Tammynoska
10-09-2003, 10:27 PM
Help, I need to find some kind of supplement out there, if possible I can take long term. After taking metamucil for 6 weeks, I suddenly am getting hives after taking it. And that is just 1 pill. I'm afraid what will happen if I take a whole dose. I tried Benefiber, but just a pinch gave me foamy diarrhea for 2 days. I am taking now temporarily 4 colace pills a day to get through my surgery, but those don't work alone, and I also need to find something longterm I can take to keep my stools soft and self-moving. Any suggestions? For Your Info: I'm lactose intolerant, and I'm also allergic to wheat, which doesn't make this easy to find a fiber supplement that I can take. I hope someone out there has solved this before. I appreciate any help as I am S T U M P E D. I need this because I get very hard stools even if I drink 20 plus cups of water and eat lots of oatmeal. I thought metamucil was the answer to my problems, but then I started getting these hives just minutes after taking the one pill.
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Harry
10-09-2003, 10:59 PM
Tammy,
Sorry about your problem!!
My first suggestion would be Citrucel --it is a water soluble fiber but it does not digest or breakdown like psyllium does. It is a safe semi-synthetic fiber--methylcellulose. It's available in a capsule. It's safe to use long term. It suppose to work about like Metamucil but does not produce the gas since it does not ferment with digestive bacteria. I have never used it but alot of people do and like it.
Also, there is oatbran tablets that is available. I have used it but not long enough to really say it's great but it is a soluble fiber unlike wheat bran that does not absorble fluid.
God Bless---Harry
[This message has been edited by Harry (edited 10-10-2003).]
Sorry about your problem!!
My first suggestion would be Citrucel --it is a water soluble fiber but it does not digest or breakdown like psyllium does. It is a safe semi-synthetic fiber--methylcellulose. It's available in a capsule. It's safe to use long term. It suppose to work about like Metamucil but does not produce the gas since it does not ferment with digestive bacteria. I have never used it but alot of people do and like it.
Also, there is oatbran tablets that is available. I have used it but not long enough to really say it's great but it is a soluble fiber unlike wheat bran that does not absorble fluid.
God Bless---Harry
[This message has been edited by Harry (edited 10-10-2003).]
mlgable
10-10-2003, 10:24 AM
I would suggest you talk to your pharamcist and ask him what you can take that doesn't have wheat in it's makeup. I am wondering if you wouldn't be better off trying the metamucil wafers or powder as the pills probably have gluten in their makeup and this may be part of your problem. At any rate talk to your pharamcist as they now indredients in products the best.
kiki lou
10-10-2003, 10:39 AM
Ground flax seeds work GREAT and are full of good essential fatty acids as well!
Good luck.
Good luck.
runninggal
10-10-2003, 04:14 PM
Here again, what works for one, doesn't work for someone else. The one and only time I have had any problem with constipation after my surgery was when I was taking ground flax seeds. Just to be sure, I eliminated the flax and then added it back and concluded that the flax was definately the culprit. It made my stools hard and extremely difficult to pass. This in spite of the fact that I drink huge volumes of water and eat a quasi vegetarian diet. Since I eliminated the flax, I have had no problems.
I use Metamucil with great success. However, I did try Citrucel after I delivered my first baby. It made my stools huge, which actually caused a fissure.
I stopped using it and have never tried it again.
Tammy, I hope you find something that works for you.
I use Metamucil with great success. However, I did try Citrucel after I delivered my first baby. It made my stools huge, which actually caused a fissure.
I stopped using it and have never tried it again.
Tammy, I hope you find something that works for you.
shirbarrdm
10-10-2003, 04:59 PM
You might be low in magnesium. I take it and it also helps with skipped heartbeats and muscle pain.
http://www.mgwater.com/listc.shtml
http://www.mgwater.com/listc.shtml
Tammynoska
10-12-2003, 01:35 PM
First of all, thanks everybody for your replies. For some reason I didn't get any notice in my email on them, and just discovered them online now, so sorry for the delay.
Flax seed is also something I am allergic to, I discovered when I went on a totaly health whole food kick a few years ago. Citrucel sounds promising, but I hope it doesn't have acid/citrus in it, because I have acid reflux and have to stay away from acidy stuff unless I want to deal with heartburn all the time. I'll check it out, but if it causes stools too wide, no way, as I am recovering from a hemorrhoidectomy and my butt hole isn't flexible like it was before the surgery, and stools too wide have actually ripped me since the surgery.
I have a box of metamucil wafers here but wheat flour is actually an ingredient in the wafers, and that made me think if the metamucil people weren't cheating a bit, and putting wheat in there to make the stools move, as if the psyllium husks weren't enough in wafer form. Oh, well.
