RTO and bowel issues

[Anonymous]

A shot of celery juice. Start on the weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can train your body to go at a certain time. I never got to WFH. And like my work bathroom better than home (no kids and few women so it's very private). I get in right before 9 and have a bowel movement at work. It's great for the day. Took me a while to get there but it's the best. Weekends are so much more annoying as my body is now trained to go at the same time.

+1
My entire family is trained to go in the morning as soon as we sit on the toilet. No one goes to work or school with a belly full of poop. You get up, go to the bathroom, use the squatty potty or a small stool, scroll the news, poop. It should not take more than 5 minutes to completely empty out your bowel.

We eat a lot of veggies, so we also poop in the evening. 2 or 3 daily, effortless bowel movements the best indication of good gut health.

[Anonymous]

[b]

Anonymous wrote:Ever since RTO I have been experiencing chronic constipation. The office I’ve been assigned to report to 45 miles away through traffic, and in order to get home at an ok time to eat dinner and get ready for bed, and with 3.5 hours commuting plus my workday, I have to leave pretty early. I can’t seem to poop, it’s like the mechanism just grinds to a halt. Our office has horrible shared restrooms where as much as I try and am willing, my body just won’t give it up. Over the course of the week I get more and more constipated, bloated, and uncomfortable. I look pregnant. Starting to get heartburn at night from eating too late and having too full of an abdomen. Starting to have insomnia for the first time in years. How do people live like this?

I drink tons of water, eat plenty of whole grains and fruit, not overweight, limit caffeine and alcohol… RTO is the thing that changed and suddenly I am unhealthy.
I’m scared to take laxatives because after child bearing and menopause my sphincter is not reliable.

Helpful ideas please?

Drink kefir throughout the day. I dilute mine with water, and sometimes also use dried mint leaves, or roasted ground fennel seeds to flavor it. It will make you regular in a couple of days.

Also, goes without saying - use squatty potty.

[Anonymous]

Try a stool softener not a laxative. It doesn’t make you have to go urgently. But softens things up so it’s not compacted and helps create the desire to go.

I always have to take colace when I travel because my system also grinds to a halt when my days are long and I’m in a new environment.

I’m only back in an office 2 days per week and I definitely get backed up those days so I can emphasize. By day 5 you must be so uncomfortable. But the people making these decisions can take a dump on a gold throne if they want so they don’t really care about anyone else’s health.

[Anonymous]

I have started eating two tablespoons of chia seeds, incorporated in some way, each day. I have noticed a huge difference in my regularity and no more constipation.

[Anonymous]

You mention fruit, but not vegetables. I’d start there if you’re not eating many. For some reason red bell peppers work for me. Also: cucumbers and broccoli.

[Anonymous]

Take two kiwifruit a day until it resolves.

[Anonymous]

This worked for me - two kiwifruit.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/try-this-natural-remedy-to-stay-regular

[Anonymous]

If this is an issue that started directly as a result of RTO, then it’s not physiological but psychological (unless your diet is very different as a result of RTO). So upping vegetables and such probably isn’t going to help if you have some sort of a block. I would try to change the timing, either before or after work. You can train your body to time BMs much like other habits.

[Anonymous]

Upping vegetables is going to make it worse. You don't end a traffic jam by putting more cars on the highway.

[Anonymous]

For the sake of your coworkers, please do not use an enema at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can train your body to go at a certain time. I never got to WFH. And like my work bathroom better than home (no kids and few women so it's very private). I get in right before 9 and have a bowel movement at work. It's great for the day. Took me a while to get there but it's the best. Weekends are so much more annoying as my body is now trained to go at the same time.

+1
My entire family is trained to go in the morning as soon as we sit on the toilet. No one goes to work or school with a belly full of poop. You get up, go to the bathroom, use the squatty potty or a small stool, scroll the news, poop. It should not take more than 5 minutes to completely empty out your bowel.

We eat a lot of veggies, so we also poop in the evening. 2 or 3 daily, effortless bowel movements the best indication of good gut health.

"A belly full of poop?" What a disgusting phrase.

[Anonymous]

Fiber gummies, miralax...

[Anonymous]

Me too! I finally had a crisis a month ago and went out and bought a lot of stuff to help clear things out. I've finally settled on a routine of 1 cap miralax, 1 magnesium every other night.

[Anonymous]

Like others said if you do try something it should be mrialax a stool softener not a laxative. That would likely be a good place to start to get yourself regular again and then you can likely stop it. I’m so sorry. The change in schedule and commuting has been rough. I was in the office but with the increased traffic and now 5 days a week it’s a lot.