Slightly embarrassing Fybogel question

shandyclover

If you have an asian or ethnic shop close by you can sometimes buy physllium husks there, generally cheaper than health food stores - this is what the packet looks like...

http://www.itadka.com/control/product/~category_id=hb_ayurvedic/~product_id=ISA-0001/~product_name=Isabgool%20Telephone%20100g

nonnatus

Hmmm,

There are different ways of tackling the problem really, depending what the problem actually is.

Things like Fybogel are stool "Bulkers" and are designed to scoop quickly through your system, pile up safely and softly in bulk in your colon, producing the feeling that you need to have an empty out. High fibre foods are just as effective - prunes, dates, beans etc - and probably taste a lot better...

Things like lactulose and shop bought laxatives are stool "softeners". They work by drawing fluid INTO the already hard and compacted poo that has been stuck where it is for a few days. The fluid is drawn from surrounding tissues and by making it all soft, the effect is to make you want to "go".

So it depends how long you've been constipated and the reasons why. I'd definitely have a chat with GP if this is an ongoing thing...

Kathy535

I've been massively constipated for a couple of years now, Not nice but there you go. I haven't wanted to use laxatives even when prescribed by the GP although they do work (not fybogel though, that doesn't work especially well). Anyhow, my mother (no medical training but an addiction to google) suggested linseeds. I now eat 2 teaspoons a day and it works! No longer does my DH hog the toilet, I'm in there before him! Grinding them up is a good idea, I have to eat them in half tsps otherwise it gets a bit difficult to chew and swallow and looks like your teeth are decaying from where they are stuck in between. Good luck.