fiber supplement question...

[Matthew007]

Hey there,

I've been sick for 4 years, finally after my 4th GI he suggested a food elmination diet (I was dealing with anxiety..severe nausea..) so it turns out SOY was the bad guy..also I took out dairy and gluten..sweets to combat the IBS-C i'm dealing with but I still have pains..

So I did citrucel but it failed..not sure if it's the citric acid or the high amount of sugar it has so I switched to a gluten free Fibersure (made from chicory root) and i've had some success with it but it makes me super gassy..and bloated with pain because of the inulin.

SO I was finally going to go out and get some benefiber since it's a soluable fiber....but I'm trying to figure out the amount.  I've read some sites say one teaspoon is only 2 grams...some say 1.5...and you need 20~30 grams a day..(holy smokes!!)

So how do you do it?  How much benefiber do some of you take or how much fiber supplement are you doing and does it help?  I ate a ton of dates the other day.. that works as well and I know when I have a large bowel movement like that (sorry to get gross..) I feel much better..


Just trying to get feeling better asap and back to work.  How much supplement fiber do some of you people do for IBS-C?

[Matthew007]

Hey thanks you two,

Yeah i'm having a hard time figuring this out so thanks for the information.

When I did the food elmination diet, as I took wheat/corn grains out I noticed I felt better the more and more I took out, and finally I narrowed it down to just rice and veggies and fruits and meats but then I noticed and thought to myself "wait a minute..now my fiber intake is like zero...is that why i'm still not feeling better?"

So I ate a bowl of cheerios and it was like a cork going through my system..sure it bulked up but wasn't a normal stool..almost like a baseball lol (sorry I know gross) so i'm not totally sure if it's actually a food intolerance to wheat but actually just bulking up and eating fiber that wasn't there before (rice chex that I eat..has like zero fiber in it)

So after 4 years of eating soy that totally destroyed my system...now i've got to train it to go back..

I'll try the phsillium husk idea, I tried it before but maybe I didn't do enough..i've also read some people mixing miralax with fiber supplements I might try that too..seems like bulking isn't the problem but making it soft is...  My parents do flaxseed so i'll give that a go as well.  I know it's just severe IBS... :(  I just need to start working asap to pay off these medical bills that I piled up over the years, my parents are being nice letting me stay at home but man I want this fixed asap!  

anyway thanks, any info helps hope you both are doing better than me!

[FurballsMom]

Be careful WHICH Benefiber you are taking, too, because I went to buy some one time and discovered that the one I was looking at had wheat in it.  There are some fiber supplements made with Inulin fiber, but that stuff bothers some people too much, too.

The thing I've noticed about IBS-C is that some days I need more fiber supplement than other days.  I haven't seen the fiber made from chicory root yet, so I can't tell you how much of that one to use.  I've also noticed that sometimes the supplement made from Inulin fiber is fine but other times it produces entirely too much gas.  That's usually a sign that you either take less of it, or you avoid it all together.

I do best when I add a bit of flaxseed meal to the foods I'm eating.  If you can stand to do it, you can add some to water or juice and drink it down like you would Metamucil or Citracel.  I couldn't take those ones either.  It was the psyllium for me.  I know, because I bought plain psyllium from the health store, which is also more economical than the commercial stuff.  I couldn't use it plain either, as it irritated my GERD way too much.  But, I'm not surprised if the sugar or the weird chemical additives bothered your IBS, since those things are known irritants.  Sugar binds me up bad, too.  The chemical additives aggravate the nausea symptoms.  So, it made sense to try just plain psyllium.  It just wasn't the right stuff for me.

I know what you mean about the fruit.  Dates never worked for me, though.  Prunes did, 'til I discovered I couldn't eat them for a reason unrelated to the IBS or the GERD.  You've got to watch how much of the dried fruit you use for relief anyway, since IBS-C usually requires so much of it that it spikes the blood sugar.

I have a lot of food triggers and food sensitivities.

The amount of fiber I use varies with how the bowels are feeling.  Too much fiber and the colon cramps.  Too little and the colon cramps and doesn't do its job.

If you're able to tolerate drinking aloe vera juice diluted in water or juice, that's supposed to be good for the colon.  I can't do it, because it irritates my GERD.  That usually means that it's a food sensitivity issue for me.  If it bothers my GERD, then later it bothers my IBS, too.

[Niffer991]

With fibre, insoluble fibre I think will help you the most which is why prunes, rhubarb, and figs help people.
-Dosage, well start small and work your way up.
-Eat small meals (this makes more difference than people think)
-Lots of water (min 8 glasses of 8 oz)
-Walk as this moves things in the body quicker
-Don't eat late at night
-psyllium husk helps a lot and really cheap (buy in bulk at health food store)
-Take Magnesium Citrate (relaxes the muscles)
-Include fibre with every meal