Slow transit/IBS and Optifibre

[Rumours]

Hi, I wonder if anyone has experience with Optifibre? I have slow transit constipation and IBS and am currently prescribed Resolor, Linaclotide and Dulcolax. I have tried Probio7 Advanced for the past year but that didn’t seem helpful. The other medications are somewhat effective although I still suffer with constipation and bloating. I was wondering if Optifibre might help. I’d be grateful for any advice, many thanks!

[Chefboy2478]

I've been using Optifibre for about 6 months now for slow transit and it jas definitely helped me

[Rumours in reply to Chefboy2478]

Thanks I’ll definitely give it a try!

[Hidden]

Hi I’ve beeen using this for 9 months woudnt be without it now x

[Rumours]

Thanks Pansy that’s very encouraging! Fingers crossed it works for me and I can gradually stop all my other laxatives, Can I ask do you use it in conjunction with anything else and how much do you use daily?

[Autumn_Leaves]

Please let us know how you get on with Optifibre. I too have slow transit and IBS-C and the physical discomfort caused by trapped gas and stool blockages throughout the colon actually disturbs my sleep. I’ve just done several months of the low FODMAP diet and it hasn’t helped significantly. I don’t think it can help because of the slow transit and the gas fermentation that arises from the slow moving colon contents. Unless I can fix the slow transit, or at least improve it, I can’t see things getting better.

[Rumours in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Completely empathise with you, every day is a struggle and I find what I can eat one day gives me problems another, it’s a chronic condition and difficult to manage! I think I’ve probably tried every laxative under the sun and they all have side effects, all we can do is take one day at a time and hope for the best! It’s good to hear from fellow sufferers though, makes you feel not so alone, best wishes x

[Gardenlover2020 in reply to Rumours]

I’m the same as you , I take Prucalopride, Bisacodyl & cosmocol to keep me going , I’m pretty sure I have slow transit / lazy bowel , I’m awaiting a transit scan at the moment .

Each day is difficult & that’s putting it mildly , the morning bathroom battle , followed by the rest of the day , uncomfortable due to trapped wind & not enough stool passing .

I too have done the FODMAP diet with no great success & it has left me anxious about ever bit of food I eat , also I seem to have stuck to a lactose & gluten free diet to try & help things , which is really inconvenient & also expensive!

I agree with the comments from fellow sufferers it is just a case of taking one day at a time x

[Jenny3267 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

HiYou may wish to look into SIBO. There is the hydrogen type and methane type. Methane can cause slow transit. Ive also tried low FODMAP and it’s made little difference. I can barely eat any fruit veg or fibre in general, I get severely bloated.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Jenny3267]

SIBO is certainly a factor to consider but it is also VERY difficult to treat with slow transit because the contents of the large intestine aren’t moving and so it backs up into the small intestine, including the bacteria which don’t belong in the small intestine. You have to keep the contents of the large intestine moving if treatment is to be successful. Otherwise SIBO happens again and you’re back where you started from.

The alt-health sector pretends it can treat SIBO and can miraculously diagnose by psychic powers or having some sort special xray eyes, just as they can diagnose “leaky gut” and then sell you a ton of useless supplements or diets that make no sense. As you can tell I have no faith in these charlatans and I’ve witnessed many friends with various conditions spend a small fortune on fake diagnoses and fake cures and get nowhere.

Unfortunately SIBO isn’t often treated on the NHS. The medications are extremely expensive and it’s a postcode lottery as to whether you can get them on NHS prescription. But, and it’s a huge BUT, the treatment won’t be successful unless there is a way to address the slow transit problem. There is a private clinic in London where they treat SIBO and other gastro conditions and run be proper gastro physicians (and not abracadabra merchants) but that’s going to be very expensive, but the same caveats re transit time still applies. If my slow transit problem could be treated effectively — I haven’t responded to any of the drugs, diets, laxatives etc — only then it would be feasible to treat SIBO.

[Jenny3267 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Completely agree. It is very challenging.

[Orchid99]

Hi, it's great to hear from others that are suffering with this awful slow transit, I'm newly diagnosed after 2yrs of hell and having had a nuclear transit study, I'm still waiting to find out what my treatment options are for this but currently take cosmocol daily to keep my bowels moving. With my slow transit I unfortunately get the added bonus of overflow diarrhoea attacks frequently with awful cramps, I always wonder how I can be constipated. I ended up excluding so much food out of my diet doing low fodmap because I always thought I was suffering with ibs d, and now I have a fear of food because I'm scared of the painful attacks.

