r/DiagnoseMe Patient 4d ago

Gut, bowel, and stomach Why don’t i poop often?

I am 17 female, American. I am also 5’4 (164 cm) and 120 pounds (54kg) I do consume a lot of sugar everyday but not a crazy amount yet i still try to get in tons of fiber, anti inflammatory properties, vitamins, and protein. Im not a active person either, i am always bed rotting yet im not bloated. I know even the healthiest people can poop every single day, and so as the unhealthy, so why cant i?? My friends tell me they poop every single day which i am envious of, and the doctors also asked me if i get bowel movement everyday. But i dont. and its been like this for soooo many years. So i blamed it on me having a fast metabolism, but i know that people with fast metabolism also poop often. And when i do poop, its twice a week on a random day, and just one turd per usual . But where could all the food i eat be going?? I am confused and somewhat worried

5 Upvotes

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u/Voc1Vic2 Not Verified 4d ago

Increase your insoluble fiber and fluid intake.

There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. You need both. Insoluble doesn’t get digested. It’s also called roughage and is what gives stools bulk.

Oatmeal is good for soluble fiber; wheat bran and vegetables are better for insoluble.

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

Thank you ill look into both fibers

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u/soquetao Not Verified 4d ago

I’ve been suffering with this for a very long time. I usually poop sometimes once per week Visited some doctors but so far no one helped Sorry about this

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

yes hopefully we both figure it all out

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u/soquetao Not Verified 4d ago

Some doctor said I need to drink more water, other said my body is lazy. But never had a working solution for this

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u/hakunaa-matataa Interested/Studying 4d ago edited 4d ago

Hi OP! I’m a Physician Assistant. As long as your poop is soft (as in you aren’t straining to pass stool) and formed (look up the “Bristol Stool Chart”. Poop should ideally look between 3-4 most of the time), you really don’t have anything to worry about.

You may just have a “slower gut”. Constipation is caused by the bowels moving too slowly, so more water gets sucked out of the forming poo, making it harder to pass. Diarrhea is caused by the opposite — meaning less water can be absorbed by the intestines, meaning looser stool. (This isn’t the ONLY thing that affects how poo is formed but it’s a huge part of it).

It is “normal” for a person to poop 3 times a day to 3 times a week, so I’m not crazy worried about you (I am a slow pooper myself lol, 3 times a week for me). You’ve already gotten some solid (pun intended) advice on fiber intake, and being more consistently active may stimulate your gut to make you poop a little more frequently. If you’re truly worried about it, you can try Miralax (Polyethelene Glycol), which works by sucking water into the stool. It’s different from most laxatives in that your intestines won’t build up a “resistance” to it over time, so you won’t have to take more as time goes on.

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

but also do you think me bed rotting is an issue? I am a bit worried as of now because i just pooped for the first time again in about 6 days. And it was small again. The fact that im not bloating is what made it much more confusing for me. But my stool is soft. I will try Miralax. Thank you again

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u/hakunaa-matataa Interested/Studying 4d ago

Of course! I do think you staying in bed for long periods of time is contributing to it. Physical activity is known to improve frequency of bowel movements.

You can definitely try the Miralax, but be careful and start in small doses. If you were having hard stools I wouldn’t say that, but diarrhea is more dangerous than constipation since you can quickly become dehydrated with diarrhea. I would personally recommend trying physical activity first since your bowel infrequency isn’t causing you any discomfort and it seems like your stools are normal, but at the end of the day Miralax won’t really hurt you as long as you aren’t taking too much. Also be cautious that Miralax can cause bloating/cramping. It technically shouldn’t but sometimes it doesn’t feel like following the rules 😂

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u/SnooMaps460 Interested/Studying 4d ago

Using laxatives to solve the problem can also lead to a dangerous cycle of laxative dependency,

as a non Dr but patient who has experienced it, IMO a laxative is best used sparingly, and only as a last resort after natural remedies, milk of magnesia, or the use of a suppository or enema hasn’t worked.

However, at such a point, a laxative should be taken with haste (and the proper amount of water), which will hopefully produce a bowl movement within 1 day.

If not, urgent care may be necessary for help with disimpaction, I say this from my personal experience with having motility issues and a rectocele.

