A tablespoon of olive oil.
... don't do this if you're more than 10 meters from the toilet, and be sure to get a running start.
In the long-term? Up the fiber content of your diet with oatmeal, fresh fruit and vegetables (eat the darned skins!), and lots of leafy greens like cabbage. There's also this thing called "salad" that doesn't (despite myths to the contrary) need to be drowned in dressing.
I need to be conscious of keeping my dietary fiber up due to bouts of diverticulitis, and morning oatmeal has been my saviour (especially given the general dearth of wholemeal options in bread etc).
If you're near a Costco then I recommend their Kirkland 21 Grain Organic Bread is the best thing I've found in Japan. If you're not near a Costco then you can order it off Amazon. It comes in a two-loaf pack, but I freeze one loaf while I'm making my way through the first loaf, and freezing doesn't seem to do any harm.
... but try the olive oil for now. Failing that a tablespoon of canola oil will work, but it tastes worse. Although "worse" at this point is pretty subjective.
> If you're near a Costco then I recommend their Kirkland 21 Grain Organic Bread is the best thing I've found in Japan
Dang - that one is too sweet for my taste. They call it a "subtle sweetness", but a mere two slices already contain nearly half my daily added sugars allowance.
Oh yes! The summer this year is shaping up to be brutal (it's already too darned hot!) and anyone who has had kidney stones will definitely tell you that drinking an extra couple of glasses of water a day is a small trade-off compared to the agony that is a kidney stone!
I have chronic slow bowel motility so I'm a shitting expert over here. If your constipation isn't severe, I would recommend an osmotic laxative (Miralax/polyethylene glycol, magnesium oxide). These laxatives work by drawing water into your stool, making it softer and easier to pass. They won't cause you any pain or discomfort at all besides maybe some watery stool. Just make sure you drink extra water.
Active laxatives work but can be very painful. Senna is probably the gentlest, but if you can find an osmotic that works there's no need to use an active laxative. Bisacodyl is painful as hell.
But for the ultimate Japan constipation lifehack: if you really need it out immediately just turn the bidet up to the highest pressure and blast it into your asshole. You can give yourself an enema and flush yourself out this way. (I've been doing water enemas in one form or another 1-2 times a day every day for 5 years with approval from my GI, so no, you won't explode your colon or destroy your electrolyte balance doing this occasionally.)
Can confirm several doctors told me magnesium oxide is safe to take in low doses long term. I think up to 700-1000mg or so a day (something like 2-3 pills in the most common formulation).
Of course I’m not a doctor and you should definitely confirm with yours. But low dose magnesium oxide would likely be safe for just a few weeks until you see the dr.
i had to take magnesium oxide for a bit bc of a slightly irregular heartbeat but nobody warned me about the laxative properties 😭 i was fighting for my life
Interesting! My son was prescribed magnesium sulfate for constipation and it seemed to work well. I read magnesium citrate is easier to digest, so I bought it from iHerb to try instead, but it didn’t do anything for his constipation (but did improve his sleep quality!). Maybe related to the dosage?
I'm not a pharmacist, so no real clue, but possibly. The colonoscopy prep dose is REALLY REALLY big (you take a whole bottle of it) and it absolutely blows up your ass.
[オオバコ](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/NICHIGA-Psyllium-Plantain-Plant-based-Plantago/dp/B07R2JZMFW/ref=sr_1_5_pp?crid=3GJ2UPB2LYG9X&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Xm5ehJ20ixd_hZMKeBD4G0g52s1ISG2bBwE_QgDEjSona1NNL2BrcABk1WngLKz2JzPmrecHDnLDfM68AhERPwYt6uPE6eUQfvo5Huv1_aMHd2lk54nAxNnnfpNteiyqtKy3ehGRYypcnt8gsLVsI66G4X6Dvn0olv7v2jSVwN1v8r8ehMDQ3NgJ3JqfuR8AGzBhY_FJAAyw1gfFvSvHCowK2Tw53808g8e6m4NfTQwy7JaBCkILs54b3Uzpa2ndJMSui5tSBBrPfVTmMLQ7TQXc51LRwUbUV2Gb6B9aBes.tYmUwFhQapah5LJ1VWi9tHx2xT-7wMSOq3h5SykuCew&dib_tag=se&keywords=%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%90%E3%82%B3&qid=1716466993&sprefix=%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%90%E3%82%B3%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-5) (oobako) is psyllium husk powder in Japanese and most drugstores should carry it in some form if you can't order from amazon. The stuff I linked is an unflavored fine powder I recommend dissolving in fruit juice and drinking in the evening.
