odd question

Madelaine said:

I have recently roughly doubled the amount of time that I
spend exercise per day. At the same time, and for only the
second or third time in my life, I have developed
constipation. Has this happened to anyone else for the same
reason? Half of my exercise is on a recumbent stationery
bike and the other half is swimming, mostly breast stroke.
I'm hoping this is transitory. I'm getting fiber from my
diet, and eating quite consistently since I have diabetes
(and I've lost 11 pounds in 11 weeks). I drink plenty of
water. I'm hoping that once my body gets used to the
increased exercise this will go away. I'm just looking for
experience, I've already been to the doctor for the medical
side of all this. Madelaine

I've not heard of anyone developing constipation by
increasing exercise, assuming all the other factors are
kept in normal range, eg increased water intake, increased
rest. I wouldn't suspect exercise as the problem, but I
don't know.

Go to the following search engine:

ncbi.nlm.nih.govquery.fcgiOpen ↗
&DB=pubmed

In the search box, type:

constipation AND exercise

Note that the search terms are not case sensitive, but the
AND, OR, and NOT must be all capital letters.

You'll get 116 "hits." Click on "show" and click on the tab
which allows you to display the maxium number you want
(enter 200) and then re-click "Go." All 116 will be
displayed. Most aren't helpful, but a number of them are.
You just put a check mark ("tic"😉 in the little box next to
the titles of interest, then, when you have gotten to the
bottom of the list of 116, click "Display" and choose
"abstracts." Then click "send to" and choose "text." You can
then peruse these for helpful information.

Just a couple of off my head comments. Firstly, constipation
(manifest as a CHANGE from a previously stable functional
state) can result from diabetic neuropathy (which may be an
overlooked possibility by doctors who are more concerned
about ruling out cancer). (In the PubMed search engine, type
"constipation" AND "diabetic neuropathy"😉.

Secondly, swimming and recumbent cycling are not the best
forms of exercise for improving colonic motility. You've
probably heard of the famous "runners' trots"; which is the
sudden need to defecate during a run. Jogging is a very
effective method to stimulate colonic motility, as can be
attested to by anyone who has waited in lines at porta-
potties just before the start of a 10K run (where people
have been jogging around to warm up). Swimming isn't nearly
as effective at doing this, and I doubt that recumbent
cycling is, as well. So you might try drinking a cup of warm
liquid in the morning, followed by some easy jogging (in
addition to the other things you have tried).

- Larry

On 9 Jun,

Martin W. Smith said:

Madelaine said:

I have recently roughly doubled the amount of time that I
spend exercise per day. At the same time, and for only
the second or third time in my life, I have developed
constipation. Has this happened to anyone else for the
same reason? Half of my exercise is on a recumbent
stationery bike and the other half is swimming, mostly
breast stroke. I'm hoping this is transitory. I'm getting
fiber from my diet, and eating quite consistently since I
have diabetes (and I've lost 11 pounds in 11 weeks). I
drink plenty of water. I'm hoping that once my body gets
used to the increased exercise this will go away. I'm
just looking for experience, I've already been to the
doctor for the medical side of all this. Madelaine

I've not heard of anyone developing constipation by
increasing exercise, assuming all the other factors are
kept in normal range, eg increased water intake, increased
rest. I wouldn't suspect exercise as the problem, but I
don't know.

Check out your water intake is adequate for the
increased exercise.

--
BD change lycos to yahoo to reply

Larry, Thanks for the link--I'll investigate this and then
get back with my pcp. Neuropathy is pretty unlikely since I
was diagnosed in March at practically the minute I crossed
over from pre-diabetes to Type II, although my brother's
case of Type II diabetes was diagnosed via neuropathy in his
feet, so perhaps my family has weird sugar-sensitive nerves.
I had thought about the fact that neither recumbent biking
nor swimming were very good at stimulating the colon. I used
to walk for exercise, but metatarsus adductus (or metatarsus
varus or skew foot) has given me moderate to severe
arthritis of the foot. Jogging is out. I'll try using my
lateral stepper more.

Thanks again, Madelaine

Larry Weisenthal said:

Go to the following search engine:

ncbi.nlm.nih.govquery.fcgiOpen ↗
DB=pubmed

In the search box, type:

constipation AND exercise

Note that the search terms are not case sensitive, but the
AND, OR, and NOT must be all capital letters.

You'll get 116 "hits." Click on "show" and click on the
tab which allows you to display the maxium number you want
(enter 200) and then re-click "Go." All 116 will be
displayed. Most aren't helpful, but a number of them are.
You just put a check mark ("tic"😉 in the little box next
to the titles of interest, then, when you have gotten to
the bottom of the list of 116, click "Display" and choose
"abstracts." Then click "send to" and choose "text." You
can then peruse these for helpful information.

Just a couple of off my head comments. Firstly,
constipation (manifest as a CHANGE from a previously
stable functional state) can result from diabetic
neuropathy (which may be an overlooked possibility by
doctors who are more concerned about ruling out cancer).
(In the PubMed search engine, type "constipation" AND
"diabetic neuropathy"😉.

Secondly, swimming and recumbent cycling are not the best
forms of exercise for improving colonic motility. You've
probably heard of the famous "runners' trots"; which is
the sudden need to defecate during a run. Jogging is a
very effective method to stimulate colonic motility, as
can be attested to by anyone who has waited in lines at
porta-potties just before the start of a 10K run (where
people have been jogging around to warm up). Swimming
isn't nearly as effective at doing this, and I doubt that
recumbent cycling is, as well. So you might try drinking a
cup of warm liquid in the morning, followed by some easy
jogging (in addition to the other things you have tried).

- Larry