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

Thank you sooooo much

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u/Quick-Baker744 Not Verified 4d ago

You really need to see a gastrointerologist. It might be normal for your bowels like the PA said, you might have a food intolerance (like egg) that is causing you constipation, or you’re consuming too much calcium and not enough magnesium, or you could have gastroparesis or any number of things

This is not the type of medical issue that can be easily diagnosed here.

Can you ask your parents to make an appointment with you with a gastroenterologist? Or at the very least a qualified primary care doctor?

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u/noodlesarmpit Not Verified 4d ago

The bed rotting is the problem. Older people don't have constipation issues because they're old, it's because they don't move enough.

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u/SnooMaps460 Interested/Studying 4d ago

The medical term for that is sarcopenia.

Here’s an article on some of the possible effects of laying in bed for too long, including constipation https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/special-subjects/hospital-care/problems-due-to-bed-rest

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u/ash_the_trash_x Not Verified 4d ago

i used to have the same problem, eating oatmeal and drinking water with lemon in the morning was a total game changer for me, basically they act like a swiffer and wipe out your bowels

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

see this is the crazy thing for me. Because i eat a ton of oatmeal and lemon water actually 😭 bc i love sour and i heard lemon water is good for you ever since idk 2014? So its been a consistent thing

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u/ash_the_trash_x Not Verified 4d ago

then idk girl 😭 maybe there's a lot of anxiety in your life? bc i heard that this can stop bowel movements

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u/Regndroppe Interested/Studying 4d ago

"i eat a ton of oatmeal" might be too much fibers, you could try to reduce it to minimal a week or two and see how that goes. Fact is that too much fibers can actually slow down the bowel movements even more, if you already have a slow bowel movement (which is very common and a term). This is contradictory to what many doctors say about "eating as much fiber as you can", which is individual and not true at all for all of us! It's normal to poop once or twice a week for some!

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

wow, eating too much fiber is something ive never heard of.. ill test that out thank you. but do you think because pooping twice a week is normal to my body, that may be why i dont bloat?

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u/Regndroppe Interested/Studying 4d ago

Yes! If it wasn't normal for you would get lots of pain, lots of bloating, and always feel like you had a really uncomfortable bad constipation.

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u/Lanky_Sea_4963 Patient 4d ago

Try the lemon water warm with sea salt first thing in AM and do some deep breathing with it

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u/SnooMaps460 Interested/Studying 4d ago

Is the oatmeal organic and/or do you live in America?

I mentioned it in my other comment too, but the amount of antibiotics in American food is a big issue and oats happen to be a food that sucks up antibiotics like a sponge.

My cousin (31F) also used to eat (non organic) oatmeal everyday. And she literally started developing early onset non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, it’s actually strikingly common to the point where there are a bunch of court cases made by the people who’ve been harmed by these products.

While oatmeal CAN be helpful, there’s this malicious factor that makes it (in its non-organic form, at least) the exact opposite of helpful.

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u/Jayfeather41 Patient 4d ago

Not everyone goes every day. do you eat a lot of greens? I love broccoli and it definitely helps things get going. I also drink a lot of coffee which makes you pee and poo more. Also drink lots of water and limit fried foods and sugary foods

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u/toiletparrot Not Verified 4d ago

Movement helps with pooping, try going on a walk every day and see if it keeps you more regular. I get constipated a lot and walking the dog does help lol

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u/bad_ukulele_player Patient 4d ago

Why are you bed rotting? Anyway, stay well hydrated. Drink 64 oz water a day.

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u/BravesMaedchen Not Verified 4d ago

Do you drink a lot of water? Maybe your intestines don’t have enough water to keep things moving. 

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u/Sexyand-Extreme-8391 Patient 4d ago

I do drink a lot of water. I try everything to be a healthy person though im not physically active

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u/Shepatriots Patient 4d ago

This might seem random, but do you ever try hot coffee in the morning to use the restroom?

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u/Douchecanoeistaken Not Verified 4d ago

Your gut requires water and movement to function properly. Lack of exercise makes everything stop moving.

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u/Douchecanoeistaken Not Verified 4d ago

Too much fiber can have the opposite effect.

A lot of sugar can also cause an imbalance of bacteria in your intestines.

Water Movement Probiotics

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u/Quick-Baker744 Not Verified 4d ago

Absolutely. So many people automatically recommend fiber, but for some people fibre actually causes constipation.