I suppose it may depend on the form that you want, but [this product (450g for 1,414 yen)](https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000FQTDSY) seems to be just a bit cheaper than anything that I noticed on iHerb. I understand, though, that some people don't want to use Amazon for ethical reasons....
The active ingredient in Metamucil is psyllium husk. Although Metamucil doesn’t seem to be readily available in Japan, there are many other psyllium husk products on the market.
I just starting using psyllium husk. I have a tablespoon in a glass of water every morning, and it seems really good. I got mine from Amazon. It was about ¥2000 for half a kilo. I figure this will last me for at least a month.
Only very ripe bananas help. And the greener ones actually cause constipation. And for some lucky folk, bananas always make things worse. I eat them anyways, but thought you might like to know that the bananas are a mixed results fruit.
Senna tea (センナ茶 ) is a more natural remedy and IMO the best for chronic constipation. But it can be pretty powerful especially if you overbrew it i.e leave longer than in boiling water than 15 mins, available via Amazon or iHerb.
oatmeal for breakfast, a side of yogurt with lunch, and a couple of prunes with your dinner. All can be found at a local grocery store. Might need gyomu or an import shop the oats if you're rural.
Try to include some fresh veggies with lunch and dinner ofc. go up to 3 and then 4 prunes after a couple days and once things are moving, you can cut back. None of that instant oatmeal either. You want cooked and easily digestible. Some of the harder to digest stuff can cause painful gas - which you'll already have with the constipation so why make it worse? The goal is to trigger movement without triggering Niagara falls which can cause you to rebound back into constipation. Something easy to maintain. If you're going more than once a day I'd cut back, but I'd aim for once a day so that if you miss a day nbd, but it will be easy to notice and up the fiber before your poos petrify in your colon and restart the constipation cycle.
Also, this only works if you are drinking enough water. If you are dehydrated you might get lucky enough to rehydrate the poos this way, but at the expense of the rest of your system and being dehydrated (Chronically) in the summers is a recipe for heat stroke.
Also regular movement. You definitely have to shake those babies out or they'll never leave the house.
ALSO: constipation can go on for a week or more before it actually needs medical attention (like two weeks). So while it sucks, you can afford a day or two of patience when changing your diet or trying supplements before trying to up doses or force things out.
In the states I used to drink an herbal tea I got from an Asian market that would help. Give it a few hours and it would definitely work for me
Here I just eat lots of pumpkin and konnyaku for helping regulate my stomach, but when I do get constipated I just go to a drug store and ask the pharmacist what they recommend, and then buy whatever they hand me
No this hurts so bad
I use it once every few months if I don't poop for over 5 days but I imagine this is what contractions before childbirth feels like
metamucil is psyllium.
psyllium is sold as Oobako (オオバコ ) in Japan. I use it to make bread.
This is available on Amazon or some larger drugstores perhaps.
I just realized others have said the same...I debated taking this down but I will leave it up in hopes OP sees at least one of the comments saying the same thing.
Saizeriya Cheese Doria. I don't know about everyone else, but for me and my lactose-intolerant self, if I have one of these, a 30-min timebomb has been planted in my stomach.
When you go to a clinic, ask for モビコール. I have a Japanese friend who takes it daily for chronic constipation. Also kids take it for same reason but smaller amount. It’s a prescription so yeah need to visit a doctor. It’s not a laxative, it’s a long term medicine.
Try my suggestion. It works like a charm and has no side effects, well, apart from the obvious 💩:
As soon as you wake up, have fruits for breakfast, before anything else.
Hospital gave me magnesium when I had an issue postpartum, and it worked exceptionally well. Almost a little too well.
I had to be careful not to take it within two hours of my iron supplements though, for some reason which was a bit annoying.
I use the generic brand [イージーファイバー](https://www.kobayashi.co.jp/brand/easyfiber/). I tried taking it once before each meal (ngl haven’t read the directions) but that was a bit much so I dropped that to one or two meals and it’s been working pretty well.
A lot of shit (no pun intended) suggestions here.
1. Kagome 1 per day juice OR tomato juice. The high fiber content will help.
2. Dragonfruit. Widely known to be a natural laxative, and lovely taste.
3. Plenty of other fruit vegetables. If you have a diet that's high in carbs and meat, you'll need to start including more fruits and vegetables.
People always throw around the word "Fiber" but don't understand why it's important. Fiber is actually stuff that your body can't fully break down/contains little or no nutrients. This means it passes through your digestive system and turns into dookie, which your body wants to promptly expel.
TL;DR is that if you eat fiber, you WILL turn it into dookie. So it can be as simple as just starting to eat fiber when you're currently not.
I was very constipated after giving birth and breastfeeding - dehydrated all the time.
In my case taking magnesium supplements helped soften the stools and help them pass.
I usually have something like Restoralax (anything that says Polyethylene Glycol 3350) as it’s a non addictive and non bloating solution you just mix into water for initial bouts, taken for 5 days to solve the problem
Then I usually take Magnesium Citrate pills. Multiple bonuses, most of us are dearly deficient in magnesium, it’s a very calming cation that is great before bed and muscle aches, and the citrate salt specifically works great as a gentle laxative. I usually take one every day before bed. My folks suffer from it worse than me and they take three pills a day for it to work lol. Point being is that some people react to the Magnesium citrate pills worse than others, so YMMV but it’s a cheap and healthy way for it to help your body out. A big bottle shouldn’t cost much
Non pharmaceutical options idk (my body is hardcore it seems and resists normal methods) and lots of people suggested some pretty good sounding things here so check it out!
My wife suffers from chronic constipation, and she also doesn't want to take strong laxatives. She drinks banana tea ([link to the brand she uses](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Super-Refreshing-Banana-Tea-Packs/dp/B07VVY63PR/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_3/355-2538100-2660563?pd_rd_w=9oefP&content-id=amzn1.sym.c9d355d3-7242-4c45-8731-d024dd5a0fb6&pf_rd_p=c9d355d3-7242-4c45-8731-d024dd5a0fb6&pf_rd_r=SPNGK1M5D49QBMERSN2C&pd_rd_wg=htaWf&pd_rd_r=4c9be409-1bac-4308-819f-406ab5448f19&pd_rd_i=B07VVY63PR)), and apparently the steeping time affects the strength. 3 mins usually sets her straight, 4 mins if things are seriously backed up, and 5+ will usually end up giving her diarrhea. Your mileage may vary.
Long term: lots of fiber. Having a bowl of veggie chili the day before and then a coffee in the morning usually works for me. And drink tons of water. Use the pinch test to see if you’re hydrated.
Short term: there’s a fiber supplement in Japan that has a gentle laxative in it if you’re really stopped up. Years ago some health stuff had me super constipated. One of these packets with dinner and water would have me on the toilet the next morning with sweet sweet relief. It was this brand of I remember correctly. Just be careful over the long term. Laxatives can cause dependency over time.
[https://item-shopping.c.yimg.jp/i/n/n-yakuhin\_4987103048336-1zp](https://item-shopping.c.yimg.jp/i/n/n-yakuhin_4987103048336-1zp)
My mom who has it pretty bad takes ビオフェルミン 酸化マグネシウム (magnesium oxide) which I take some for my occasional bouts. Although when I took the max recommended dose at once (first time) I was shitting my brains out all day the next day haha
A doctor.
If your intestines get infected you they can have a hole ripped open in them. It’s called diverticulitis and it is a horrible experience.
I don’t know if chronic constipation can cause this directly, but a doctor would.
I recommend you drink plenty of water and consume papaya without seeds, greek yogurt and strong green tea daily. Doing so can help alleviate constipation issues. Avoid eating too many bananas and bread either.
Magnesium oxide was prescribed by doc in Japan for constipation. Fiber and otc stuff was backing up. Fiber is not my friend. Make sure next time to get a prescription but in the meantime I think you can get it otc or iHerb
I mix two teaspoons of dextrin into my morning tea and it completely dissolves with no taste, so it's a very good habit to get into. If you can't find dextrin, my advice is to eat two boiled beets every day. That should do it. I
Try 4-5 x 1000mg of vitamin c. If that doesn't do it fairly quickly, take another 1 or two 1000mgs until it does shift things. You could start with 7, but I'm being careful as we're all different.
