OMG Constipation

I'm not used to this as I get diarrhea everyday, but I've been on this carafate suspension for ulcers for a little over a week now and I can't go to the bathroom worth a damn. I get a pill sized nugget once a day with wicked straining, and I have pain on my left side, front right, and my stomach feels like is has all kinds of pressure on it. I haven't eaten yet today so I'm definitely not full! I left a message with the GI, but this is killing me. I don't know what to do about it. I don't want to do a prep to get it all out, but I guess I might have to? ugh.:yfrown:

I get backed up when I take certain meds too, even though I also usually tend to have diarrhea. It's not fun, I feel for you! I take stool softeners and those work pretty well for me. They're gentler on the system than laxatives (I tend to just get cramping and watery d if I take laxatives). When I get constipated, I take 2 stool softeners every 12 hours until things start moving again. It sounds like you need to go pretty urgently though, so you're right to call your doctor. I hope you don't have to do prep, but I do hope you find a workable solution. Feel better soon!

The nurse practitioner called me back and kind of blew it off telling me to wait it out until my colonoscopy at the end of the month. She did say I could take miralax if I wanted which will probably happen tonight. I imagine that'll move stuff along. I've never had miralax before.

lactulose!! I get constipated all the time and I've tried lots of different laxatives but lactulose is natural (osmotic) and tastes ok and is VERY effective.

NB don't take 9 teaspoons in one go because you'll get very bad diarrhoea... or take it but stay in the house until you stop going!

Thanks Hannah! I don't plan on going anywhere tonight once I get home from work

Lol that's good. I'd say if it's been a day or two since you've been, try maybe 6 teaspoons full of it. But not 9. You'll be very ill after 9..... I nearly pooped myself at the garden centre :shifty:

Laxative fail.

Hannah, I didn't find the lactulose so I went with the miralax. This is the first time I've ever taken it and wow, it's the best laxative I've ever had to drink before. Granted, it was two capfuls instead of the ~15 that have to be taken for colonoscopy prep, but I can already see it'll be way easier than the magnesium citrate prep I did once.

Cross your fingers this all goes tonight!!

Hey Carrie, I love the title of this thread lol

Sometimes I get crazy backed up to, with just little poops and pain all over :S Are you on any new meds, or taking any new supplements? I take senokot, when I get C.. It's both a laxative, AND a stool softener.

Good luck with the pooping! Don't strain too hard!

Hi Ben! I'm pretty sure its the carafate that's doing it. Like 99.9% sure. It just hurts, lol! I have two masses that I can feel. My body started gurgling again about an hour after I took the miralax. It took me a few days to notice the silence, but their familiar sound is back. hopefully I'll poop soon

I tried to go to sleep, but my body is being too loud with the gurgling! :soledance: It's like a party in there that I wasn't invited to. Not too many of the partygoers have decided to vacate the premises, but we did have a few take their leave. :shifty-t:

Make sure and drink lots, and lots, It might help the party goers evacuate the premises!! :ylol:

I get awful constipation with my Tramadol. I'm the same way as you Carrie, normally its D all the way! What I do to help it is take stool softeners, specifically doculose. I take the max dose with a big glass of water, because the way it works is it adds more water to the stool (so it needs some liquid to do that ).

Miralax is good too! Its stronger that the stool softeners that I take, but it is very effective.

Constpation can be so annoying! I would rather have D just because I don't have to worry about being blocked up.

I'm surprised I don't get more constipation with the tramadol! I guess my body is just used to it or something. Things have started moving, but darn its slow. I hope I don't need to take more tonight. That's what I need... to stink up the bathroom on a 5 hour flight! (tomorrow)

I've been taking Tramadol regularly for almost a year now, and it still stops me up! One thing I'm going to bring up to my doctor is seeing if I can get a new pain med that works maybe a little better (it doesn't get all the pain anymore, too severe) and that doesn't cause the constipation. It makes for a rollercoaster of BM types!

My doctor won't give me anything else for the pain. All the tramadol does is blunt things. They might want to try you on an anti-depressant since that's usually the next move after tramadol if not opiates. -- I just looked at your meds again and saw you're already on an anti-depressant. I'm not sure what else there is. muscle relaxants?

I just got a coffee frappucino at $B. I never have coffee because it helps things move along, but I think today its ok!

Caffiene is one of my trigger foods too...I actually drink a cup of hot coffee in the morning on an empty stomach sometimes to get things moving! I'm also allergic to caffiene to begin with. LOVE Starbucks though...sooo good.

Yeah I have been on antidepressants for awhile, first amitryptiline, then nor. the nor helped the pain at first, but not anymore..my GI didn't even refill it during my last appointment, so I'm off of it starting Saturday...still don't know how it will effect things. Most GI's/Doctors wont prescribe pain meds; my GI said no more tramadol at first, then after a few months of seeing my issues and symptoms he represcribed it. I have seen a lot of crohn's patients on higher meds, like perocet and codiene. I have been on both in the past, and percocet did really well with my system. I'm just waiting for my pill cam results, and if I'm finally diagnosed, I will be asking my GI from a new perspective...they are likely to help you out when they know exactly whats going on! Of course, once this is all under control, pain meds wont be needed as much.

I get my tramadol from my rheumy. I used to get it from my GP, but my rheumy upped the dosage. She just prescribed me a muscle relaxant last month, but it doesn't seem to work real well for me. It's a medicine I'm not familiar with, I used to use flexeril but this is something new I guess.

Hey Carrie, how are you feeling now? Did you manage to evacuate the premises? I think all the laxatives being referred to are American Brand names but I hope you found something that works for you - we have Laxido in the UK and that's a goodun too, encourages water into the bowel and mixes to clear water and tastes like yummy orange. Mmmm

Hannah: MMMM miralax I'm drinking more now. I had a few small bms since I drank it yesterday, but things just aren't moving enough. hopefully this double dose I'm drinking now will do the trick!
the miralax doens't have any flavor, but it makes the drink slimy. I have it in an orange sobe drink right now.

crazytimes are now occurring. too bad I'm at work! :stinks:

Hahaha see I knew that would happen! I hope it's not as bad as me at the garden centre - enjoy the relief!

Pooped yet?

yeah although it's not done and now my butt burns!! (unsurprising but still stinks ) I can't wait to go home.

Hahah, feels good though doesn't it? Get some sudecreme on it.

I have A&D ointment at home, I can't wait to put it on, haha!

when i would not be able to go to the bathroom i would use

when i would not be able to go to the bathroom i would use metamucil fiber waffers it worked for me when i used them i would have to use them like after surgery and before i started really getting sick 2 months ago i have them still just in caue i need them

Carrie, I always carry butt cream with me! I prefer Calmoseptine, lovely stuff. I have it at home, in my purse, and in my gym bag. Glad to hear you're going again but it sounds like you're going too much now. It seems like we always have to deal with the extreme ends of the spectrum - why can't our meds work just perfectly so that we can have nice normal poos? Not fair.

Orange Sobe...I'm sorry if this sounds silly (I've been out of the US for a year now) but is that carbonated? I tried adding miralax to a coke the first time I tried it...BAD IDEA! lol you can't taste it or feel it at all in gatorade or fruit juices. You were brave with that double dose!

Leah, fiber can be a good way to clean you out, but if it is crohns those fiber wafers can actually do more harm that good! Fiber usually makes pain worse with crohns. I've also seen people get blocked up with taking metamucil and other fiber supplements because without enough liquid in your intestines it can turn to a cement like substance and cause a blockage! So you have to be careful with that stuff. If I think fiber will help (which it doesn't in my case, it just makes my stomach hurt a lot) I would try something with fiber in it naturally instead of a supplement.


I'm glad you are starting to feel better Carrie!

Cat-a-Tonic said:

Carrie, I always carry butt cream with me! I prefer Calmoseptine, lovely stuff. I have it at home, in my purse, and in my gym bag. Glad to hear you're going again but it sounds like you're going too much now. It seems like we always have to deal with the extreme ends of the spectrum - why can't our meds work just perfectly so that we can have nice normal poos? Not fair.

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That is so true! I go through the rollercoaster as well.. 8-12 watery D as a symptom, nothing for days because of tramadol, then 8 - 12 watery D because of stool softener and water/symptom. Insane!

The thing I really hate is when my Dr. when I was hospitalized told me the tramadol's constipation effects were causing my symptoms. No...I actually like not having the D for 8 hours or so.

well, it stopped again! I still gurgle so it's moving along.

Cat, I'm leaving on a business trip tomorrow, and I just realized my A&D is a huge tube! I guess I'm going to the drugstore tonight. It would be nice to have a normal poo, but at least I'm familiar with the current state of things.

Allie, orange sobe is one of those flavored water things, not fizzy. Talk about brave, I wouldn't have tried to put it in coke I feel fairly confident that I won't be constipated by tomorrow, yay!

That's great! Yeah, it wasn't the smartest move of mine, I'll admit it. Sometimes lessons have to be learned the hard way I guess! ha ha

I want some of this miraculous butt cream you're talking about... Does it just stop the burning, or does it stop the throbbing, crawly feeling?

allieinwonder said:

Orange Sobe...I'm sorry if this sounds silly (I've been out of the US for a year now) but is that carbonated? I tried adding miralax to a coke the first time I tried it...BAD IDEA! lol you can't taste it or feel it at all in gatorade or fruit juices. You were brave with that double dose!

Leah, fiber can be a good way to clean you out, but if it is crohns those fiber wafers can actually do more harm that good! Fiber usually makes pain worse with crohns. I've also seen people get blocked up with taking metamucil and other fiber supplements because without enough liquid in your intestines it can turn to a cement like substance and cause a blockage! So you have to be careful with that stuff. If I think fiber will help (which it doesn't in my case, it just makes my stomach hurt a lot) I would try something with fiber in it naturally instead of a supplement.


I'm glad you are starting to feel better Carrie!

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it does make my stomach hurt worse and i think i told the GI doctor about it and he told me to never take it again

I went to Walgreens but couldn't find the calmoseptine. I bought anti-monkey butt diaper rash cream. It has calamine lotion in it. The scent is much more mild than A&D. I'm going to look for the calmoseptine next time I'm in a drugstore. I bought a sitz bath when I was there, came home, and sat in it for a while. That was pleasant. I may do that again later.

mayhavecrohn's said:

it does make my stomach hurt worse and i think i told the GI doctor about it and he told me to never take it again

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Yeah thats probably a good idea. If it was IBS it would be fine (I used benefiber like a mad woman when I thought it was IBS...never really helped though..) because fiber helps regulate their bowels and get things on a set schedule. I've found that if I want to have some fiber in my diet (very little, it hurts too much!) I eat nutrigrain bars, corn chips, stuff like that. Fresh fruit and veggies are awful triggers for me too because of the fiber content.

Carrie, I'm glad you found something to help. Oh the joys of the rollercoaster digestive system...

Whee! I'm crossing my fingers that the last of the resultant D has left my system. It's really quite nice to not have hard rocks in my bowels anymore.

It does feel better that way, doesn't it? I've always wondered why...I'm guessing them being empty doesn't irritate whats wrong as much? Or course D is so acidic it should hurt more. Confusing lol. But I agree, D might suck but it always feels better afterwards than being constipated.

Our intestines are generally ready to handle the acidic D, plus I think they're lacking a lot of nerve endings inside that would make them feel more pain. And our skin is definitely not ready to handle the acidic D so it hurts like mad!

You guys always seem to be having the same problems as me. It's nice, in a way, but it also sucks cuz I know what you're going through and it's baaaaad. Glad you got some relief with the miralax. I'm picking some up today and chugging that shit. I haven't had a proper bm in almost 5 days. I haven't eaten anything since Wednesday night, but I'm not hungry cuz I'm sooo nauseated. I'm pretty sure it's my new painkillers blocking me up (codeine) so I didn't take any yesterday. When I woke up I was still feeling super sick so I tried an enema, but the bottle was screwed. So then I drank some coffee. That kind of worked, but I know I didn't pass 4 days worth of poop. I still feel sick and bloated and my stomach hurts, so I know there's more in there. Hence the miralax. God I hate being constipated. I hate diarrhea too, but constipation scares me so much more. Since I have a really long, twisted sctricture, they told me to be really careful with constipation (obstruction) so it scares me pretty bad. If the miralax doesn't work, I'll try another enema. If that doesn't work, I guess I'm heading back to the hospital. I rarely get this nauseated, and I've been taking zofran regularly, so it must be pretty bad. I hate this disease more than anything, I swear to god.

Carrie, my local Walgreens usually keeps the Calmoseptine behind the pharmacy counter. I've always had to ask the pharmacist for it. I don't know why that is. But anyway, if you're looking for it you'll probably have to ask and it'll probably be behind the counter. I've never tried anti-monkey-butt cream but the name intrigues me! Is it any good?

Samantha, sorry to hear you're going through the same thing. I hope the miralax works and I certainly hope you can avoid the hospital!

it helps. It has calamine lotion in it which seems to calm things down nicely. It smells a bit like baby powder, and I really need to have a pad on because it's messy!

I hope you feel better, Samantha!

Ew, I hate creams that require wearing a pad. For awhile when I had a bad hemorrhoid, I would put vitamin E gel on it to try to heal it (you literally take a vitamin E capsule, puncture one end with a pin, and squeeze the contents right onto the hemmie - it seemed to help a little). That was soooo messy though and I had to wear a pad day and night when I had the vitamin E on my hemmie. Calmoseptine isn't messy like that, it's a pretty thick cream and I've never had to wear a pad with it.

oh good! I'll have to go back out to the store later and get some!

Samantha, I'm sorry you are feeling bad too! I completely agree with you, I hate constipation compared to the many times of D a day. I go through what you are going through with my pain meds, so I understand. When I get like that I just try my best to get a good BM out each day to try and get things cleared out again. Lately I haven't had to worry about it, my flare has gotten so bad that I have D through the pain meds. The miralax should really help! I would try one dose, maybe 1.5...but 2 might be too much. Years ago when this stuff started with me constipation was my biggest issue (on top of the ab pain) and I took one dose of miralax and...poof! I had 6 solid BM's in one day. I was shocked! I really hope it clears you out and takes away your worries!

I talked to my GI about the constipation, and he said to try the miralax. Unfortunately, when I went to the drugstore, they didn't have the right kind, and the one they did have was more of a stool softener (which I don't need) and did nothing to stimulate the bowel (which I do need.) So I ended up getting senna tablets. I'm a little worried about them, because it says not to take them if you have crohns. But I looked it up a little on here and the rest of the internet, and senna tablets are actually used as bowel prep before a colonoscopy in crohns pateints. So I'm not so worried anymore. I'm passing more gas than before, and I can hear/feel the rumblings, so hopefully this works. I'm already feeling a little better, but it says it takes anywhere from 3 to 12 hours to take effect. I'm hoping for 3 haha. I really can not stand being constipated. Now that I know about this stricture, I get so paranoid after like, 2 days of not going. It's a neverending battle with this stuff! My stomach and joints kill me, so I take some painkillers. The painkillers constipate me like crazy for the first few days, which causes more pain. So I stop the painkillers. Still, I don't poop. And it starts to hurt more. So I take more painkillers, as well as more laxatives. I need to find a good balance to keep me as regular as possible.
My GI put me on a liquid-only diet for today, or until I start pooping. I haven't eaten in two days now. I'm hungry
But I bought some gatorade to keep me full and hydrated. Still, it's no sandwhich.

I have the same crazy cycle! I hate it. I can never seem to find a right balance either, except for limiting myself to one 8-hour painkiller a day, or enough to where part of the day my body can catch up, and the other half its slowed down. I can't stay on my painkillers non-stop, thats for sure.

Miralax is a stool softener in that sense. In my experience it works better than most other stool softeners though. My pain killers dry me up, so I get constipated since its too dry to move through the intestines fast enough. So to get things moving again I take miralax or a store brand stool softener with a bunch of water, and it rehydrates everything and gets it moving. I made the mistake the other day of taking the max dose of stool softeners with an entire bottle of water on an empty stomach...I ended up puking for an hour, then awful D for another 2! There's that balance issue again...

Sorry about the liquid diet! I hope you feel empty enough soon to where you can eat that sandwich.

8 hours later.. Still no poop.
Any other suggestions? I'm getting pretty desperate/hungry.

Yikes, I hate that fear of strictures as well, I have endometriosis tieing up my bowels in nots. 8 hrs is a long time to wait if your freakin' out about whether you have a blockage. I hope it works soon but if it doesn't please get some help just in case! I work at the ER and I have seen some bad partial and full blockages, don't wait to long.

I went to the er after another night of no pooping. I went to the closest hospital possible, which happens to be a terrible one. They misdiagnosed me numerous times and are just all around awful. I was in and out within an hour with a jug of colyte
So it's a bowel prep day for me, with no lovely colonoscopy to look forward to after. But I am going to be welcoming the diarrhea back with open arms and a fistful of baby wipes. Ironically, I had a very small bowel movement when I got home, prior to starting the prep. But I decided to do it anyways. It will feel soooo good to be fully cleaned out and empty after so long.

P.S have I told you guys how much I HATE the taste of colyte? I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm talking about. But right now, it's so completely worth it.

OMG! That's awful! With your history with that hospital, I wouldn't go again. I mean, I'm really glad it cleaned you out, but the miralax should have done that! That doesn't seem right at all.

I'm glad that you are feeling better though!

I hope the prep helped! are you feeling any better?

The prep got things moving after about 4 glasses. But it's stopped now. I'm thinking of drinking some more tomorrow if my bowels don't start moving on their own. I'm passing alot of gas and mucus, but no actual stool. Still feeling very pukey, very stiff and painful joints, alot of stomach pain.. uuuggghhh

That doesn't sound good at all.

sweetie, if your that tied up, I hope you find another hospital/ER to go to. Even if you need to drive. I live in this supper rural area and the local hospital isn't the greatest. Its about 2 hours to the nearest "better" hospital. I have seen Bowel obsturctions and they are UNCOOL.

The doctor at th ER I went to said I did not have any type of obstruction. There was no real testing done, just bloodwork (which hadn't come back yet) and a urine sample (which hadn't come back yet.)
He did a rectal exam, and said there was no stool that could be felt, so it must be too high up. He said an enema wouldn't help, and all that could e done is the bowel prep. It did work, but now I'm not going again. I know it's because of my painkillers, but if I don't take them, the pain is unbearable. And it would take a good two days with no painkillers to get things moving again. I think I'll pick up some miralax today and try that. It's the same stuff as colyte, PEG, so it should work relatively well. Hopefully in a few days I won't need painkillers. Today I get my first remicade infusion.
If I don't start feeling good soon, I know I'll have to be admitted again to figure out all these ridiculous symptoms. I feel like something isn't right in there.

Try switching to the miralax and take two capfuls til you start to go then 1 capful a day until you're "regular" again.

Carafate clogs me up badly as well. With my Crohn’s, I usually have bad diarrhea even on good days. Unfortunately the other meds I’m on for the Crohn’s clog me up as well. Then add in my heart meds and darned if they aren’t contributing to the log jam. In a flare too, so toss in my daily handful of Prednisone so my gut’s sulking.

It has been 2 weeks since I passed anything and I suspect pretty soon it’s going to start coming out of my eyes. So I took a bottle of Fletcher’s Laxative for Children last night (natural senna laxative which usually helps.) Thus far we have a no go on launch.
I’ve called the gastro office – big help there – I’ll have to wait till my regularly scheduled appointment around the end of September.

I was relieved to find this thread and will send the husband person out for some stool softeners, Miralax and, if all else fails, a stick of dynamite. OK, the dynamite is a joke, but here’s a question. There is a new place in town which does enemas (!!!!??????) I don’t like those at all but right now I’m considering anything. Has anyone gone to a place like that to get things going normally again? Well, whatever it is that passes for normal for our guts, that is.

Dx Crohn’s, IBS, fistulas, severe acute pancreatitis, epigastritis, gastritis, blah blah blah and a Partridge in a Pear Tree in 2006, TOLD I had Crohn’s July 2011. (spent all of December in hospital)

Hx Crohn’s and other gut amusements, MVD, rheumatic fever, scarlet fever, measles, mumps, chicken pox, pancreatitis, lots of strep, osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and on and on and on. Daaaaaaaaaahlings, just too too boring!

Slicings and dicings: Gall bladder removal, tubal ligation, repair torn rotator cuff, Fobi Gastric Bypass (HUGE mistake for me, if no one else and the start of immune system problems), breast reduction (whoo hoo instant 24 pound loss).

