HELP!!! I need advice on a different kind of constipation

Edward Holub wrote:
:: Hey folks,
:: I'll try to make this as short as possible.
:: I started the Atkins diet about a year and a half ago. I loved
:: it. My sinuses cleared up, my stomach acid problem vanished and my
:: stools were solid. However I didn't know that my cholesterol was
:: rising. My blood work indicated that it rose from 219 to 250. I
:: stopped Atkins and made a valiant effort to improve. 2 months later
:: my blood work showed 250 for cholesterol. I finally took my
:: doctor's advice and began taking Lipitor. My
:: cholestrol dropped to 195. I then decided to go back on Atkins
:: because I wanted to feel good again. The Lipitor gave me a degree
:: of constipation. It was a little annoying, but manageable. However,
:: coupled with the Atkins diet, it feels like my bowels have shut down
:: completely. I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now
:: Friday and I have
:: excreted nothing.
:: Is this anything to worry about?

Is there any pain? Are you eating plenty of fiber and fat? Drinking enough
water?

I say don't worry until the pain starts, but try to eat plenty of veggies
(brocolli is a good one for me) to head off any problems. Ground flax seed
is good too.

Edward Holub said:

Hey folks,

Hay!

Quoted message said:

I'll try to make this as short as possible.

Posts about [censored] ought to be.

Quoted message said:

I started the Atkins diet about a year and a half ago. I loved it. My
sinuses cleared up, my stomach acid problem vanished and my stools were
solid.

Life was good.

Quoted message said:

However I didn't know that my cholesterol was rising. My blood work
indicated that it rose from 219 to 250. I stopped Atkins and made a valiant
effort to improve. 2 months later my blood work showed 250 for cholesterol.

Life was bad.

Quoted message said:

I finally took my doctor's advice and began taking Lipitor. My
cholestrol dropped to 195.

Those doctors, damn them, they help sometimes.

Quoted message said:

I then decided to go back on Atkins because I
wanted to feel good again.

And your doctor advised you to do so?

Quoted message said:

The Lipitor gave me a degree of constipation.

And your doctor said what?

Quoted message said:

It was a little annoying, but manageable.

Stiff upper lip, tut tut.

Quoted message said:

However, coupled with the Atkins
diet, it feels like my bowels have shut down completely.

And your doctor advised.....?

Quoted message said:

I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now Friday and I have
excreted nothing.

Life is bad.

Quoted message said:

Is this anything to worry about?

Check for a cork.

Quoted message said:

Please let me know.
Eddie

And your doctor said what?

"Edward Holub" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now Friday and I have
excreted nothing.
Is this anything to worry about?

I'd deal with this right away. A couple of tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia
plus lots of water should get you going; you certainly don't want to end up
in hospital having them clear out impacted stool, and the folks at the
hospital don't want that either! Some combination of plenty of water, fibre
and exercise keeps me regular, altho I also take a couple of Senacot S each
night (actually a generic version which is a lot cheaper)

Anthony said:

I'd deal with this right away. A couple of tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia
plus lots of water should get you going;

He's under a doctor's care. How about letting his physician in on this
first?

Quoted message said:

you certainly don't want to end up
in hospital having them clear out impacted stool, and the folks at the
hospital don't want that either!

Unless he has an obstruction, there are several ways to get the bowels
moving without a hospital visit.

Quoted message said:

Some combination of plenty of water, fibre
and exercise keeps me regular, altho I also take a couple of Senacot S each
night (actually a generic version which is a lot cheaper)

Sorta like throwing [censored] against the wall to see if the [censored] comes out?

I would be worried. You were healthy and the doctor tried to fix it.

Check out:
http://www.statinalert.org/mainpage.html

http://www.thincs.org/

Doctors and drug companies quote statistics in relative risk. With statins
it is important to look at absolute risk.

I hope everything comes out alright.

Dave
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LowCarbHighFat/

"Edward Holub" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is this anything to worry about?

Dave LCHF said:

I hope everything comes out alright.

Someone had to say it.

