I don't know if there's a real correlation or if this is just coincidence, but my stool seemed to really benefit from a gentle herbal cleanse. I used the 2 week cleanse from Whole Foods, which consists of fiber (mainly psyllium husk), a gentle herbal laxative, and a liver cleanse. During the cleanse, I continued to take my normal dosage of fiber, along with probiotics and everything else as usual, and my bowel movements have been much more normal since then. Again, it could be sheer coincidence but if nothing else it seems like this indicates that pumping up your fiber intake is worth a try.
Hey, subdued, kind of off topic, but I'm 50 and I have been frustratingly prone to acne my whole life. I kept expecting it to get better and it wouldn't, but then I kind of fell into a face treatment that has absolutely worked miracles. I got silicone implants after my breast cancer surgery, and the company that makes the implants sent me a free sample of a few of their products. I *never* would have tried this stuff on my own, but now I swear by it. I've been using it since March and I can't tell you what a difference it makes. My friends have all noticed and they comment on how beautiful my skin looks now, and I don't think they even mean "in comparison to how bad it looked before" -- one friend said, "you look like a cosmetics ad." So I don't know if you even worry about it -- I only did intermittently and I was happily resigned to the idea that no creams or treatments would make a difference -- but if you're interested, let me know, and I'll tell you the name of the product. I don't know if there's a way to do it privately so that I don't appear to be selling it or something, so anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there. 