Colon cleanse question.
 

A few months ago I went to my gastroenterologist. I was all set up for a colonoscopy but had to cancel it due to insurance reasons. Unfortunately, my bowel movements are still out of whack and I'm miserable. I don't even leave the house much because of it. However, I still have the colon cleanse prescription. Do you think it would be wise if I went ahead with the cleanse even though I'm not having the colonoscopy? Would it be beneficial? Anybody here ever have one?

I was just swinging by, but I figured I'd give you this link before you go off and do something useless or even detrimental to your body, first:

Gut sense

I'll come by to explain it more later, but definitely check out the "Colonoscopy: is worth the risk?" section.

Please note that this site is all about selling you something. ;)

A colonoscopy will only cause disruption to normal bowel function in the short term. Colonoscopies are used to diagnose conditions such as bowel cancer, and as such, saying not to have one because "they can cause constipation" is just plain wrong. And scary.

Tom873, I do not believe that the colon cleanse would help. What exactly is your bowel problem? If you are constipated, drinking enough water and eating enough fat will usually help, if not, adding some magnesium definitely will.

I understand he's pretty bias, and don't agree with a lot of what he says, but he does get the main points. That I agree with. He indeed does blow things a little out of proportion, though. :lol:

Just to add a little to what useful info Rose already shared, magnesium oxide is especially useful for short term relief of constipation, since it mostly goes through a person's system. I like the 100% Citrate powder from NOW Foods.

You might also want to try upping the fiber a bit to get things rolling, but then weaning yourself off it as you become less dependent on it.

My stool just won't bind and when it does it's thin. I was thinking about getting psyllium husks but read somewhere that they're fermented. That means I can't have it on this diet, right?

I actually went and had colon hydrotherapy 4 times. Needless to say, having a tube stuck up your bum and having water pushed up inside your large intestines is not a comfortable feeling, although after I was finished with the sessions I did feel much lighter.

However, it didn't help me. I still had a Candida infection, and I still had IBS symptoms (alternating between constipation and diarrhea).

So, in my personal experience, colon cleansing might make you "feel" lighter, but I don't really think it does anything more than that.