Slightly embarrassing Fybogel question

morganlefay

Despite eating a good diet with lots of fruit and veg, and drinking plenty of fluids I still get - ahem - constipated. The solution is a sachet of Fybogel twice a day, but it's not cheap and I don't want to get it on prescription, Can anyone suggest a cheaper alternative ? I used to get linseeds, whizz them in the coffee grinder and drink the powder in some juice, but I can't now remember what that was for - durrrr. Any ideas anyone ?

shandyclover

Branflakes?

They seem to work for me anyways. Also cutting down on tea and coffee.

Not sure about the linseeds, in India where I worked for awhile, they were a home remedy for the runs!

DUTR

morganlefay wrote: »

Despite eating a good diet with lots of fruit and veg, and drinking plenty of fluids I still get - ahem - constipated. The solution is a sachet of Fybogel twice a day, but it's not cheap and I don't want to get it on prescription, Can anyone suggest a cheaper alternative ? I used to get linseeds, whizz them in the coffee grinder and drink the powder in some juice, but I can't now remember what that was for - durrrr. Any ideas anyone ?

I would suggest not taking any laxative additives at all, and let your body get used to doing what it is supposed to do ...naturally.
Have you considered discussing the issue with your GP?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I got Lactulose off the doctor & it was pretty rubbish. I tried Tesco suppositories & they worked.

Sometimes constipation can be caused by medication or IBS. It might be an idea to speak to the doctor anyway.

Torry_Quine

DUTR wrote: »

I would suggest not taking any laxative additives at all, and let your body get used to doing what it is supposed to do ...naturally.
Have you considered discussing the issue with your GP?

I agree here. It's not a good idea to take laxatives long term unless under medical advice so a visit to your GP is a good idea.

MrsB33_2

I have a "slow digestive transit" too & have to drink lots of water and eat lots of high fibre foods. Fibogel has never worked for me & the texture is horrible - yuck, yuck, yuck. What helps me is coffee. I never used to drink it but since I've started having a couple of cups every morning, I'm a lot more "regular". Exercise also helps me.

I_wanna_live_for_free

Since I began having a glass of prune juice every morning I now no longer suffer with constipation. I admit that it does taste vile but I keep it chilled and knock it back in one.

I know when I've forgotten to have it :o

TeaForOne

Fybogel is ispaghula husk. You can buy sachets of generic ispaghula husk as a food supplement in pharmacies and health food shops - should be cheaper than Fybogel.

BlondeHeadOn

TeaForOne wrote: »

Fybogel is ispaghula husk. You can buy sachets of generic ispaghula husk as a food supplement in pharmacies and health food shops - should be cheaper than Fybogel.

You can buy it much cheaper on Amazon as well - Amazon seem to sell everything these days!

morganlefay

Never realised you could buy generic ispaghula husk, which I will now do - many thanks teaForOne and BlondeHeadOn. Fybogel isn't a laxative as such, but is just fibre really, which goes sort of jelly-like when swallowed with water - not like lactulose or senokot. I'd like to be able to do more exercise but have severe arthritis in knees and find even walking difficult, so a bit of extra fibre in addition to the vast amount of water I drink and all the nice leafy and fibrey veg I eat seems helpful. I just don't want to pay so much for Fybogel, and now I won't any more ! Thanks a lot

kikikirunna

morganlefay wrote: »

Never realised you could buy generic ispaghula husk, which I will now do - many thanks teaForOne and BlondeHeadOn. Fybogel isn't a laxative as such, but is just fibre really, which goes sort of jelly-like when swallowed with water - not like lactulose or senokot. I'd like to be able to do more exercise but have severe arthritis in knees and find even walking difficult, so a bit of extra fibre in addition to the vast amount of water I drink and all the nice leafy and fibrey veg I eat seems helpful. I just don't want to pay so much for Fybogel, and now I won't any more ! Thanks a lot

I take “unflavoured” Whole Psyllium Husks regularly. I hate the orange taste. I did not realise it is also called “Ispaghula” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyllium). I would suggest you search for “Psyllium Husks” for ground or powder versions.
Ebay search for Ispaghula = 26 results, search for Psyllium = 204 results.
I order mine from eBay (mainly), myprotein, iherb (USA) or healthspan (stop since the price increases).