Miralax and Acacia in combination
#223483 - 11/07/05 07:45 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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I just started Miralax on Saturday, in addition to my 5 tsp of Acacia. Is this overkill? Would it be better to just take the Miralax for now? I am pretty C still...so am I taking too much stuff and just clogging my bowels up?
The people at Miralax Co. told me it is not necessary to drink more water than usual when taking Miralax. I am scared to stop the fiber since it took me 2 months now to work up to 5 tsp. Don't want to go through the increasing stage from step one again.
My nurse told me to stop the fiber and take Ducolax laxatives 2 time a week. But I would rather not do that. But then again, I haven't gotten better doing it my way, so maybe I need to trust them, stop the fiber and just take Miralax and Ducolax. 
I know you guys can't tell me what to do about the ducolax, but do you "experts" think I am doing too much with taking 12.5 tsp of Fiber from Acacia plus the Miralax? Should I stop increasing the Acacia and continue on the same dose, even though I'm not yet "going"?
I would rather just be reliant on the Acacia, but it hasn't worked on it's own yet.
Any opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Beth, No. I'm taking one 17 gram dose of Miralax per day along
with the 20 g's of acacia, 600 mg of mag citrate, 60 mg of
Bentyl, and 25 mg of Paxil. It's been keeping going pretty
regular(at least) every day, except today  . I caught some
bug from one of the many students coughing on me. It started
to hit me on saturday, and yesterday morning I had a sore
throat and felt a bit achey but I did go a lot. I felt
pretty crappy this morning but dragged myself into school.
After my first two classes I was hoping for a couple of
decent BM's like yesterday, but it didn't happen, just a
bit of bits and pieces. It's freaking me out too since I've
been going a fair amount every day since I started Paxil
at the end of July, but then again I wasn't sick with some
cold like bug. Have you ever had some kind of cold bug make
your C worse?
By the way, when Ducolax kicks in, it's you pretty
hard with a lot of urgency.
-Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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I'm worried
#223691 - 11/08/05 10:47 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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That all that Miralax plus the Acacia will clog me up because of all the water the Acacia requires. The makers of Miralax say you don't need to drink more water with the Miralax though. I just hate taking so many things for my GI system. I have always been an "au natural" kind of gal.
I can't remember the last time I had the flu, so can't comment on that. I get my yearly flu shots!
So far, I haven't ventured into the Ducolax trial though. Those really scare me. I've taken one before a long time ago and it was horrid with cramps, grumbling, explosive D. Yuck. I'm trying to hold off.
This Miralax is making me really gassy....smelly gas. So with Miralax along with the Acacia, it's hard to know which is the culprit.
I really just don't like taking all this "crap". I wish I could do it by diet alone. Not to mention the expense of the Acacia, probiotics, magnesium, Miralax, triphala, digestive enzymes, teas, etc. I have nothing left for food money! 
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I'd love to get more feedback.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Is it safe?
#223696 - 11/08/05 10:57 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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To take the triphala, 600 mg of magnesium, Acacia, citrucel, and Miralax all together? Does your doctor know about all you take?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Beth, Yes, Miralax does cause gas when you first start to take
it, but that dissipates within a week or two. The odor comes
from whatever you eat though.
Yeah, I'm tired of taking all the crap too, but I don't
know how else to stabilize. -Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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Stick with the miralax. Personally, I'd keep your acacia dose the same for now. Give it another week, if no improvement, try adding in a second dose of miralax at night. I would try a second dose of miralax at night for at least a week before trying the dululax. I've taken that before and it was horrible. Terrible cramps, doubled over the potty for hours, save it for the very last resort!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Beth, Oh yeah, my GI doc here knows. He was fine with it. I
may stop the triphala though. My last order was a month late
during which I got no worse and perhaps a bit better. I'm
taking more of it right now(2000 mg), but if it does nothing,
I'm going to bag it. By the way, this new Triphala I got
tastes different, like ketchup. Does your's taste like ketchup
too?
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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Did you guys have horrible smelly gas when starting the Miralax? Did it go away?