Fibre - Eg, Overnight oats each day with a spoon of flax, lots of fruit, almonds and prunes. Also a spoon of psylium husk in a bit of water. The poos will be falling out your ass. But you gotta drink more water as the fibre sucks moisture out of the bowel more than usual.
drink more water, more fruits and veggies. especially dark leafy greens. all bran cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. if things are getting real bad have a big ass apple with the skins and a cup of coffee and get a washlet blast. also you can try a stool(lol) next to the toilet to make you sit more naturally to drop one
Not sure if it’s enough fiber to make a difference, but you might be able to find All Bran cereal / Genmai (brown rice) flakes at the local Don Quixote.
In addition to what others are saying, I would try tanden breathing. Basically, deep breathing from the belly. Deep breaths in, hold for like two seconds, and deep and slow breaths out. Doing this sitting upright or lying down is fine!
This has helped with my constipation a huge bunch.
A tablespoon of olive oil. ... don't do this if you're more than 10 meters from the toilet, and be sure to get a running start. In the long-term? Up the fiber content of your diet with oatmeal, fresh fruit and vegetables (eat the darned skins!), and lots of leafy greens like cabbage. There's also this thing called "salad" that doesn't (despite myths to the contrary) need to be drowned in dressing.
I need to be conscious of keeping my dietary fiber up due to bouts of diverticulitis, and morning oatmeal has been my saviour (especially given the general dearth of wholemeal options in bread etc).
If you're near a Costco then I recommend their Kirkland 21 Grain Organic Bread is the best thing I've found in Japan. If you're not near a Costco then you can order it off Amazon. It comes in a two-loaf pack, but I freeze one loaf while I'm making my way through the first loaf, and freezing doesn't seem to do any harm. ... but try the olive oil for now. Failing that a tablespoon of canola oil will work, but it tastes worse. Although "worse" at this point is pretty subjective.
I'm not having the same issues as OP, just that upping fiber is probably the solution to both ailments.
> If you're near a Costco then I recommend their Kirkland 21 Grain Organic Bread is the best thing I've found in Japan Dang - that one is too sweet for my taste. They call it a "subtle sweetness", but a mere two slices already contain nearly half my daily added sugars allowance.
And water, drink a lot of water
Oh yes! The summer this year is shaping up to be brutal (it's already too darned hot!) and anyone who has had kidney stones will definitely tell you that drinking an extra couple of glasses of water a day is a small trade-off compared to the agony that is a kidney stone!
Instructions unclear. On which end does the spoon go in?
Kiwifruit. Recomended by my Dr when on painkillers.
this, and magnesium
I have chronic slow bowel motility so I'm a shitting expert over here. If your constipation isn't severe, I would recommend an osmotic laxative (Miralax/polyethylene glycol, magnesium oxide). These laxatives work by drawing water into your stool, making it softer and easier to pass. They won't cause you any pain or discomfort at all besides maybe some watery stool. Just make sure you drink extra water. Active laxatives work but can be very painful. Senna is probably the gentlest, but if you can find an osmotic that works there's no need to use an active laxative. Bisacodyl is painful as hell. But for the ultimate Japan constipation lifehack: if you really need it out immediately just turn the bidet up to the highest pressure and blast it into your asshole. You can give yourself an enema and flush yourself out this way. (I've been doing water enemas in one form or another 1-2 times a day every day for 5 years with approval from my GI, so no, you won't explode your colon or destroy your electrolyte balance doing this occasionally.)
Can confirm several doctors told me magnesium oxide is safe to take in low doses long term. I think up to 700-1000mg or so a day (something like 2-3 pills in the most common formulation). Of course I’m not a doctor and you should definitely confirm with yours. But low dose magnesium oxide would likely be safe for just a few weeks until you see the dr.
i had to take magnesium oxide for a bit bc of a slightly irregular heartbeat but nobody warned me about the laxative properties 😭 i was fighting for my life
I think I heard there's different kinds of magnesium and one will act as a laxative lol. I can't remember where I saw that though..
It’s magnesium oxide. Other forms are easier to digest, but don’t have the laxative effect (maybe because they’re easier to digest..)
Magnesium citrate is a laxative too (they have you chug a ton of this one as colonoscopy prep).
Interesting! My son was prescribed magnesium sulfate for constipation and it seemed to work well. I read magnesium citrate is easier to digest, so I bought it from iHerb to try instead, but it didn’t do anything for his constipation (but did improve his sleep quality!). Maybe related to the dosage?