The oatbran pills sound good, only I wouldn't know where to find them---do you have a product name for them that I can try to search for? The only drawback on that Harry, is that I already eat 3 cups of instant oatmeal a day and it doesn't help me to get soft or bulky stools at all. But wheat bran does, only I'm allergic to it. I can take wheat bran on a short term basis, but not for life.
It's hard when you have multiple alleriges, have acid reflux and have a condition called sjogren's syndrome, which leaves you with too dry intestinal innards. Before I had my hemorrhoid surgery, I thought my stools were just fine. I thought pushing was okay. Now I know my stools were too hard, and I was constipated according to the doctor.
So far I'm not doing too bad on some bit of wheat, but I'm just waiting for my body to do a 360 like it has in the past, and then cause me terrible pains and diarrhea due to the wheat.
I'll check out the citrucel and try the oatbran pills, but I also appreciate if anyone has any other tricks up their sleeves they could pass on. My pharmacist is too expensive to deal with, he compounds stuff but at high cost, and I can't afford to pay $100 a month for some special fiber supplement.
mlgable, I will try the powder, but as I said the metamucil wafers have wheat flour. But I've never gotten hives from gluten, so I don't think it's the gluten.
Thanks for all of the input and suggestions. I was joking with my husband today about how I'm having to spend so much time just learning all about getting good stools that I'm going to end up being a certified stool-ologist. :)
Flax seed is also something I am allergic to, I discovered when I went on a totaly health whole food kick a few years ago. Citrucel sounds promising, but I hope it doesn't have acid/citrus in it, because I have acid reflux and have to stay away from acidy stuff unless I want to deal with heartburn all the time. I'll check it out, but if it causes stools too wide, no way, as I am recovering from a hemorrhoidectomy and my butt hole isn't flexible like it was before the surgery, and stools too wide have actually ripped me since the surgery.
I have a box of metamucil wafers here but wheat flour is actually an ingredient in the wafers, and that made me think if the metamucil people weren't cheating a bit, and putting wheat in there to make the stools move, as if the psyllium husks weren't enough in wafer form. Oh, well.
The oatbran pills sound good, only I wouldn't know where to find them---do you have a product name for them that I can try to search for? The only drawback on that Harry, is that I already eat 3 cups of instant oatmeal a day and it doesn't help me to get soft or bulky stools at all. But wheat bran does, only I'm allergic to it. I can take wheat bran on a short term basis, but not for life.
It's hard when you have multiple alleriges, have acid reflux and have a condition called sjogren's syndrome, which leaves you with too dry intestinal innards. Before I had my hemorrhoid surgery, I thought my stools were just fine. I thought pushing was okay. Now I know my stools were too hard, and I was constipated according to the doctor.
So far I'm not doing too bad on some bit of wheat, but I'm just waiting for my body to do a 360 like it has in the past, and then cause me terrible pains and diarrhea due to the wheat.
I'll check out the citrucel and try the oatbran pills, but I also appreciate if anyone has any other tricks up their sleeves they could pass on. My pharmacist is too expensive to deal with, he compounds stuff but at high cost, and I can't afford to pay $100 a month for some special fiber supplement.
mlgable, I will try the powder, but as I said the metamucil wafers have wheat flour. But I've never gotten hives from gluten, so I don't think it's the gluten.
Thanks for all of the input and suggestions. I was joking with my husband today about how I'm having to spend so much time just learning all about getting good stools that I'm going to end up being a certified stool-ologist. :)
Tammynoska
10-12-2003, 01:48 PM
shirbarrdm, thanks for the interesting information on magnesium. Runninggal shared with me her success using magnesium, and I will certainly look into that. My only concern there is along with the constipation, I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and I magnesium has caused me to have bad diarrhea. I guess I will have to do some reading and see if a very small amount will help me. I found the link, shirbarrdm, very informative, thanks.
West Coast Girl
10-12-2003, 04:44 PM
Hi - Can anyone tell me if Citrucel is available in Canada? I'm having a hard time finding it. Thanks!
Harry
10-12-2003, 10:14 PM
You can buy oatbran and I think you should try pure psyllium seed husk. I buy both from the Vitamin Shoppe online. My wife uses the psyllium capsules 3 in the am and 2 after supper. The powder mix bloats her and causes hiatal hernia pain. The caps dissolve in the intestines.
There are alot of brands that mix other ingredients in their products. You are the first I have heard that actually has a rash reaction (allergic) to psyllium --- I was just wondering is it really the psyllium or something other additive???
Harry
There are alot of brands that mix other ingredients in their products. You are the first I have heard that actually has a rash reaction (allergic) to psyllium --- I was just wondering is it really the psyllium or something other additive???
Harry
hotsey_lot
10-29-2003, 05:33 AM
there is also a prescription powder called MIrlax, no wheat no taste can mix in ANYthing i use diet coke!