I've had gas...but this morning I could have killed someone with the odor!  Please tell me it goes away!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Just for a laugh-- I had ar eally bad bout of C that I couldn't get over and finally gave in and took some MOM. well, let me tell you that gas was HORRIBLE! After I swallowed the nasty stuff I saw it was sugar free--hello trigger! So I waited...I got bad bad gas. And here is the funny part-- My boyfriend and I have a new kitty that is 5 months old. He has some nasty pooping problems and STINKS up the WHOLE apartment...well, last night after taking the MOM, my boyfriend and I were cuddled on the couch. Suddenly he jumped up and hit the cat away from us and was yelling about how smelly he was...but it was me. We laughed SO hard!!! My poor gurgly belly! Hope that makes you laugh~
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IBS-A
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aly, that's too funny. for the kittie (i have two six-month-olds), are you on good fancy kitten food? some cats are just stinky, but cheaper food can make things worse. (when my old roommate's cat ate delicat, the whole place stank.)
i can't believe i've moved to kitten digestive advice...
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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Yes Beth, the gas will get better. You've probably had so much backed up in you and no its starting to come out and thats why its so stinky!! Light a match after you fart and it will take the stink away!!  The gas does decrease in a couple of weeks. Stick with it!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I'm pretty sure its the cheap stuff....so I will look into to the better stuff if it means we can breathe in the apartment! haha...
and thanks for the kitten digestion suggestions! It's nice to talk about something other than our own bellies sometimes~!
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IBS-A
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Re: Cat food!
#223773 - 11/08/05 02:25 PM
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michele
Reged: 06/02/03
Posts: 6886
Loc: southeastern michigan
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I'll chime in here! Good cat food DOES make a difference! I have two cats, one is a pursian and he had some dry, itchy skin problems last year. Trying to avoid an expensive vet bill, I took him to the pet store and talked with a girl there. SHe said a lot of skin and digestive problems are from "cheap" cat food. I now feed my cats Maxx Cat and not only did his skin clear up but he poops WAY less and its not stinky at all!!! Better cat food=better nutrition=cats eat less=cats poop less!!!   
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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yeah, every time i took my kittens to the vet for their checkups, i'd be asked what i was feeding them. the vet always seemed quite pleased when i said iams.
remember, though, that you can't switch food cold-turkey. over a few days you should change over gradually - 3/4 old 1/4 new, 1/2 and 1/2, 1/4 old 3/4 new. more slowly if you think your cat will be sensitive to it.
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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I think I gave up on it too quickly the first time. I will give it at least a month this time. Then, see what the doctor says. I hate, hate, hate being dependent on a prescription. But, maybe I won't have to be on it forever, hopefully.
I do think I must be all backed up. I haven't even gone yet today.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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The ducolax
#223865 - 11/09/05 07:19 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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My new GI keeps telling me to take this. I don't want to go against his advice for fear that he won't treat me, but like you said, it's horrible with cramps and never knowing when and for how long it's going to effect you.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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the triphala isn't working? It could be any of the things you are taking, right?
I don't think mine tastes like ketchup, but I swallow them pretty quickly.
How long have you been on Miralax now? Do you plan on taking it forever? There has to be an alternative way for us to have a stupid BM without a prescription laxative, wouldn't you think?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I can't afford all this stuff to make me go! Plus, 20 grams just sounds so high...and that's without adding in fiber from foods.
I know we can go as high as 30, but that's so much fiber. I'm only 90 pounds and half of me would be fiber!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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We're supposed to get at least 25 grams of fiber a day, just to have a healthy diet.
Beth, I'm only about 100 lbs, and I take about 20 g of fiber a day from Acacia, and I do get a fair amount of fiber in my diet as well. Granted, I'm more D than C, especially with all the magnesium my fibro doc has me on, but I don't think that getting a lot of fiber is a bad thing. It's not absorbed, regardless of it being soluble or insoluble, so maybe getting even more fiber will help move things along?
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Melissa
Friendship is thicker than blood. ~Rent
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I thought...