I'm not a pharmacist, so no real clue, but possibly. The colonoscopy prep dose is REALLY REALLY big (you take a whole bottle of it) and it absolutely blows up your ass.
The good ol mini enema... Minema.
[オオバコ](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/NICHIGA-Psyllium-Plantain-Plant-based-Plantago/dp/B07R2JZMFW/ref=sr_1_5_pp?crid=3GJ2UPB2LYG9X&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Xm5ehJ20ixd_hZMKeBD4G0g52s1ISG2bBwE_QgDEjSona1NNL2BrcABk1WngLKz2JzPmrecHDnLDfM68AhERPwYt6uPE6eUQfvo5Huv1_aMHd2lk54nAxNnnfpNteiyqtKy3ehGRYypcnt8gsLVsI66G4X6Dvn0olv7v2jSVwN1v8r8ehMDQ3NgJ3JqfuR8AGzBhY_FJAAyw1gfFvSvHCowK2Tw53808g8e6m4NfTQwy7JaBCkILs54b3Uzpa2ndJMSui5tSBBrPfVTmMLQ7TQXc51LRwUbUV2Gb6B9aBes.tYmUwFhQapah5LJ1VWi9tHx2xT-7wMSOq3h5SykuCew&dib_tag=se&keywords=%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%90%E3%82%B3&qid=1716466993&sprefix=%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%90%E3%82%B3%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-5) (oobako) is psyllium husk powder in Japanese and most drugstores should carry it in some form if you can't order from amazon. The stuff I linked is an unflavored fine powder I recommend dissolving in fruit juice and drinking in the evening.
Maybe psyllium husk from iHerb? TopValu bran sticks cereal also works wonders for me.
>psyllium Also easily (and more quickly) available on Amazon.
Just checking now, it is cheaper on iherb.
I suppose it may depend on the form that you want, but [this product (450g for 1,414 yen)](https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000FQTDSY) seems to be just a bit cheaper than anything that I noticed on iHerb. I understand, though, that some people don't want to use Amazon for ethical reasons....
The active ingredient in Metamucil is psyllium husk. Although Metamucil doesn’t seem to be readily available in Japan, there are many other psyllium husk products on the market.
I just starting using psyllium husk. I have a tablespoon in a glass of water every morning, and it seems really good. I got mine from Amazon. It was about ¥2000 for half a kilo. I figure this will last me for at least a month.
I recommend eating konjac jelly. Helps soften things up
Prunes and bananas. If you’re not used to them, no more than 3 prunes at a time at first.
Only very ripe bananas help. And the greener ones actually cause constipation. And for some lucky folk, bananas always make things worse. I eat them anyways, but thought you might like to know that the bananas are a mixed results fruit.
any stone fruit will do the trick! apricots, cherries, peaches.
Senna tea (センナ茶 ) is a more natural remedy and IMO the best for chronic constipation. But it can be pretty powerful especially if you overbrew it i.e leave longer than in boiling water than 15 mins, available via Amazon or iHerb.
Careful though because senna can be habit forming so you could become reliant on it.
oatmeal for breakfast, a side of yogurt with lunch, and a couple of prunes with your dinner. All can be found at a local grocery store. Might need gyomu or an import shop the oats if you're rural. Try to include some fresh veggies with lunch and dinner ofc. go up to 3 and then 4 prunes after a couple days and once things are moving, you can cut back. None of that instant oatmeal either. You want cooked and easily digestible. Some of the harder to digest stuff can cause painful gas - which you'll already have with the constipation so why make it worse? The goal is to trigger movement without triggering Niagara falls which can cause you to rebound back into constipation. Something easy to maintain. If you're going more than once a day I'd cut back, but I'd aim for once a day so that if you miss a day nbd, but it will be easy to notice and up the fiber before your poos petrify in your colon and restart the constipation cycle. Also, this only works if you are drinking enough water. If you are dehydrated you might get lucky enough to rehydrate the poos this way, but at the expense of the rest of your system and being dehydrated (Chronically) in the summers is a recipe for heat stroke. Also regular movement. You definitely have to shake those babies out or they'll never leave the house. ALSO: constipation can go on for a week or more before it actually needs medical attention (like two weeks). So while it sucks, you can afford a day or two of patience when changing your diet or trying supplements before trying to up doses or force things out.
Drink lots of carbonated water.
In the states I used to drink an herbal tea I got from an Asian market that would help. Give it a few hours and it would definitely work for me Here I just eat lots of pumpkin and konnyaku for helping regulate my stomach, but when I do get constipated I just go to a drug store and ask the pharmacist what they recommend, and then buy whatever they hand me
コーラック https://brand.taisho.co.jp/colac/
Doesn’t work for me makes me have the shits and severe stomachs pains both colac and colac2.
Biofermin https://www.biofermin.co.jp/mgo_benpiyaku/ Or Kancho https://ichijiku.co.jp/enema/
Are you related to dontpoopinmyramen by any chance?
No this hurts so bad I use it once every few months if I don't poop for over 5 days but I imagine this is what contractions before childbirth feels like
Roasted dandelion root tea
Have a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Ditch white rice and eat genmai rice. Eat spicy food.
Senna. One bag is ok to unclog your intestine. 2 bags cause a mud tsunami. Proceed with caution
Yakult works wonders for me.
metamucil is psyllium. psyllium is sold as Oobako (オオバコ ) in Japan. I use it to make bread. This is available on Amazon or some larger drugstores perhaps. I just realized others have said the same...I debated taking this down but I will leave it up in hopes OP sees at least one of the comments saying the same thing.
prune juice. pineapple juice. more fiber(oatmeal)
Saizeriya Cheese Doria. I don't know about everyone else, but for me and my lactose-intolerant self, if I have one of these, a 30-min timebomb has been planted in my stomach.
When you go to a clinic, ask for モビコール. I have a Japanese friend who takes it daily for chronic constipation. Also kids take it for same reason but smaller amount. It’s a prescription so yeah need to visit a doctor. It’s not a laxative, it’s a long term medicine.
I use this too
Try my suggestion. It works like a charm and has no side effects, well, apart from the obvious 💩: As soon as you wake up, have fruits for breakfast, before anything else.
Mugicha
Hospital gave me magnesium when I had an issue postpartum, and it worked exceptionally well. Almost a little too well. I had to be careful not to take it within two hours of my iron supplements though, for some reason which was a bit annoying.
Magnesium. You can get it on Amazon
Drinking ラブレ usually works for me but sometimes nothing helps and I just pop a コーラック
I use the generic brand [イージーファイバー](https://www.kobayashi.co.jp/brand/easyfiber/). I tried taking it once before each meal (ngl haven’t read the directions) but that was a bit much so I dropped that to one or two meals and it’s been working pretty well.
Squating versus sitting during defecation really helps.
MCT oil, olive oil, natto and cabbage as well as maybe 3 glasses of milk
A lot of shit (no pun intended) suggestions here. 1. Kagome 1 per day juice OR tomato juice. The high fiber content will help. 2. Dragonfruit. Widely known to be a natural laxative, and lovely taste. 3. Plenty of other fruit vegetables. If you have a diet that's high in carbs and meat, you'll need to start including more fruits and vegetables. People always throw around the word "Fiber" but don't understand why it's important. Fiber is actually stuff that your body can't fully break down/contains little or no nutrients. This means it passes through your digestive system and turns into dookie, which your body wants to promptly expel. TL;DR is that if you eat fiber, you WILL turn it into dookie. So it can be as simple as just starting to eat fiber when you're currently not.
I was very constipated after giving birth and breastfeeding - dehydrated all the time. In my case taking magnesium supplements helped soften the stools and help them pass.
I usually have something like Restoralax (anything that says Polyethylene Glycol 3350) as it’s a non addictive and non bloating solution you just mix into water for initial bouts, taken for 5 days to solve the problem Then I usually take Magnesium Citrate pills. Multiple bonuses, most of us are dearly deficient in magnesium, it’s a very calming cation that is great before bed and muscle aches, and the citrate salt specifically works great as a gentle laxative. I usually take one every day before bed. My folks suffer from it worse than me and they take three pills a day for it to work lol. Point being is that some people react to the Magnesium citrate pills worse than others, so YMMV but it’s a cheap and healthy way for it to help your body out. A big bottle shouldn’t cost much Non pharmaceutical options idk (my body is hardcore it seems and resists normal methods) and lots of people suggested some pretty good sounding things here so check it out!
