# Your cures for constipation? No jokes please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614 "2011-06-07T10:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/41 "2011-06-07T22:14:04Z")
I drink prune juice and it works very well. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/42 "2011-06-07T22:53:11Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > šŸ˜‰ > > Though in fairness, the OP did say ā€œno jokesā€ but after popping with more reasonable commentary, I couldnā€™t resist a bit of humor!! Well, itā€™s kind of funny, but it might actually be true in a sort of outside-the-box way. A way to trick yourself in to going, by thinking ā€œoh, I mustnā€™t go nowā€. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/43 "2011-06-08T02:39:28Z")
Within half an hour after my morning coffee things get moving. I wouldnā€™t use it for first-line treatment but I know for me itā€™d make a great maintenance sort of thing once everything was working again. I know somebody who swears by, though hates, prune juice. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™d rather just be constipatedā€¦bleah. But theyā€™re on medication that stops the works nicely so something must be done. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/44 "2011-06-08T03:07:57Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I know somebody who swears by, though hates, prune juice. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™d rather just be constipatedā€¦bleah. But theyā€™re on medication that stops the works nicely so something must be done. Eww. Prunes are much much nicer than prune juice; nasty stuff. Iā€™d sooner let someone punch me in the face than drink prune juice, but I could imagine eating a prune again voluntarily. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/45 "2011-06-08T03:15:50Z")
Well, prunes are dried plums. I wonder if just eating plums would do it. I think thereā€™s certain kinds of plums used to make prunes, though, and not the kind you usually get at the store. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/46 "2011-06-08T03:43:46Z")
Prunes are good because (in my opinion) they have a great mouth-feel. You donā€™t get that with the juice, you just get the taste, which isā€¦mediocre, at best. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/47 "2011-06-08T04:01:32Z")
Ok, the best answers have been given (the only one Iā€™d add is that a full glass of warm water with 1/2 tsp of table salt is pretty damn awesome - but be near your toilet, 'cause itā€™ll turn to diarrhea real quick!) so now Iā€™m gonna get Mama Bear on youā€¦ If you start moving your bowels again, but your stool is either liquid or thin and ribbony, donā€™t wait for your doctorā€™s appointment in 2 weeks, but get in to the ER ASAP. If you have worsening abdominal pain, or if your abdomen gets hard, get to the ER. If you try the Magnesium citrate and it doesnā€™t work within 2 hours, get to the ER. All of these are issues my SO had about 2 years ago when he was ā€œconstipatedā€. Just before his bowel perforated and he ended up having emergency bowel surgery at 2 am and came out with a bouncing baby colostomy. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/48 "2011-06-08T09:00:29Z")
Banana before going to bed at night. Works perfectly well for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/49 "2011-06-08T12:19:42Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Well, prunes are dried plums. I wonder if just eating plums would do it. I think thereā€™s certain kinds of plums used to make prunes, though, and not the kind you usually get at the store. They will, but only to the extent that most fresh fruit will loosen things up a bit. I think itā€™s an osmotic thing with the dried fruit. Also, itā€™s a lot easier to eat six prunes than six large plums. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/50 "2011-06-09T01:55:21Z")
I have chronic constipation. My doctor says, ā€œDrink waterā€. It keeps me peeing several times during the night, but does nothing to soften the stools. I have tried eating, say, a half dozen prunes every day. No particular help. When I started taking metformin, I was warned to start slowly because it can lead to diarrhea. Ha! I take metamucil twice a way with plenty of water. I suppose it helps, but not much. After I had a colonoscopy a month ago, the doctor said that next time, he would prescribe a much more powerful cleansing agent, because the one I used (and I followed instructions exactly) just didnā€™t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/51 "2011-06-09T04:11:13Z")
After my first baby, I was horribly constipated. Being consitpated and having an episiotomy is, to put it mildly, miserable. I vowed that would _not_ happen again with baby #2, and drank plenty of prune juice after delivery. It did not, indeed, happen. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/52 "2011-06-09T05:56:12Z")
2 tsp of ā€œcompletely dissolvableā€ fiber powder, 2 - 4 times a day in tea or water. can also be added to cooking food (like pasta etc) šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614/53 "2011-06-10T20:47:21Z")
I eat Yoplait yogurt when I get bunged up. Other yogurts taste better but they donā€™t have the same effect. I donā€™t know whether the cultures are different or if thereā€™s some additive in the Yoplait that gets me going. Two days of Yoplait for breakfast and the old crap factory starts working overtime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cures-for-constipation-no-jokes-please/584614.md?page=2)