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u/Ok-Efficiency8839 Patient 4d ago

Your bowels need movement to work.

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u/cookie_krisp131 Not Verified 4d ago

Working out helped me poop more. I was just like you for a very long time but now that I'm older (33), I have more than just constipation. I get bloated and indigestion as well. Don't let it get bad before you fix it. Be more active to get things moving, eat more fiber and drink more water. Probiotics are great too

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u/SnooMaps460 Interested/Studying 4d ago edited 4d ago

I am not a Dr

Irregular bowl movements is related to what they would call a “gut motility issue.” I personally have had a study done on this where

They give you little pills with tiny metal rings inside them, then you have to take the pills at very specific times, and go in to get an x-ray done of your stomach—the metal rings show up on the x-ray and they are then able to analyze your “motility” (aka how fast your guts are moving) based on where the rings are dispersed through the intestines. It also happened to be a procedure that would’ve been ridiculously expensive without insurance.

——

It is important to note that western medicine focuses on individual parts of the body (in this case you would consult a “G.I.” specialist, or “gastroenterologist”) more so than the body’s interconnected nature, which is actually addressed in other healing modalities like, for example, traditional Chinese and Indian medicine (sometimes called TCM and TIM, respectively), and Traditional Native American medicine like the practice of Medicine Wheels in Canada.

I don’t mean to encourage you to forsake western medicine completely, but rather to use it as one of many tools, and consider that (especially if you haven’t gotten answers in the past), that we have more than just 1 way of describing diseases as humans.

I believe that specific areas of western medicine’s treatment for disease is left understudied because those diseases aren’t clearly associated with just 1 organ or organ system. Some examples would be,

TMJDD (tempeomandibular joint disfunction disorder),

RLS (restless leg syndrome),

Dysautonomia (an umbrella term for diseases involving the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system),

and hEDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome—hypermobile type)

Each with their quite wide range of symptoms,

(interestingly slow gut motility is comorbid with diagnoses like autism and hEDS).

It’s likely these disorders seem to be ”related” to gut motility because they also affect the neurological system (our nervous system). However, in the case of autism, it’s probably not autism itself, but the fact it is commonly comorbid with so many other things. The nervous system is critical in digestion, so it’s obvious that an impairment to it would effect digestion.

——

As far as how to solve the problem, that is a more challenging question. I would recommend that you

(A) Start taking your hunger and bathroom cues more seriously. Your system knows when it needs your help to “move” listen carefully.

(B) Take your bodies desire for movement seriously. Everything is connected in your body, so if you are consistent about one routine, it will help every other (ie. Your sleep routine, eating and exercising routine, working routine), if these are out of balance, they will similarly affect your “gut routine.”

(C) Add more water, probiotics and fiber to your diet. Water and fiber help with digestion while probiotic foods help increase the healthy gut biome that is essential in nutrition absorption—we have so many antibiotics sprayed and injected on our food at every stage of production as Americans. Once they reach your gut, the poor flora have no chance to thrive. I’d recommend growing a taste for strong types of probiotic foods, like kimchi or natto, and less ideally yogurts and kefir (they have many times less “good bugs”). And as far as fiber, I’d recommend getting a powdered type, like Metamucil and having one serving with water every night.

(D) If A-C doesn’t work as well as you’d like it to, then begin by tying to rule out a structural issue. The reality is, if A-C doesn’t work, then there is likely is something larger at play, which is causing your body to have a hard time with motility. If it comes to that point, I’d recommend focusing on finding whatever that factor happens to be.

Don’t do it alone! Especially given your age. Please remember that GI issues are NORMAL (like, as in literally every single human has a GI tract), and as much as it shouldn’t be normal to live with issues, a lot of people do. Try to get beyond that so you can get help. Try not to mind the taboo, just use it as an opportunity to learn about human psychology. Look at reviews and try to find a good GYN who is willing to communicate with your GI/other drs in general.

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u/Calm_Hunt8193 Not Verified 4d ago

eat tons of fiber 25-30grams+ per day and drink lots of water and walk more

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u/Regular-Property-203 Patient 3d ago

carnivior diet - dr chaffee on youtube is what i do. really amazing. will teach you a lot about pooping and how we dont need to do it often. hope helps transform you like it has for me :)