading the news.
4. Poop.
7:45 am:
1. Eat a light breakfast (2 slices of bacon, or a plaintain pancake with butter, or 2 eggs). Usually just one from that list.
2. Another cup of decaf with heavy cream and about 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil mixed in.
12 pm:
1. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
2. Lunch. Heavy on the veggies and fruit. Light on meat. I try to eat sweet potato chips or regular potato chips fried in coconut oil as many times a week as I can for lunch. I fry them myself since everything at the store is fried in PUFA's.
3. Another cup of decaf with heavy cream.
6 pm:
1. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
2. Dinner. Again heavy on the veggies and fruit, but a little more meat than lunch.
9 pm:
1. Take 1 capsule of 400mg Magnesium Oxide. Chase it down with a mandarin orange or a cara cara orange.
10 pm:
1. Usually eat a small bowl of berries in cream, or some ice cream. The late carbs helps with sleep.
I know this all sounds pretty un-magical, but I've been regular for about 3 months now doing this. At first I was having to take Miralax about once every 10 days or so to get things moving again. If I missed even a single morning poop I would skip breakfast and take the miralax between coffees.1. Brush teeth immediately upon waking. I mean get out of the bed and walk straight to the toothbrush.
2. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
3. Drink a cup of decaf coffee with heavy cream while I sit on the toilet reading the news.
4. Poop.
7:45 am:
1. Eat a light breakfast (2 slices of bacon, or a plaintain pancake with butter, or 2 eggs). Usually just one from that list.
2. Another cup of decaf with heavy cream and about 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil mixed in.
12 pm:
1. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
2. Lunch. Heavy on the veggies and fruit. Light on meat. I try to eat sweet potato chips or regular potato chips fried in coconut oil as many times a week as I can for lunch. I fry them myself since everything at the store is fried in PUFA's.
3. Another cup of decaf with heavy cream.
6 pm:
1. Drink 10 ounces of Gerolsteiner mineral water.
2. Dinner. Again heavy on the veggies and fruit, but a little more meat than lunch.
9 pm:
1. Take 1 capsule of 400mg Magnesium Oxide. Chase it down with a mandarin orange or a cara cara orange.
10 pm:
1. Usually eat a small bowl of berries in cream, or some ice cream. The late carbs helps with sleep.
For the last month I haven't needed the miralax. Things have been moving on their own reliably.
Lots of people take a lot more magnesium than that with mixed results, so my theory is it's the mineral water plus the magnesium oxide doing it. The Gerolsteiner water is really high in Bicarbonate, so I believe it's had an alkalizing effect on my bowel over time, leading to a change in gut bacteria makeup.
The most recent stool culture I did indeed showed a change in bacteria profile. I had always had a large strep component until this last culture. The strep dropped way down this time, which is good.
I think my transit is still slow, but the MagOx is keeping things soft so things don't get hard and dry from the slow movement. The magnesium oxide is a lot gentler on my upper GI than mag citrate. I'm already getting a lot of magnesium from the mineral water, so the low absorption of mag oxide is fine. Just means it stays in the colon and acts as a softener.
I also think it's important to drink the mineral water at least 15 minutes before you eat, so it can travel further down the GI tract before full absorption.
If you want to try this I think the most important thing is that when you start, be sure things are moving with miralax first. Nothing works when you're impacted, so take 3 or 4 caps of Miralax over a day or two and get some diarrhea going. Then start doing this regimen every day and see what happens. If you have to strain hard or you miss a morning going, hit a cap of miralax and just do the coffee for breakfast without food. Do this each morning until things start moving again. Then stop the miralax.
Also keep the fruit/veggie and non-PUFA fat intake high. Especially oranges, mandarins, sweet potatoes and coconut oil. I eat sometimes 4 or 5 mandarins per day.
Everybody's constipation is different, so this might not work at all for you. This is the first thing that has ever worked for me on a long term basis (except hyperthyroid, but that's not a good solution ), so I thought I'd share.
Last edited: