Fiber and Gastrocolic Response
#193684 - 07/09/05 04:31 PM
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Hi All,
I was wondering if taking fiber ALONE (with no food) causes the gastrocolic response. (The gc response is when, upon eating, the colon responds with contractions.) I know that eating is supposed to cause this, but what about just a SFS? Does the GI tract respond the same way?
Karen
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Karen from Kansas
IBS-C for 8 years
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This happens to me when I take my SFS in the morning but not in the afternoon or evening. I'm not sure if it's because of the SFS itself or just because it's morning when my stomach's always been more active.
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The beautiful thing about soluble fiber is that it helps regulate the gastrocolic reflex, so it triggers it into stable, rhythmic, contractions. This is what you want for both diarrhea and constipation, as well as abdominal pain and bloating. All of those symptoms can be triggered by an abnormal gastrocolic reflex response (and those of us with IBS are prone to just that).
- H
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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I have been doing much better thanks to the info I have gotten from everyone. Especially Heathers advise on using the lomotil just am & pm to avoid attacks. However I have not seen anyone mention that they can not move around after eating, especially in this very hot weather. I have to plan my meals so that I know I will be doing very little like reading or TV or just sitting for about an hour after I eat. If I eat anything even if it is my usual diet (no cheating) and then try to get right up and start cleaning or cutting the lawn the physical activity starts an attack for about an hour and then 2 lomotil will quiet everything and in about an hour I am fine. But I find I must plan to eat only when I am sure I will not be doing any activity right after I eat. Has anyone had this problem. 
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Well major cleaning or mowing the lawn is pretty vigorous activity so not being able to do that straight after eating isn't just an IBS thing!  Even "normal" people get indigestion from doing that!
What I do is that if I know I want to, say, mow the lawn after lunch, I'll take a small snack and then eat more afterwards.
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