Fiber Treatments
#1813 - 03/03/03 02:01 AM
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Kimbo
Reged: 02/28/03
Posts: 114
Loc: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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I was wondering what the best fiber treatment is? I've been using single paks of Metamucil Orange for the past week. Taste is alright. I'm feeling rather gasy but I'm not sure if thats me or the metamucil. Since I'm going to have to import it from North America - I want to be sure I'm using the best kind. I have trouble with things that don't smell and taste good (can't get it past my tongue) which is why I went for something orange flavoured. What does everyone recommend and why? What's most economical?
->Kim
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Hi, People are probably sick of hearing me sing it's praises but I really like Benefiber. It's colourless and completely tastless. You can add it to water or even your peppermint tea.
Kerrie
-------------------- What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
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Hi there - In general, I recommend people avoid psyllium (Metamucil) as their first choice because it can cause bloating and gas. The other supplements won't typically do that.
Citrucel (methylcellulose) is a good choice - it comes in powders and pills, unflavored and orange flavored. Benefiber (guarm gum) is a plain powder that is also nice, and dissolves into virtually nothing. Equalactin (calcium polycarbophil) is a great tablet as it's chewable, and they market specifically to IBS which I appreciate. Fibercon (calcium polycarbophil) is plain tablets that have the same ingredients as Equalactin, but they're not chewable.
Now, here's where there is a great deal of variation in individual tolerances and preferences:
Some folks find that liquids work better for them than pills. Other people have difficulty swallowing the liquids, and prefer the pills. For the powders, the flavored varieties can be more palatable, but the citric acid (which gives the orange flavor) can cause reflux for some people. Artificial sweeteners can also cause problems for some, so avoid those. To be as safe as possible, choose the unflavored, uncolored varieties (like plain Citrucel or Benefiber) or the plain pills.
You might like to have both powders and pills - take the liquids at home, and keep the pills on you for restaurants, work, and traveling.
You can actually get generic versions of most of these supplements, and that can be more economical. Prices vary a lot depending on what store you purchase from.
For detailed info about starting and maintaining dosages of soluble fiber supplements, check here web page
Best, Heather
-------------------- 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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Thanks - I think I will stop at the store and try that tomorrow. I have just been slowly adding fiber over the last couple days. I've been taking Metamucil and right now am so bloated I think I might explode.
-------------------- -h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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We're much closer & it's sold in nearly every supermarket here.
I haven't tried this one (being a local and all) but it might be cheaper..
http://www.greataussiefood.com.au/
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Hi all,
Went to the doc today, she suggested I start on Metamucil, but i'm a bit nervous to try it because of the warnings that it will cause even more gas and bloating. Trouble is - the drugstores here (in New Brunswick, Canada) don't seem to have any other option. Have any other Canadians had a hard time finding Citrucel, Benefibre or Equalactin? Thanks,
lily
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For Canada, you can get something called Fiberrific in some health food stores, and you can order Equalactin from hardtofindbrands.com. Other than that I don't know of any options - ridiculous, but this seems to be the case.
-Heather
-------------------- 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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HI Heather, thanks so much for always answering me so promptly. I really really really appreciate it. Since I'm new to IBS and the Board, I was just curious about this... if the box says 2 pills Fibercon per day why does your web site link say 2 pills 4 times a day? Thanks much, Lisa.
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Hi Lisa - Check this post web page
-------------------- 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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Soya alert?
#5067 - 04/03/03 08:48 PM
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ajc
Reged: 01/29/03
Posts: 15
Loc: australia
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Hi all, I got this email this afternoon - not sure how true it is , but might be worth having a read of - not wanting to panic anyone - there are some interesting links at the bottom.... Soya - this is interesting, if you are not female, please give to those who are.
In 1989, I graduated from high school in Texas and couldn't wait to hit the big college city. One of the changes I wanted to make was to eat healthier.
Once I moved to health-conscious Austin, Texas, I began to fortify my body with the best and healthiest foods I could find. Tofu was the main ingredient in every healthy dish and I bought Soya milk almost every day. I used it for everything from cereal to smoothies or just to drink for a quick snack. I bought soya muffins, miso soup with tofu, soyabeans, soybean sprouts, etc.
All the literature in all the health and fitness magazines said that soya protected you against everything from heart disease to breast cancer.
It was the magical isoflavones, the estrogens-like hormones that all worked to help you stay young and healthy . I looked great, I was working out all the time, but my menstrual cycle was off. At 20, I started taking birth control pills to regulate my menstrual cycle. In addition to this I began to suffer from painful periods. I began to get puffy, it was as though I was losing my muscle tone. I began to suffer from depression and getting hot flashes. I mistook all this for PMS since my periods were irregular.
By the time I was 25, my periods were so bad I couldn't walk. The birth control pills never made them regular or less painful so I decided to stop taking them. I went on like this for another two years until I realized my pain wasn't normal.
At 27, my gynaecologist found two cysts in my uterus. Both were the size of tennis balls. I went through surgery to have them removed and thank God they were benign. The gynaecologist told me to go back on birth control pills. I didn't.
