A while back (June 15th to be exact, I posted an appeal under Bladder and Bowel about dietary supplements for Chronic Faecal Impaction. Thanks to Simon, Algarve; Angela250153; Lee and Benok for their responses. For refreshing see under forum Bladder/Bowel ?3rd page.
Whilst they were all useful tips, my problem still is:
a) I have changed diet to incl. fish, chicken, Basmati or brown rice, with frozen veggies (to steam), and whilst this has helped, it is not enough to wean off the daily maintenance programme of 250 Oral (Movicol) solution for the treatment of constipation; together with two suppositories to activate bowel, and once a week another oral preparation (Kleen Prep) 2l for Bowel Cleansing. This maintenance programme has for the 1st time in 4yrs. given me the freedom to move, socialise without worrying about a possible "accident" whilst out! The best is I don't have to worry about sleeping on linen savers anymore, as bowel routine changed to early morning.
Our climate is not conducive to growing fresh fruits and veggies on large scale, and the bulk of these has to come from South Africa. Whilst we do have a limited supply, storage is a problem, due to our hot climate. So rushing out daily and stocking up on a variety of fresh veggies is just not viable. What we do have is the 'frozen' vegetable variety which one can steam. These are also limited to a few greens, corn, usual stir fry and carrots, broccoli (if lucky). Need advice here, pleasec) As suggested and heard of, I now have a stock of Anissed, Linseed, Sunflower seeds, Pumpkin Seeds Green and plain; and Sesame seed. What are they good for; how does one ingest them; and in what food types can they be mixed in and how?
Simon from Algarve did answer to soak seeds. That is ok, but do I use them on their own (yuck!) or in what foods can i prepare them? Need answers hereto as well.
I drink up to 4-5l of water p/day, diet as above, a glass or two of red wine nightly, smoke (a lot!) and don't take any tablet supplements except an oral preparation of Cal-C-Vita daily which is an Immune protector. It has the major vitamin groups needed and copper, selenium, zinc and iron as minerals.
My doctor (specialises in bowel problems) who suggested the daily maintenance programme i am now on, seeing as I declined the op, said I have a long lazy colon. If I change this programme to a proper diet as suggested by Simon, et al, I am constipated for 3 days and then need the bowel cleansing prep I use once a week. He also suggested that unless I am a strict vegan, I will never sort out my bowel problems.
My questions are these:
How long after changing a diet regime can one expect change to bowel, without compacting to dangerous limit?
The vegan diet is too extreme if one goes according to the book The pH Miracle (balancing acids and alkaline in a nutritionally correct body), and is very expensive here. All ingredients needed like soya and rice milk, cocnut milk and tofu are hard to get; and Eat Right for your Type (which goes according to your blood group type). What alternatives can you suggest here?
Now to the seeds, here as above some of them are available and some not. So I am faced with how much does one take to be sufficient, and what alternatives to the above (seeds) can I use when none of the above are available?
I apologise for the length of this post, but as you can read, am faced with a bit of a dilemna, and do eventually want to get off the laxatives, as Simon suggested "laxatives are a road to nowhere"....
Can the 2 Simon's help with suggestions or anybody who has a similar problem, that has found a happy medium diet-wise.
Would appreciate all advice from you.
