Calcium & Constipation

[Saintgermain]

I had my primary debulking April 2021, finished last treatment October 2021 then had hernia surgery in March of this year wore an abdominal binder for 3 months and had better bowel movements than I did my whole life just saw both my Gyno/Onc and Onc NED CA125 holding at 7 from 4200 before surgery as advised I’ve started taking Calcium constipation is back I eat fruit, veggies, take flax and chia seeds ton of water has anyone been having this experience with these horse size tablets?

[Lyndy]

Tbh I gave up. Recently I discovered that the key part is the vit D, the calcium is good but not at the cost of your bowel working properly ( my doctor would not accept that calcium pills bind you up). I have vit D through pills or a spray x

[Saintgermain in reply to Lyndy]

Thanks LyndyI take a vitamin D3 spray my last Dexa Scan was normal I agree with you very binding have you noticed an improvement since you stopped?

[bamboo89]

I take a big tablet of calcium daily and it has no effect on my bowel. What does have a bad effect is if I don't eat my jumbo rolled oats every day, then I get constipated, whether I'm taking calcium or not - I can stuff myself with fruit and veg, but they make no difference to constipation, its the oats that do... for me anyway. I do, though, always take magnesium at the same time as the calcium, no idea if that makes a difference.

[Mumsie13 in reply to bamboo89]

Yes, magnesium can make a difference. It gives me a looser bowel movement which is just as well as I am on iron tablet's which I don't tolerate at all well. I have the soluble sachets but I don't know if it would affect everyone the same. Certain types of magnesium are known to affect bowels more than others.

[Saintgermain in reply to Mumsie13]

Hi Mumsie

I'll have to add a Magnesium tablet haven't taken that I've heard that iron is hard.

[Mumsie13 in reply to bamboo89]

What is jumbo rolled oats? Is it a bar or a mix? Must admit it would be rather handy as a bar as kefir soaked oats gets rather tedious.

[bamboo89 in reply to Mumsie13]

Ha ha,, no, its just jumbo sized rolled oats sold in a box, technically for making porridge, but that's not what I do with them, I hate porridge. I just put a portion in a bowl, pour boiling water over and wait about 15-20 minutes to cool, add whatever I want (usually pumpkin and flax seeds, a few brokenn up nuts, and fruit), add a little milk and eat it... I usually go off and shower or whatever after pouring the hot water on, then its ready when I'm done... I use Duchy Organic jumbo oats from Waitrose, I prefer to avoid a daily dose of glyphosate with my breakfast... I think Tesco mightdo them too, but not Duchy ones. I often don't eat them till much later in the day, might have them at lunchtime or later.

[Saintgermain in reply to bamboo89]

Just saw this post with your details about the jumbo oats thanks

[Saintgermain in reply to Mumsie13]

I'm in the states but found the oats on Amazon the shipping was a little high I assume they are coming from the UK worth a shot.

[Mumsie13 in reply to Saintgermain]

I noticed they were a Duchy product. Prince Charles is doing really well our of his brand. Haha.

[bamboo89 in reply to Mumsie13]

Yea, I suppose, but I buy those because I like the taste (oats can be quite different brand to brand, I dislike the Jordans brand) but primarily because they are organic...

[Saintgermain in reply to bamboo89]

I agree I've tried several different organic oats not a lot of them float my boat ha!

[Saintgermain in reply to Mumsie13]

Being from the states you've just educated me "a Dutchy product" very interesting his own brand wonder if the Queen eats them daily she's got longevity ha!

[Saintgermain in reply to bamboo89]

Hi Bamboo,

I stuff myself with fruits and veggies too nada I love beets they were doing the trick but seems that my body has gotten used to them. What kind of jumbo oats do you use?

[Torian in reply to bamboo89]

Oats are a wonder food in my opinion. I have oats every day mostly as a form of porridge or overnight oats if I can with blueberries or homemade fruit compote , nut milks etc if I don’t have it I struggle to get things moving.

[Saintgermain in reply to bamboo89]

I'm going to get back to the oats everyday I agree veggies fruits have no impact cherries seem to cause some movement I started taking the magnesium a day ago thanks for the tip I'll take it at the same time as the calcium.

[bamboo89 in reply to Saintgermain]

I feel obliged to add that I also take Vitamin K2 (not vitamin K) with calcium too... K2 helps nudge calcium out of the bloodstream and into the bones. I take it because I don't eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kombucha or kimchi. Fermented foods are high in vitamin K2, so if you eat those on a daily basis, you probably don't need to take it separately...

As a side note,it does get so boring eating oats every day, I often have to force myself to do it, but its not worth what happens if I don't eat them😄

[Mumsie13]

Oh, I see 😀. Sounds quite delicious but I have to be a bit careful of having too many nuts and seeds (although I love them) and as I have a stoma but sounds as if it would be nice once in a while.

[bamboo89 in reply to Mumsie13]

You don't need the nuts and seeds, I just add those cos they're healthy, the oats do the job on their own, if you can have those with a stoma. I dread being told to adopt a low residue diet, I'll be permanently bunged up and probably get terrible piles...

[Tillymint61]

I was advised not to got too heavy on high fibre element of my diet as both drug and disease relate problems with constipation meant that the high fibre side of things, that I had lived all my life eating actually sit in the bowel taking up fluid which compounds the constipation. I now have my porridge oats in the morning with a small glass of fresh orange juice. I avoid seeds. I now only have white bread. Whilst I haven't completely written off high fibre rich foods I am cautious . I have fruit and veg daily . I drink plenty of water. Ian taking a vitamin D supplement as I can't be in sun ad side effect of Rubraca it's not recommended.

It took awhile gerecommended tting a balance. If you are taking calcium because your bloods showed a need to,I am not sure that you should consider not taking it. If you aren't already using a little help with prescribed laxative speak to GP.

I was diagnosed in 2019. Debulking surgery 2020 further chemo post op. 10 months Avastin. Reoccurance and 2nd line chemo 2021 Rubraca for last 6 months. Waiting on scan results as 125 rising over last 3 months.

[Saintgermain in reply to Tillymint61]

Tillymint,

Always appreciate your input I think I was born constipated ha! I do have flax and chia seed daily in my fruit. The gyno/onc told me to start taking calcium because of the hysterectomy but my blood calcium is perfect it was running high a couple years ago before this journey had surgery to remove a growth on parathyroid its been perfect ever since. I pray that your scan is clear. Hugs from Chicago

[Tillymint61 in reply to Saintgermain]

Thanks.x