Constipated?

I've been taking three Psyillium Husk capsules twice a day now (morning and night) for a couple of months and have finally had what feels and looks like full, mostly solid bowel movements. However, I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that my stools have been mostly small and semi-formed. It also usually takes me three to four movements in a day to feel somewhat empty, but even then, I always feel like my stomach is a little distended. I'm not sure what changed, but could this be a sign of constipation? I recently cut out all caffeine, coffee, artificial sweeteners, and rarely drink any alcohol, and my normal diet usually consists of oatmeal, dried cranberries and raisins, a mixture of nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts), salads with an assortment of veggies (carrots, cucumbers, sometimes broccoli, tomatoes, olives), apples, bananas, sometimes honeydew and cantaloupe, chicken, lean ground beef on occasion, peanut butter, and eggs on occasion as well. I also have the tendency to fall off the wagon and eat things I probably shouldn't have, like ice cream. I guess I'm just confused as I went a solid month and a half or so having what seemed like complete bowel movements while eating mostly whatever I wanted, and now I'm back to this.

Should I keep taking my psyillium husk capsules and try out a bland diet?

EDIT: Also wanted to ask if it's possible I have a lactose intolerance. I had two scoops of ice cream with some whipped cream last night for dessert, and I felt fairly gassy not too long afterwards. Fast forward to today, and I've gone to the bathroom six times already with loose stool. I must admit, I do eat some form of dairy almost everyday, mostly cheese.

Post Edited (mlf231) : 4/21/2016 1:57:13 PM (GMT-6)

eat2bwell said...
Make sure you are drinking enough water because water is necessary. Eat a healthy diet but remember it can take time for your body to adjust. I used the powder psyillium husk and mixed ground flax seeds with it. Eat lots of vegetables to get the fiber. Not sure what you mean by a bland diet. Keep the bad things out and put the good things in and eventually you will have good results.

I'd say I drink anywhere from 80-120oz of water a day. As for bland diet, basically something like the BRAT diet to see if my symptoms subside. Today has been pretty bad; I think I've used the bathroom four times already and feel like I might have to use it again. Should I stick to mostly soluble fiber or insoluble fiber? Should I combine the two?

pb4 said...
Unfortunately, drinking a lot of water only helps so much, diet is more key, you need foods that will help with constipation also stress can play a huge factor in constipation or diarrhea as well. Fiber is great but it takes time for your system to adjust to it so start with a small amount and increase your water intake for that as not enough water when consuming fiber can make constipation worse, water and fiber must go hand in hand, either alone will not be sufficient enough for constipation issues.

Try the Lax a day we discussed in the other post on this forum.

Now I'm not so sure if I should use it. Seems like I'm having D three to four times a day now. This is out of control, not sure how much longer I can deal with this. The Psyillium Husk capsules don't seem to do a thing anymore, I'm easily drinking 80+ ounces of water a day, my diet usually consists of oatmeal, dried fruit and/or bananas on occasion, chicken or some kind of meat, maybe some kind of bread, vegetables, no coffee, no artificial sweeteners, no sugar alcohols, eggs, and mostly just foods that aren't fun. I don't understand how I go from four or five small, incomplete bowel movements to four or five very soft bowel movements that seem to produce quite a bit. It's driving me insane.