# How regular are your bowels? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929 "2008-07-01T17:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/21 "2008-07-01T20:45:32Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Man, everyone here (without problems) seems to be on a once-a-day schedule. I know it varies from person to person, but surely greater (and lower) frequencies are being underrepresented? [Hell, I don’t suppose it’d be correct to say it varies from person to person unless other frequencies were being underrepresented] [/QUOTE] Hey, I said I was an outlier! Hardly ever (constricted diet) or anytime at all (all-you-can-eat). ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/22 "2008-07-01T20:47:17Z")
My apologies; I must’ve missed your post. But are you sure you don’t average out to an inlier? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/23 "2008-07-01T21:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] Yikes. I’ve been taking fiber supplements for a while now, and I _still_ don’t go every day. I vacillate between every other day and every 2 days. [sub]There’s probably something wrong with me … [/hypochondriac][/sub] [/QUOTE] Same! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/24 "2008-07-01T21:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Are you saying you go twice a day, around 7 AM and 7 PM? Or are you saying you go once a day with almost no telling exactly when? [/QUOTE] I go anywhere from 0-3 times a day. I used 7AM because I’ll generally sit on the toilet for at least 15 minutes after I wake up regardless of whether anything actually gets accomplished. After that, I can get the urge any time. Luckily, I don’t usually get any urges in the evening, so I don’t get interrupted from any fun things. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/25 "2008-07-01T22:19:36Z")
Every night at about 10:30 or 11:00, as long as I keep with the Bran Buds. I wish I were a morning person, but what can you do? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/26 "2008-07-01T22:20:21Z")
Usually about 5-7 hours after I stop drinking. Otherwise, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/27 "2008-07-01T22:29:27Z")
Haha! My kind of TMI! Not regular at all. If I’m being good, eating normal people amounts, and avoiding milk products, every 2 or 3 days. If I go all-I-can-eat, every other day. Milk products, every 3-4 hours. Isn’t cheese supposed to, well, bind one up? I have a real love/hate relationship with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/28 "2008-07-01T22:41:19Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] I used to be three times a day clockwork; morning when I woke up, 3:30 just as I was getting home from school, and around 11:00 (always interrupting my [very late, I know] dinner). [/QUOTE] I’ve never had what you would call normal bowels and these days they’re less normal than ever, but isn’t three times a day really, really often? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/29 "2008-07-01T22:46:30Z")
This thread is giving me that impression, but it always seemed natural to me. The rule of thumb I’ve heard is that anything from three times a day to three times a week is considered normal, so… I guess it’s right at the top of that. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/30 "2008-07-01T23:07:30Z")
I usually go 2 or 3 times a day, but it’s not something you could set your clock by. Mid-morning, maybe, early afternoon, and then sometime late afternoon/early evening. ---
**Author:** ![Jiminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jiminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jiminator)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/31 "2008-07-02T03:07:58Z")
This has always been a subject of intrigue for my friends and family. I am 6 foot tall and not an ounce over 150 pounds. I rarely need to take a number 2 more than once a week. I eat two solid meals a day, usually a hearty lunch and a full dinner, but I just don’t have to go that often. I turn 30 this month, and I always expected that I would start expanding by now, but I still have some of the clothes I bought in college, and I use the same belt notch I’ve always used. My roommate goes twice a day every day. He’s not much bigger than I, maybe 15 pounds, and eats basically the same schedule. Our agreement has always been that he will buy the toilet paper. I probably don’t go through an entire roll in 6 months. I should test that theory just to see… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/32 "2008-07-02T03:13:39Z")
Considering that in the last twelve hours, I have taken two Fleet’s Phospho-Soda preparations plus two Dulcolax pills, it should come as no surprise I have crapped at least twelve times today. Now \*that’s \* regular. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/33 "2008-07-02T03:22:15Z")
Colonoscopy coming up or something? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/34 "2008-07-02T03:25:07Z")
I eat 5,000 calories a day in mostly lightly processed foods, and I run 50 miles a week. The end product of that 5,000 calories is a pretty large volume. I learned pretty quickly that it is exceedingly difficult to go for a five mile run with the equivalent of a meatloaf stuck up your ass. As such I am like Pavlov’s dog, a poop on demand kind of guy. All I need to do is think about going for a jog, and I will suddenly need to take a crap. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/35 "2008-07-02T03:28:52Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Colonoscopy coming up or something? [/QUOTE] Bingo. Actually, I am having a colonsocopy \*and \* an endoscopy at the same time, bright and early tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/36 "2008-07-02T03:44:11Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I am a Lady, so all I will say is that prescription pain medicine can be somewhat…binding. That is all. [/QUOTE] I thought women didn’t poop at all 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/37 "2008-07-02T04:35:39Z")
Strange side-note: I’m “retired” and don’t do much around the house, so as a result, hang out in my garage/shop alot. Pretty much like clockwork, within 3 minutes of walking out there, be it morning, noon or night, I gotta run back to the house and pinch off some rope. It’s uncanny and frankly kinda weird. Sometimes, I’ll think about going out to start a project, and **BINGO!** Turtle’s head! I’m thinking about hanging a sign up. “Laxative Lodge”. I’ve actually got the place plumbed for water, but don’t want to put in a second septic tank on the lot. I figure I could hook up a terlet to throw the odd wizz, but don’t want to be cutting any fudge out there. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/38 "2008-07-02T05:04:00Z")
Regularity is more important than frequency. I’m fine, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/39 "2008-07-02T05:26:35Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Colonoscopy coming up or something? [/QUOTE] Aw, you missed your opportunity; my post in response to that soft toss would have been, “Colonoscopy or hot date?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929/40 "2008-07-02T07:49:16Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Not at all. I have IBS that fluctuates between days and days of constipation to days of every hour. (though it’s been more on the constipation side for a while now) If I don’t regularly take extra fiber I’m in serious trouble. [/QUOTE] Same here. Metamucil is my FRIEND. I’m a much happier person if I get enough fiber to keep things in the Goldilocks zone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-regular-are-your-bowels/454929.md?page=3)