In 1998, he discovered a lump in my breast. Again, I went through surgery and again it was benign. In November 2000 my glands swelled up and my gums became inflamed. Thinking I had a tooth infection i went to the dentist who told me that teeth were not the problem. After a dose of antibiotics the swelling still did not go down.
At this point I could feel a tiny nodule on the right side of my neck. I told my mother I had thyroid trouble. She think I was being silly. No one in the family suffered from thyroid trouble. Going on a hunch I saw a specialist who diagnosed me with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.
After a series of tests he told me it was cancer. My fiancé and I sat stunned. We were not prepared and I was so scared. We scheduled surgery right away. The specialist told us that it would only be after the operation that a pathologist would be able to tell us for sure if it was cancer. They found a tumour at my right lobe composed of irregular cells and another smaller tumour growing on the left, so the entire thyroid was removed. They told me that after undergoing radioactive iodine I would be safe and assured me that I could live a long life.
After treatment began to search for the cause of all these problems. I never once thought it could be all the soya I had consumed for nearly ten years.
After all, soya is healthy. I came upon a web page that linked thyroid problems to soya intake and the conspiracy of soya marketed as a health food when in fact it is only a toxic by-product of the vegetable oil industry. This was insane, after all, the health and fitness magazines had said nothing about soya being harmful.
I visited a herbalist who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1985. She informed me that soya was the culprit. She had a hysterectomy due to cysts and other uterine problems. A few months later another acquaintance who had consumed soya came down with thyroid cancer. A girl in England I met through the internet in a thyroid cancer forum had just undergone surgery and she was only 19.
What was going on????
Breast cancer is linked to estrogens. What mimics estrogens in the female body, SOYA! But I never suspected soya because until now I never once found a single article that stated soya could be dangerous. Women who took soya prior to thyroid problems will continue to take it after if they are not aware of what soya actually does, what it contains and how it reacts in the female body. I think this is the reason that women with thyroid cancer often develop breast cancer later. My co-worker is big into soya and I see her losing hair and gaining weight despite a walking workout during her break and after work, and apples and oranges for lunch. She just had cysts removed from her uterus too. I warn her to stay off soya. I refer her to websites but until it is on the evening news on all four networks, women will suffer.
Since the thyroidectomy. I do not touch soya, haven't for two years.
Dear readers, please use my story in any way you can. There are so many young girls who are consuming soya because they think they are taking care of themselves, and women taking soya because they want to be healthy.
It is so unfair that the information about the dangers of soya isn't more widely circulated. It is sad. There are many out there who feel this way and it is a terrible blow when you realize you are not as healthy as you thought and that the information that you depended on was wrong.
Some references. http://www.haelan.co.uk/Wholefood-Soya.shtml
http://www.netlink.de/gen/Zeitung/2000/000813.html
http://www.biotech-info.net/soya.html
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Hi - I'm not sure why these freaky stories about soy are floating around, but they have no basis on medical studies or historical evidence whatsoever. In fact, there is extremely strong evidence that soy lowers the risk of reproductive cancers, heart disease, and osteoporosis. If anything, women in their childbearing years should be eating soy as regularly as possible. There is direct evidence that soy, which contains phytoestrogens, helps lower female cancers that are associated with higher estrogen levels and lifetime exposure (like breast cancer). It doesn't raise this risk - the exact opposite! It's hypothesized that one of the reasons Asian women have a fraction of the breast cancer risk that US women have is because of their high soy intake.
Here's a link to an excellent, peer-reviewed, medical study on soy benefits specifically for women's health:
http://www.nhir.com/tests/soywomenshealth.pdf
Best, Heather
-------------------- 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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A woman who taught at the school I student taught at said her doctor said women who have had breast cancer should stay away from soy. The doctor said if you have HAD breast cancer soy increases you chances to have a reoccurance of breast cancer, which during my time there she did have a relaps. She used to drink soy milk all the time until her doctor said something. Have you ever heard of this?
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Hi - I haven't heard this. Everything I've seen points to soy as a way to decrease breast cancer risk. I haven't seen something specifically about cancer relapse, but if I find anything I'll definitely post it.
- H
-------------------- 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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Hi torbetta, this is Paintlady and I just had to write about my experience with soy and cancer. Eight years ago I had Breast cancer, that year many surgeries and 6 months of chemo and the whole time I consumed soy milk everyday. Still do, in fact have increased my soy intake to deal with menopause (few hotflashes because of the soy!) and I have been cancer free for eight (going on nine) years.
Just my experience, Paintlady
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YOU BETCHA: All I can find is metamucil as well. I take the orange flavored kind and the taste is not so bad. For bloating, try fennel tea, Heather says that should help bloating. there are some posts on how to use it. Search archives for help.
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I haven't bee n able to dind fiberrific here at all. Heather. Nobody seems to have heard of it.
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POLL
#5277 - 04/07/03 04:58 AM
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Kimbo
Reged: 02/28/03
Posts: 114
Loc: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Could we take a poll to see what fiber treatment everyone uses? Call it curiosity or call it research!