In message <[email hidden]>, Edward Holub
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now Friday and I have
excreted nothing.
Is this anything to worry about?

I couldn't say, but I can recommend psyllium husk for comfortable
intestines.

Lactulose is the standard laxative used for that awful pregnancy &
post-pregnancy constipation. Works a treat for, er, softening, but
being a sugar solution is not remotely low carb.

Hope you get some relief soon.
--
Mogget, the Churl in the Puce Greatcoat

In message <[email hidden]>, MU
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Dave LCHF said:

I hope everything comes out alright.

Someone had to say it.

<Throws coat at MU>
--
Mogget, the Churl in the Puce Greatcoat

Thanks one and all!!!

"Edward Holub" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey folks,
I'll try to make this as short as possible.
I started the Atkins diet about a year and a half ago. I loved it.

My

Quoted message said:

sinuses cleared up, my stomach acid problem vanished and my stools were
solid. However I didn't know that my cholesterol was rising. My blood

work

Quoted message said:

indicated that it rose from 219 to 250. I stopped Atkins and made a

valiant

Quoted message said:

effort to improve. 2 months later my blood work showed 250 for

cholesterol.

Quoted message said:

I finally took my doctor's advice and began taking Lipitor. My
cholestrol dropped to 195. I then decided to go back on Atkins because I
wanted to feel good again. The Lipitor gave me a degree of constipation.
It was a little annoying, but manageable. However, coupled with the

Atkins

Quoted message said:

diet, it feels like my bowels have shut down completely.
I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now Friday and I have
excreted nothing.
Is this anything to worry about?
Please let me know.
Eddie

I'm another one who finds that psyllium husk (the active ingredient in
metamucil) plus plenty of water helps a lot in that regard. It MUST
be taken with water because dehydration will make things worse, not
better.

BTW, there is a small but recognisable group of people whose
cholesterol levels do worsen on standard low-carb diets. Many of them
are helped by the Goldberg-O'mara plan (GO Diet) which is also
low-carb but includes higher monounsaturated fats, high fibre intake
(also good for those with 'elimination problems'😉 and probiotic intake
(things like live-culture yoghurt). The website is
http://www.go-diet.com/
and in your circumstances it might be worth a look.

Aramanth

"Edward Holub" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]
|| Hey folks,
|| I'll try to make this as short as possible.
|| I started the Atkins diet about a year and a half ago. I loved
|| it. My sinuses cleared up, my stomach acid problem vanished and my
|| stools were solid. However I didn't know that my cholesterol was
|| rising. My blood work indicated that it rose from 219 to 250. I
|| stopped Atkins and made a valiant effort to improve. 2 months later
|| my blood work showed 250 for cholesterol. I finally took my
|| doctor's advice and began taking Lipitor. My
|| cholestrol dropped to 195. I then decided to go back on Atkins
|| because I wanted to feel good again. The Lipitor gave me a degree
|| of constipation. It was a little annoying, but manageable. However,
|| coupled with the Atkins diet, it feels like my bowels have shut down
|| completely. I started Atkins last Sunday night and it's now
|| Friday and I have
|| excreted nothing.
|| Is this anything to worry about?
|| Please let me know.
|| Eddie

The constipation issue has always baffled me. I eat way more fiber on
Atkins than I ever did before. Maybe it's because I was a fast food junkie,
not many fruits anyway? But now every day I eat freshly cooked fibrous
vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, brocholli, asparagus, brussel sprouts,
etc. I never took the time to cook vegetables every day with each meal
before low carb.

Are you sure you're following the Atkins plan properly and eating all these
foods? I'm only asking because unfortunately, there are still a lot of
people out there who eat mostly bacon and eggs and meat and call it
"Atkins," then wonder why it doesn't work or they have problems. There are
also many people whose main diets consist of the frankenfoods -- relatively
low-carb artificial substitutes for "real" foods pushed by the fast food
industry, with little nutritional value. Freshly cooked food is the
mainstay of the Atkins way of eating; if it's not, then it's not the Atkins
plan.

Just a thought.

--
Peter
270/219/180
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo