Shape of stool and rectoceles

~Amanda
i actually thought having that L shape was a good thing....i was watching oprah and they had dr. oz on there and he was saying that if you get that shape thats good because its the shape of your...colon or something i think...well obviously i dont know what im talking about but i did see that on oprah lol

Just adding my two cents worth... From everything that I have read an "S" or "L" shaped stool is a good thing! The sigmoid colon (the last part of the large intestine) is S shaped.
So I have found that when I eat more fiber, my stool does become more bulky and does have an "s" shape. (If it is not "s" shaped ..it reminds me if I am not eating enough fiber.)

I have suffered with chronic hemorrhoids for years and the proctologist told me healthy stool should be well formed, soft, and s-shaped entering the bowl. I manage to achieve this by eating 40-50 grams of fiber a day. It's the only way to keep things moving smoothly with such a bad rectocele.

wow!
how do you eat 40 to 50g a day? i think i eat well, but probably hit about 30 as a max.
40 to 50???
please do share!

This is what a typical day looks like for me with regards to the fiber I eat.

4:00am fiber one bar(9 grams)
6:00am apple(3 grams)
8:30am fiber one cereal(13 grams)
12:30pm bean soup(10 grams)
raw veggies + dip(3-5 grams)
6:00pm salad + a fruit(5-8grams)

I eat other things during the day as well, but this is how I get the bulk of my fiber. In addition to all the fiber I ride my exercycle 1 hour each day and drink about 15+ cups of fluids(I am nursing a baby).

My husband and son say I am obsessed with dietary fiber. I say I am in and out of the bathroom in under 2 minutes every morning. I would eat tree bark if it kept my rectocele in check!

Melissa

kaismom
what kind of cereal has 13 g of fiber?...i end up eating raisin bran twice a day plus some other stuff in order to get my fiber...i am nursing as well....if i dont get a lot of extra fluids will that cause me constipation issues even with the fiber...im trying to figure out a way to get things "going" better....im eating the fiber...trying to drink a lot of fluids but im not really able to get good excersise right now with it being so cold outside. Any suggestions on how to get a work out at home without a ton of room.....i need a work out that gets my heart going and makes me sweat....i cant fit any workout equipment in my house. I ordered christines book but it could take a while to get to me i need something to do now.

The cereal I eat is Fiber One Honey Clusters(I buy it by the case from Amazon). If you eat a lot of fiber and don't drink enough fluids it will surely make constipation worse. You need even more fluids if you are nursing. As I said before I drink 15+ cups of fluid a day, but I have always required a lot to drink. Nursing makes me thirsty all the time. When you up your fiber do it very slowly or you will suffer unwanted effects.

As for exercise, I don't really know what to tell you. I used to walk about 1-2 hours a day. After I prolapsed that was no longer possible. I switched to the exercise bike an hour a day(I nurse the baby while I ride). Cycling doesn't seem to make my prolapses any worse. I am eager for my book to arrive so I can begin Christine's workout. I also like to do yoga. Maybe you could give that a try. Yoga is great for getting things "moving."

Have you tried the Fiber One Oat and chocolate bars? They have 9 grams of fiber each and 140 calories. They taste just like Quaker soft and chewy granola bars. My family loves them. My son eats them because he also suffers with constipation. Another good choice is double fiber bread. It has 6 grams of fiber per slice. I love the taste of it, but my husband can't stand the stuff.

Kellogs ALL-BRAN with Extra Fiber has 13 grams of fiber in 1/2 cup. I've been eating this cereal every morning for the past 20 years. It is fantastic. Tastes like straw (smile) so I add a 1/2 banana cut up and also add a few spoonfuls of Kellogs ALL-BRAN Strawberry Medley for the great taste. I also makes bran muffins out of it. If you want the recipe, send me an email.

My problem with trying to get enough fiber in my diet is that, other than cereal products, everything else that I like and that is full of fiber (beans, broccoli, brussel-sprouts, etc) gives me terrible gas (sorry for TMI). It's not only embarassing, but it's uncomfortable. I've tried Beano and Gas-ex, but they are so expensive and you need to take too much for them to work.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I really don't want to give up eating all of the healthey, fiber filled foods that I love and that my body should have, but I'm at my wits end. Thanks.

Goldfinch

'Life is not holding a good hand; Life is playing a poor hand well'

i have not tried them i will look for them at the grocery next time i go....i love the bread with the fiber. i think it taste so much better than plain white What is the difference between soluble fiber and dietary fiber?
I did not realize that not drinking enough water while eating a lot of fiber could make constipation worse...oops that explains why my diet hasnt completely relieved me ....i have such a hard time drinking tons of water it makes me feel so full i do good to drink 3 16oz bottles of water a day....im working on it though
what are the unwanted side effects? im wondering if some of the pains im feeling are from eating too much fiber too quick?

it is hard to drink a lot! especially as i pee more now anyway...but when my little one was waking up to feed a lot at night i drank a glass every time he woke up. now we are night weaning and i'm not drinking as much. more sleep, less water. hmmmm....
but, i fyou are up at night it helps. also at least two glasses at bed and 2 right away in the morning helps. and i carr bottles around all day, which helps.

i am gluten free and eat almost no sugar, so it makes it even harder to get fibre. i recently went on an anti candida diet so cut out a lot of fruit, and my constipation has come back. argh! i was doing so well before then. so i'm stopping the diet as i think the constipation needs addressing more. i had found that eating a lot of raw veg every day really helped, one or two apples, berries, lots of pulses. but the fact that gluten free breads are fibreless and most cereals are full of sugar means i find it hard to find all my fibre!

increasing your fibre quickly an cause gas / stomach pains. so perhaps back off a bit, and up it a few gms every few days. and drink drink drink.

it is hard to drink a lot! especially as i pee more now anyway...but when my little one was waking up to feed a lot at night i drank a glass every time he woke up. now we are night weaning and i'm not drinking as much. more sleep, less water. hmmmm....
but, i fyou are up at night it helps. also at least two glasses at bed and 2 right away in the morning helps. and i carr bottles around all day, which helps.

i am gluten free and eat almost no sugar, so it makes it even harder to get fibre. i recently went on an anti candida diet so cut out a lot of fruit, and my constipation has come back. argh! i was doing so well before then. so i'm stopping the diet as i think the constipation needs addressing more. i had found that eating a lot of raw veg every day really helped, one or two apples, berries, lots of pulses. but the fact that gluten free breads are fibreless and most cereals are full of sugar means i find it hard to find all my fibre!

increasing your fibre quickly an cause gas / stomach pains. so perhaps back off a bit, and up it a few gms every few days. and drink drink drink.

Changed shape of my stool was the very first symptom that anything was wrong downstairs. I mentioned it to my doctor years before he diagnosed me with "pelvic floor relaxation/prolapse" and he brushed it off. The half a U shape is the perfect description... mine used to be straight but now will curve just as you describe. It's bothersome... they'll curve forward as they come out. Never used to do that before. They are a bit different in diameter too, no longer perfectly round and largish, but smaller and flatter. No, I do not think this means your rectocele is worse than she said. Mine stayed that way for a very long time before it got any worse, like I said it was so minor the doctor could not even tell, or didn't tell me...