**If you are feeling generous and want to contribute - would you hit reply to this message (POLL) and put in your subject line the name, flavor and form (powder, tablet, liquid) that you use??
It would be sooo awesome if everyone helped out on this one. I think it would assist a lot of people who are wondering which ones to try!
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Thanks for contributing!!
How's it working for you? Any complications?
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I was wondering if the information was correct or not. I didn't mean to imply she had a relaps because of the soy. I was more curous if her info. was acurate. I am glad you have been cancer free for almost nine years! That is great!
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-------------------- What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about???
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I started out with Metamucil pills, but it made me pretty gassy. Thinking back, that could have just been my body getting used to having a fiber supplement, and I plan on trying it again now that I am used to taking fiber.
I have been having great results with Benefiber powder and Fibercon pills. I usually take Benefiber, but the pills are handy if I am away from home (shopping, etc.) I wouldn't recommend putting the Benefiber in straight water, there is a slight taste, but you can't taste it at all in tea or soup.
Kimbo - can you give me your name and mailing address? I'd be happy to ship you some samples of each so you can try them out. My email address is h2@h2studios.com.
--h2
-------------------- -h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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Yes, I'm hearing that it's hard to find. I'm so sorry - it is available, but the manufacturer doesn't say where, just "health food stores". I think it may be more available in Eastern Canada than Western.
I'm on the verge of just carrying soluble fiber supplements through my website as they are so hard for so many people to find outside the US.
Best, Heather
-------------------- 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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Thank you for sharing this. I'm really glad you're all better.
- Heather
-------------------- 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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That would be great if you did! Do you think that discounts are available if we order in bulk?
-------------------- -h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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-------------------- Sarah
Looking for inspiration...
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Sarah,
What exactly is this fiber...I've never heard of it! Lemon sounds nice...I'd love to more! Can you get it in the US? Thanks!!
Ruchie
-------------------- Formerly known as Ruchie
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I don't know...I haven't planned anything so I haven't thought that far ahead! How much would you want at one time?
- H
-------------------- 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 hadn't thought that far ahead either. I take Benefiber. A 6 oz. jar lasts me 8 or 9 days. I could probably buy a few months worth, if there were a bulk discount. I wonder if it comes in cases, and how many there are to a case?
Don't feel obligated to add this to your store on my account. I can get it at the grocery store. If you do decide to add it to your store though, I would be an excited customer.
-------------------- -h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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-------------------- Sharon
"Anything Chocolate"...that is all!
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They have Benefiber at Costco - I'm pretty sure it's a bigger jar than what you're getting. I love Benefiber, but I think it's overpriced considering it's just guar gum.
- H
-------------------- 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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Torbetta, Please don't feel bad I didn't take your question as implying soy caused relapse. This board is here for our questions. I just wanted to share my experience with soy. Your picture of you and your daughter is so cute. Some day maybe I'll find photo of me I can use on this board Paintlady
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Sorry, just saw the question! I think ipsaghula husk is the same as psyllium husk that some people don't like, but I found after a week or so it suited me fine. There's orange or lemon sachets, and I find the lemon quite nice, a bit like homemade lemonade. I get it on prescription (a lot cheaper!!!) but it is generally available over the counter at pharmacies so might be available in the US - perhaps Heather would know?...
Sarah
-------------------- Sarah
Looking for inspiration...
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Sarah,
Thanks!!! I'm definately interested in this product. Metamucill bothered me though--so I wonder if I should try it or not? Had you tried Metamucill first?
Thanks again Sarah!!! Hope you're doing well
Ruchie
-------------------- Formerly known as Ruchie
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Ruchie,
I haven't tried metamucil. I must admit I took the first thing the doctor gave me, and it seems to be working. I have only seen my local doctor and haven't had any tests other than an internal, because I didn't want to make too much of a fuss, which I know is really bad but I figured that if this works I must be along the right lines. I also have a hypochondriac mother who is ALWAYS at the doctor's, so I don't want to end up like that! Moan over! (mothers!!) I'd quite like to try these tablets people have mentioned, they sound conveniant for when you're out - I had to go to a wine and cheese evening last night - drank wine, too many nibbles on an empty stomach then finished with deep fried fish and chips - why did I do it to myself??
Hope you're feeling better thaan I am! Sarah
-------------------- Sarah
Looking for inspiration...
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Sarah,
Thanks for getting back to me! Moaning is TOTALY allowed on this board--and encouraged How else are we supposed to release the stress exacerbating the IBS?
It is SO HARD when you're at a public gathering to steer clear of your triggers. This Monday at school we had a pizza party for my kindergarten class because they learned their letters A-Z! And guess what I did...I had some pizza (with a bit of cheese)! Can we say DISASTER?! I don't think I will ever eat pizza again (unless it's homemade). Live n' learn!
I hope you feel better today! Take care! *hugs*
Ruchie
-------------------- Formerly known as Ruchie
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-------------------- Sarah
Looking for inspiration...
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Fibercon - 2 tabs, 4 times a day
Edited by Lisa37 (04/10/03 09:09 AM)
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OOOhhh that sounds good - I love cookies!
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