Meds: (as of right now – they get changed weekly trying to find some way to help Crohn’s without stopping the heart) Asacol, 1,600 TID, Tramadol 50 mg QID, Atenelol 25 mg daily, Isosorb Mono 30 mg daily, Buspirone 5 mg TID (anxiety – can’t imagine why), Simvastatin, 20 mg (synergistic effect with the next med, so low dosage despite high naughty cholesterol), Ranexa, 1,500 mg daily in 3 doses, Nitrostat PRN angina, Carafate1gm TID (ugh), famotidine 20 mg BID, Nexium 40 mg TID, Low dose baby aspirin, Prednisone 30 mg TID, Ambien CR nightly (can’t sleep, wonder why), Phenergan oral or suppository prn puking (whichever end will tolerate it, lol), Dexilant ordered but insurance bean counters won’t allow. I think that’s it.

I haven't taken the Carafate in a few days - heck of a flare along with constipation to the point I'd even welcome the apres poo gut spasm pain. Haven't noticed that is does anything - does it or is it just another pill to throw at me, hoping something will work?

I've considered an enema before, also a colonic. I don't recommend the colonic though as I've heard it's bad news for someone with IBD.
For my colonoscopy prep I took an entire 14dose bottle of miralax (the small bottle). Honest truth, I don't think it didn't anything that two doses didn't do when I was constipated. I recommend taking a double dose of miralax, if it doesn't help take another one in 12 hours or 24 hours depending on how you feel. They're not worried that you're obstructed?

edit:
I stop taking the carafate sometimes too, and my constipation goes away so I know its being caused by that. I think stopping it until you're cleared out is a good idea (not a dr obviously, just a fellow sufferer!)

It's crazy because I have been obstructed and partially obstructed too many times before, so one would think it would be a concern. But that's just the logical side of me (retired math slinger). My belly has swollen 4" larger, tight and painful but I'm fat (still, sigh, despite losing 50 pounds in the past 4 months thanks to Crohn's), so the docs seem to only see fat, not pain or swelling. Argh. I had a Fobi gastric bypass in 2002 (DUMBEST thing I ever did) and every obstruction shows up in the same place - r74ght where the 125 cm bypass was reattached. I don't even try to suggest anything to the doctors that there might be a weeeeee problem with the surgery. What would an old math teacher know?

The internist is more concerned over the heart problems and I've tried telling him the freaking PAIN right now concerns me more than the heart but he countered with the old "pain meds will lower your bp and heart rate and yours are already dangerously low" line. Such a bummer.

Not wild for the gastro doc I was allowed. Just not a patient/doctor "style" fit, KWIM? He is a fast in, don't tell the stupid patient anything, don't speak to the patient, just the nurse and escape as fast as possible sort. Also the one who diagnosed me with Crohn's but didn't bother getting around to telling me till July this year, lol. Sooo wish I could go to my vet.

Thinking I'll use a little Fleet's enema and hope for the best. It isn't going to be terribly fun when all that nice saline mess hits the open thingies in the gut down there, but when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

Such fun. I love this group and all on it. There is such a relief actually knowing there are others out there going through the same (and worse) problems.

I have an emergency enema kit at my house just in case I need it. My husband tells me all the time that if I need one he will do it for me...kind of sweet, huh?

Two weeks is a long time! I know Tramadol can cause constipation pretty badly though. If you start throwing up I would go to the ER!

i was backed up for a while. miralax didn't work for me. i was using suppositories and those worked well. but i think when you are backed up-it's important to lay off the solid foods for a while because those foods may back you up. i recently has surgey-i spent a lot of time in the hospital. for a while i was having a lot of pain on my lower right quadrant of my stomach. they didn't know what it was until they decided to take an x-ray. the x-ray showed i was really backed up. so they put me on clears, Ensures and Pediasures. it helped a lot. i am also on a pill formed stool softener called senna. my constipation has cleared up a lot. i think it's important to lay off of the solid foods for a while when you are constipated.

I've had a full obstruction, and it's nothing I want to do again. I've never had any bad D, and I go to the bathroom once every two weeks. I use the Fleets, and they help A LOT! It cleared my obstruction up

My remedies for this is Magnesium supplements-will help you go but not like a laxative. Also I know this sounds nuts but canned pumpkin every day will make you regular without any unpleasant side effects. Eat about a half a cup, season it with pumpkin pie spice and a little cinnamon,and it tastes like pumpkin pie! Within two days things willbe regular, no pun intended lol!