wondering... how many of you have been or are daily miralax users??? can we POLL

[lori]

on my journey, now onto the low oxoalte diet to help the IC ( but is helping my fatigue, joints ... a whole lot) I am at a dilema---- have had unrelentling IBS-c for almost hwole life. been on a miralax- MOM combo for about 12 years- as far as ibs goes i do great as long as I stick to the cocktail.

BUT wouldnt ya know... low ox " experts" say that miralax cuases one to make oxalates ...

i already do full dose MOM and take mag citrate with cal citrate before meals ( for the oxalate reason)...

doctors flip out on stimulants- its already a fact i dont go with out the meds anyhow...now waht?

been thinking for  awhile about the real safety of miralac adn wondering how many of us autoimmune friends have used this and /use it now... just a thought

can we do a poll?

[Skylar]

I have no need for miralax - not since I changed my diet.

I now eat lots of whole fruits and veggies - so I get plenty of fiber and my digestive tract thanks me daily

LOL. This might be TMI - but my poop now is mostly light and fluffy, comes out clean - barely anything to wipe and I don't waste any time on the toilet - no more reading on the loo. No more huge swings from constipation to diarrhea. I never knew poop could be like this since I've had Irritable Bowel since I was a little kid.

[quietdynamics]

The GI I see and Dx'd IBS, Rx'd Dicyclomine and Metamucil (daily)and increase water.
I questioned the Metamucil, I already eat a lot of salad, veg, fruit. I do not eat breads. I am not gluten intolerant...just prefer to fill up on other foods.  He explained the metamcuil helps with diarrhea and constipation.

The IBS is one of the first symptoms of inflammation---> flare, for me. So I take heed and slow down. 

I grind my own flax...when I am not lazy.


Metamucil is a fiber supplement made from psyllium. It is designed to add bulk to the stool and so help waste travel smoothly through the digestive tract. It may be marketed as a bulk laxative because it adds bulk to the stool. Psyllium, the main ingredient in Metamucil, is a soluble plant fiber. If you are gluten intolerant then it is worth noting that the Metamucil powder and capsules are gluten-free, but Metamucil wafers contain gluten (one of the ingredients is wheat flour)

Generic brands will do the same.

[Skylar]

Skylar

I'm ENVIOUS

LOL, I had no idea that this is what a normal BM is supposed to look like, I never had a BM like this before I changed my diet and I had no idea food could be more effective than all the medication I've taken over the decades.

In my case though this was an extremely welcome side effect of changing my diet - I used to suffer from vasovagal syncope - which means that sometimes I pass out while trying to pass BM. It's not funny to fall on concrete floors, especially in random bathrooms - at home I would put pillows on the floor where I might fall. I'm lucky I never broke a tooth. Plus I don't miss the swings from impacted constipation to steatorrhea or that annoying diarrhea you get when you really want to leave for work.... I suspect many people here experience that annoying feature.

Have you tried ground flax seed - you'd have the bonus of improving your Omega 3/6 ratio while adding fiber.

[Winnie]

I use miralax and my schedule is 3 days on it then it works anywhere from 1-2 weeks before I use it again.  My magnesium levels are in normal range.

Skylar - I know you follow the McDougall diet. Do you eat any meat?

Winnie

[Sooki]

Miralax has the opposite effect on me - I picture it absorbing moisture in my intestines and sticking to the sides.  Lousy stuff   Flaxseed seems to do the same thing.  Psyllium, metamucil, fiber tablets ditto.  Moisture suckers all.

But I also don't need it with my new diet.  Without grains and sugars, things just move right along

[Carolina]

I eat raisin bran every day and that does it pretty well for me.

I think my neuropathy affects my systems, both bowel and urinary, so there is variability in how complicated everything can be.

I just try to be patient.

It's always something.

Hugs

Elaine

PS I have lots of bottles of a generic Miralax, but Miralax always seems to throw me over the edge to looseness problems.

And since I have some trouble with the controlling spinsters (neuropathy?) I really don't like that much.

[Reanne]

I used to take Miralax daily.  It helped.  I think what helped most was Plaquenil. I quit needing Miralax I think my stomach issues were autoimmune and the Plaquenil seemed to help and it helped immensely with pain.  Now that I'm off, the pain is returning. 

[wendyoh]

miralax  made me feel bad, forget what it was when tried 5 years ago, and agree with sooki about metamucil etc for me being moisture sucker
if i eat regular fruit smoothies etc really helps and also slippery elm herb lozenges or capsules really great natural remedy

[SjoGirl]

Those of you who mentioned diet, do you eat no grains at all or are you GF? Are you vegetarians?

