The queen is on her soap box!

September 12, 2002

Dea Ann, have you found anything that is really helpful for your

constipation? I've tried all sorts of things, but not one really good one

that works consistantly. I think I now have an inguinal hernia (I'll find

out Monday) from straining....yuck....ouch....any input?

Thanks, Donna M.

Yes, Donna I have. Thanks for asking and giving me the opportunity to climb

on the soap box.

The docs (WLS, PCP and gastroenterologist) all recommended fiber laxatives

in a variety of forms. I found that fiber just made things bigger in

diameter. Maybe in length too, but it was the diameter that was causing

tearing and bleeding. I went through a long and winding road to find my

solution though. You all don't want to hear don't want to hear what

gastroenterologists do all day. When you hit the second half of your life

some doctor will send you to see one for your own good. Finding out about

it then is plenty early enough. Having said that, I've reconsidered. If

you have had a sudden change in bowel practices, tell a doc. Go see the

gastro and let them have a look. If they can't find anything, try my

solution. I did let them do all their poking and prodding before taking

charge. There is a lot of cancer in my family including bowel cancer. Even

when I can keep things moving, I get colonoscopies every 5 years and

mammograms every year and that started at 40.

I use a holistic practitioner too. She gave me some 90 mg tablets of

magnesium and told me to start with 4. The next day take 5. The day after

that, take 6. Keep increasing by a tablet a day until I got a normal

consistency. Remember, constipation is about consistency not frequency.

Eventually I got up to 11 of her tablets a day and went looking for more

potent tablets. Rite Aid carries a line of magnesium that packages it as

500 mg capsules. I now take 12 capsules a day. That is 6 grams or 6000 mg

of magnesium a day. There is some magnesium in my multi also, so I'm not

positive exactly how much magnesium I'm supplementing, but I know it is a

lot. I suspect that just as I'm malabsorbing iron and other nutrients that

I malabsorb magnesium. I also believe that it is evidenced by the

Parathyroid Hormone test. Mine had gotten to 92 (normal is 10-65) at my

worst constipation. I had other new and exciting symptoms like hives also.

All of a sudden it appeared that I was allergic to my leather sofa. After I

started with the high doses of magnesium, the hives went away and I stopped

having impactions. My parathyroid hormone also went down to 50.

Here is my theory. (BIG CAPITAL LETTERS TO DENOTE IMPORTANCE, NOT YELLING.

DEA ANN IS AN ACCOUNTANT NOT A DOCTOR OR A RESEARCHER OR A CHEMIST!

SUBSCRIBE TO THIS THEORY AT YOUR OWN RISK!) Magnesium is just like calcium.

The blood tests show what is floating around in the blood stream at the

minute they stick the needle in. The parathyroid gland's job is to maintain

a perfect level of these minerals in the bloodstream because they cause

muscles to work right. Some muscles are more important than others and they

just can't wait for lunch time for the silly brain to go find a hand full of

almonds when it needs some magnesium. For example, if the mineral mix isn't

just right, the heart muscle operates erratically and you die. So the

parathyroid will put out some hormone if the blood level of it's favorite

minerals get low. It puts out less if the blood level is high. Now the

body uses the hormone to tell it to get some mineral or to purge some

mineral. Because these minerals are so important to important muscles, the

body keeps a big storeroom of them so that there is plenty on hand. Guess

where? The skeleton is the mineral storeroom. Bones are made up of

magnesium and calcium and a few other minerals in precise measures. I'm

thinking that for some reason, I wasn't absorbing enough magnesium to keep

muscles beating and moving, so the parathyroid went and got some from the

skeleton. When you pull out magnesium, some calcium has to go too, because

they go into the bone together. I think that excess calcium leaving the

body would feel like a brick in the colon. If there is a shortage of

magnesium, the body would also kept it out of other less important muscles

like the colon, so there is plenty for the heart. The colon won't move

things along, but it will keep on sucking out the moisture. I live in a

desert and it needs every drop of water it can find. I drink 3-4 quarts of

water a day, plus a quart of herbal tea. After, I get the gallon of water

in, I'll have a little crystal lite lemonade with a shot of strawberry SF

syrup in a stem glass in the evening while the normies are drinking

martinis.

Anyway, if you are concerned about skeleton, I believe that in addition to

watching your dexascans that will tell you what has happened over time, you

need to watch your Parathyroid Hormone (PTH). It will tell you what is

happening today. Baring tumors and other malfunctions, PTH levels go up,

you need minerals (magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, etc.). PTH goes down

your minerals are ok.

Wishing you all peaceful trips to the little room,

Dea Ann,

The queen of constipation

September 12, 2002

In a message dated 9/12/02 10:55:20 AM Central Daylight Time,

farley@... writes:

Dea Ann, have you found anything that is really helpful for your

constipation? I've tried all sorts of things, but not one really good one

that works consistantly. I think I now have an inguinal hernia (I'll find

out Monday) from straining....yuck....ouch....any input?

Thanks, Donna M.

---------------------------------------

Has anyone tried Metamucil or Citrucel? Do they work?

Carol A

September 12, 2002

I use 1000 mg. flax seed oil caps, 4 times a day. Works like a charm

for me and the flax seed oil is good for me- right kind of oils or

some such thing.

Alice

The Loon

RNY 12/28/00

> In a message dated 9/12/02 10:55:20 AM Central Daylight Time,

> farley@n... writes:

>

> Dea Ann, have you found anything that is really helpful for your

> constipation? I've tried all sorts of things, but not one really

good one

> that works consistantly. I think I now have an inguinal hernia

(I'll find

> out Monday) from straining....yuck....ouch....any input?

>

> Thanks, Donna M.

> ---------------------------------------

>

> Has anyone tried Metamucil or Citrucel? Do they work?

>

> Carol A

September 16, 2002

I've tried them and other fiber things like FiberCon, shredded wheat, other

cereals, flax seed. In my opinion, they just make things larger in

diameter. Possibly in length also, but it is the diameter that kills me.

Until she retired, my mom worked in nursing homes. The docs there were

always prescribing Metamucil. Mom said it was always followed by an

impaction. It was to the point where they hated to report constipation to a

doc. They had to do it because it was frequently a side effect of other

medications and it's an ethical thing for nurses. Cholesterol medication is

notorious for constipation. She says it never works, but the drug reps are

wonderful at selling it.

The only things that I've found that consistently work without causing other

damage are the glycerin suppositories to make it move through frequently and

magnesium to improve the consistency. Prior to surgery, a Caesar Salad or

Dieter's Tea would work for me. They don't even touch it now.

Dea Ann

Re: The queen is on her soap box!

In a message dated 9/12/02 10:55:20 AM Central Daylight Time,

farley@... writes:

Dea Ann, have you found anything that is really helpful for your

constipation? I've tried all sorts of things, but not one really good one

that works consistantly. I think I now have an inguinal hernia (I'll find

out Monday) from straining....yuck....ouch....any input?

Thanks, Donna M.

---------------------------------------

Has anyone tried Metamucil or Citrucel? Do they work?

Carol A

September 16, 2002