#224078 - 11/10/05 08:50 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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the 25 grams was suggested as a total amount from food. For people who need to take an SFS, is that on top of the 25 grams? We would be getting like 50. That's twice as much as they recommend people get.
I know, Heather has said some countries eat like 70 or something like that. I've just read too much saying too much fiber can cause problems as much as too little.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Re: I thought...
#224088 - 11/10/05 09:10 AM
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melitami
Reged: 02/23/04
Posts: 1213
Loc: Ewing, NJ, USA (IBS-D, Vegetarian)
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People usually don't get 25 g of fiber from food a day. If you look at servings of food, most only have 1-2 g, max maybe 3-4 depending on the food. The gov't recommends getting 25 g of fiber a day from any source. But that's a minimum for people without GI problems!
I did a Google search on too much fiber, and I found the following two sites useful in terms of explaining:
web page
web page
Basically, they recommend no more than 35, but the problem with too much fiber seems to be that too much INSOLUBLE fiber may sweep some minerals out of your system. Adding fiber too fast can cause GI problems, but we all know that from having to up our SFS slowly.
You also have to remember that the recommendations apply to people who do not have GI problems. We need more soluble fiber to help regulate our GI systems than most other people. I don't think getting 20 g of fiber from an SFS and then more fiber from food is a problem as long as your eating a varied enough diet to get all your other nutrients.
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Melissa
Friendship is thicker than blood. ~Rent
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Hi, Augie! My doc put me on Miralax a month ago, and nothing happened for the first 2 weeks. Then, I started having to go a lot during the day - but I never seemed to get everything out. It's only now - the fourth week - that I'm getting some "regularity."
I also had to play around with my Miralax dosage. I started with a full capful of 17grams, but discovered that when it made me go, I had an upset, gurgly stomach and diarrhea. So, I cut back to half a capful, as per my doc's orders. Now, when I feel gurgly, I skip my dosage for the day. That settles things down and gets me back on track.
I also had to play around with my fiber dosage. I was really gassy and bloated, so I went down from a scoop of citracel to half a scoop. Now I'm at 3/4 of a scoop and building up.
My doc. said that miralax sort of works differently for everyone...you have to play with the dosage to get it right. You may actually need more than a capful a day to get stuff going. But ASK him.
He also told me that if stuff didn't get moving in 2 weeks, I could take ducolax...the suppositories, not the pills. But he cautioned me to ride it out for 2 weeks and to let the miralax work. I was pretty miserable and stayed home from work a bit, but in the end he was right. I'm afraid it just may take time for the meds to work.
Best luck!
sue
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Uh, I easily eat 50g fiber in a day. Is there something bad about that?
Kate.
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25-35 grams of fiber a day is the bare minimum. In general, the more fiber you can eat, the better for your overall health. You can go up to 80 grams a day - there are entire Asian countries where this is the average. And in rural Uganda, the average daily fiber intake is 150 grams. So you've still got a way to go....
- 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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Usually by the end of lunch, I have consumed over 20g of fiber.
I didn't want to frighten anyone with my fiber intake. Vegetarians, I think, eat more fiber.
I know that a lot of IBS'ers are plant fiber intimidated. Without my food processor and high potency enzymes, I WOULD BE intimidated, TOO. That machine effectively breaks down the fibers making the more soluble/digestible. When I'm stable, I usually average around 50g/day and that is without eating bran.
Note: I don't set out to consume that much fiber, it just naturally happens. I find that in the summer, I consume more than 50g of fiber due to the freshness and availability of more local produce.
Kate, IBS-D.
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Yep I consume at least 50g a day too, easily. Thanks for clearing that up Heather! (Wow, 150g!! )
You may be on to something with the vegetarian thing, Kate (though I know I was consuming at least very close to that before I cut out meat again). But I mean, pretty much everything vegetarians consume has *some* fiber in it!
Don't fear the fiber folks! hehe
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I doubted that I was the only one that had an "exceptionally high fiber" diet.
Thanks, for sharing/putting my mind at ease.
Fiber actually feels good.
Kate, IBS-D.
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