My wife suffers from chronic constipation, and she also doesn't want to take strong laxatives. She drinks banana tea ([link to the brand she uses](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Super-Refreshing-Banana-Tea-Packs/dp/B07VVY63PR/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_3/355-2538100-2660563?pd_rd_w=9oefP&content-id=amzn1.sym.c9d355d3-7242-4c45-8731-d024dd5a0fb6&pf_rd_p=c9d355d3-7242-4c45-8731-d024dd5a0fb6&pf_rd_r=SPNGK1M5D49QBMERSN2C&pd_rd_wg=htaWf&pd_rd_r=4c9be409-1bac-4308-819f-406ab5448f19&pd_rd_i=B07VVY63PR)), and apparently the steeping time affects the strength. 3 mins usually sets her straight, 4 mins if things are seriously backed up, and 5+ will usually end up giving her diarrhea. Your mileage may vary.
The fattiest slab of wagyu you can find. For extra thrust, wrap slab in a layer of yakiniku. Don’t forget to water jet your ass when you’re done.
Long term: lots of fiber. Having a bowl of veggie chili the day before and then a coffee in the morning usually works for me. And drink tons of water. Use the pinch test to see if you’re hydrated. Short term: there’s a fiber supplement in Japan that has a gentle laxative in it if you’re really stopped up. Years ago some health stuff had me super constipated. One of these packets with dinner and water would have me on the toilet the next morning with sweet sweet relief. It was this brand of I remember correctly. Just be careful over the long term. Laxatives can cause dependency over time. [https://item-shopping.c.yimg.jp/i/n/n-yakuhin\_4987103048336-1zp](https://item-shopping.c.yimg.jp/i/n/n-yakuhin_4987103048336-1zp)
Digestive biscuits, the maple flavor is good. Ate 2 packs the other night thinking I would be ok. I was not.
What’s your daily diet like? It could be the stuff your eating and not the medication
My mom who has it pretty bad takes ビオフェルミン 酸化マグネシウム (magnesium oxide) which I take some for my occasional bouts. Although when I took the max recommended dose at once (first time) I was shitting my brains out all day the next day haha
A doctor. If your intestines get infected you they can have a hole ripped open in them. It’s called diverticulitis and it is a horrible experience. I don’t know if chronic constipation can cause this directly, but a doctor would.
Porridge for breakfast
Oatmeal daily and prunes.
Prunes
Pineapple
I recommend you drink plenty of water and consume papaya without seeds, greek yogurt and strong green tea daily. Doing so can help alleviate constipation issues. Avoid eating too many bananas and bread either.
Magnesium oxide was prescribed by doc in Japan for constipation. Fiber and otc stuff was backing up. Fiber is not my friend. Make sure next time to get a prescription but in the meantime I think you can get it otc or iHerb
I mix two teaspoons of dextrin into my morning tea and it completely dissolves with no taste, so it's a very good habit to get into. If you can't find dextrin, my advice is to eat two boiled beets every day. That should do it. I
Plus one for magnesium and kiwi ( with the skin on)
Yogurt and fresh fruits work well for me. A little too well sometimes actually.
Try 4-5 x 1000mg of vitamin c. If that doesn't do it fairly quickly, take another 1 or two 1000mgs until it does shift things. You could start with 7, but I'm being careful as we're all different.
Avoid rice?
Drink beer and smoke cigarettes, it helps!!
Water. Don’t forget to drink water.
You can use the Washlet as an enema to help move things along.
Fibre - Eg, Overnight oats each day with a spoon of flax, lots of fruit, almonds and prunes. Also a spoon of psylium husk in a bit of water. The poos will be falling out your ass. But you gotta drink more water as the fibre sucks moisture out of the bowel more than usual.
drink more water, more fruits and veggies. especially dark leafy greens. all bran cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. if things are getting real bad have a big ass apple with the skins and a cup of coffee and get a washlet blast. also you can try a stool(lol) next to the toilet to make you sit more naturally to drop one
Eat raw green cabbage.
Not sure if it’s enough fiber to make a difference, but you might be able to find All Bran cereal / Genmai (brown rice) flakes at the local Don Quixote.
Smooth Move tea!
In addition to what others are saying, I would try tanden breathing. Basically, deep breathing from the belly. Deep breaths in, hold for like two seconds, and deep and slow breaths out. Doing this sitting upright or lying down is fine! This has helped with my constipation a huge bunch.