I've changed my diet substantially, GF, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meat (am anemic so have to eat meat), enough (but not too much) water, nuts, rice, etc. Still though can't get my system to function smoothly and have to take a PPI. Happy that changes have worked for you!

[Winnie]

I have taken many things out of my diet, but I still have meat, GF grains and sugar in it.  I am still constipated.  I don't think I could live without sugar.

Winnie

[Lesley_x]

I am a weird sjoggie and have the opposite problem Imodium and codeine are my friends.

[Skylar]

Skylar - I know you follow the McDougall diet. Do you eat any meat?

Winnie

Winnie, I don't eat any meat although theoretically on this diet you could eat a small amount - more as a condiment with your meals, or you could eat it on special feast days like Thanksgiving. There are some similar diets such as Dr. Ornish that does have egg whites and a small amount of meat. I chose not to any any because first I have eaten more than a lifetime's worth of meat, second I can't stop eating it if I do eat it - I'll eat meat instead of veggies etc to the point where it's not healthy and third I get all the protein I need from non-animal sources (in fact you can get excess protein from both plant and animal sources) but from non-animal sources I get fiber, phyconutrients, etc. that you can't get in meat. I guess if I could eat a small amount and be happy with it in a meal then I might have tried that approach. Also when I started this diet I was really sick, could barely move or function so I wanted to do everything I could to see if this diet worked - so it made sense to do the strictest subset. The beauty of this is you only have to do it for two or three weeks to see real changes - and once you see more improvement than I've ever had with my Dr.s and medication - well I just continued to follow the diet and continued to improve. I've been eating like this now for I think 4.5 years and frankly I'm afraid to cheat because I don't want to be the invalid I was before or worse.

Those of you who mentioned diet, do you eat no grains at all or are you GF? Are you vegetarians?

SjoGirl I eat grains - things like rice and corn on a regular basis. I do have celiac's disease so I don't eat anything with gluten (wheat, barley etc.) Funny thing, when I started the McDougall diet I was eating whole wheat bread at least once a day for the first  month- and I was still seeing huge changes - but after reading through tons of information on his website I came across where he recommends for those who have a lot of health issues, to follow his slightly stricter program called Maximum Weight loss and to avoid all flour products at least until health issues go into remission - which basically removed almost all gluten from my diet since I didn't eat whole wheat berries. So clearly there was something else in my diet that was causing me problems, not just gluten - could be dairy, meat and/or oil. I started to eat more bread/wheat/pasta after I was feeling normal - and that's when a few things cropped back up - and finally got Dx with celiacs. Now I avoid all gluten, including hidden. I am vegetarian - as you see above I've chosen not to eat any meat. Dr. McDougall only allows a very tiny amount - 5% of your calories which isn't a lot. I eat a lot of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and rice with all kinds of veggies and fruit. I use a lot of spices and there are recipes for gravies and all kinds of foods that are familiar so my food isn't bland or boring. I rarely eat any commercial processed foods - I make almost all my food from scratch - and I don't eat any extracted oils and fats. Our bodies need fat - and fat is in all fruits and veggies so you get what you need in the food - if I want the taste of olives - I eat olives and not olive oil for example - I have found extracted oils are inflammatory. Anyhow there was a learning curve in how to cook and finding recipes that we love but now I don't even think about it. DH eats like this with me - he loves how light he feels - no more sludgy feeling after a meal - we have lots of energy.

Needless to say I am passionate about this diet because it gave me my life and health back - I'm not 100% normal I mean this isn't magic - but almost everything went into remission and what didn't is very mild.

[Tinker]

No miralax for me. 

Taking 2 stool softeners but it's become necessary to supplement that with senna plus once a week (it gives me stomach pain) so I don't use it as often as I should.

My diet is terrible.  Eating is hard cause I get full after a few bites. If I eat a regular plate of food, I get nauseous, so I only eat a little bit and come back later and eat a bit more.   We all have this it seems.   

[Sooki]

I am currently eating meat, fish, eggs, and nuts for protein, and lots of veggies and fruits.  No grains, refined sugars, vegetable oils, beans.  As much as possible, I buy meats from local farmers - the animals have grazed on good farms. I almost never buy processed food, except for nut butters and coconut oil.  My body is liking it.  It's not remission.  But my intestines are certainly happy for the first time in my life.  My joints like it.