[Rumours in reply to Orchid99]

Yes I absolutely agree with you, it’s so debilitating. It’s all a matter of trial and error with food and meds. I feel my digestive system plays up whatever I eat and food becomes the enemy - no appetite and constant bloating. Even the gastroenterologists don’t seem to know what to do with us! I’m currently trying Optifibre on top of my regular meds but to be honest don’t as yet feel any better for it, I feel like I’ve got a breeze block in my belly! It will be interesting to know what treatment options you are offered, let us know how you get on, take care x

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Orchid99]

I didn’t mention in my other posts that I was referred to a pelvic floor nurse who was useless. All she did was suggest things I had already tried or was already doing, and I had the feeling she was just making it up as she went along, coming up with random suggestions like “do you eat any yogurt” as if that’s going to make a difference. It was all via telephone consultation because of the pandemic, I don’t know who she thought she was talking to, she had that manner that some people have when talking to elderly people or little children, very patronising. I didn’t have tests at the pelvic floor department, they thought my CT colonoscopy results were enough. No transit tests, nothing. She sent me a leaflet on how to sit on the toilet properly. As if! I did the “blue muffin test” that I came across online as a way to gauge your own transit time. I passed the blue colour after 5 then 7 days. Somehow I don’t think how I sit on the toilet is going to change that…

[Rumours in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Ha ha! Absolutely! You obviously know more about slow transit than she did! X

[Gardenlover2020 in reply to Orchid99]

I know where you’re coming from , I’m awaiting a slow transit scan & have also got stuck with a fear of food after doing the Low FODMAP diet , I wish I’d never started it !

[Rumours in reply to Gardenlover2020]

Good luck with your scan at least you’ll get a diagnosis! I must admit I haven’t tried low Fodmap as I’m not very disciplined so can understand why you’re fed up if there’s no improvement - let us know how you get on x

[Gardenlover2020 in reply to Rumours]

Thanks I will x

[Autumn_Leaves]

After trying just about every laxative and eventually Resolor, I have ultimately ended up with a Peristeen TIA device. Resolor worked fine for the first week but by 2-3 months later I was back to where I started. The Peristeen device has its challenges as you can imagine, and feeling motivated to use is definitely an issue.

I’ve followed the low FODMAP protocol under the supervision of a specialist NHS dietitian since early June 2021 and I’ve just about completed most of my re-introduction food challenges. I’ve found that most of the FODMAP challenges have resulted in more physical discomfort which indicates that I have a low FODMAP threshold rather than problems with specific food groups though the wheat challenges were the worst. I can live without pasta made from wheat as there are plenty of alternatives now, but I haven’t challenged barley and rye which were a regular part of my diet before.

In the past, before slow transit developed, I discovered that the dreadful diarrhoea I suffered from constantly was actually lactose intolerance, and cutting out milk specifically and switching to plant milk worked like an almost instant miracle. Not everyone is lactose intolerant including many people with IBS and I’m not a fan of excluding foods from the diet unless necessary.

I’ve always preferred whole foods and a plant based diet, so it’s never been a lack of fibre or too much junk food with me. I don’t respond to Fibogel, lactulose, Ducolax. Senokot etc and don’t even get me started on Macrogol and “osmotic” laxatives — they don’t have any impact on transit time and when something eventually happens it’s like lactose intolerance all over again. I refuse to touch that stuff. I’ve had colonoscopies cancelled because the preparation failed 100%. I can take Picolax and it does absolutely nothing. I’ve spend probably in the region of £1000 on probiotics and prebiotics last year but with zero impact on my gut transit time. So it’s not for want of trying.

Because of all these colon problems I’ve become a total gut health nerd. I know that some people can in time, slowly and gradually, reintroduce the higher FODMAP groups and (in theory) improve their gut microbiome. I’ve learned that probiotics only have a transitory impact on the microbiome and that if they don’t help then there’s little benefit in taking them. I make my own kefir now — the bacteria break down the lactose so I’m OK with it. I could go on but I’ve written plenty! Slow transit isn’t just IBS-C though and it’s an extremely difficult condition to manage.

[Rumours]

Many thanks for a very interesting read, you are certainly very knowledgeable and have undoubtedly “been through the mill”. I’m sure the Peristeen irrigation device is very time consuming and a pain and I’m sorry nothing else has been effective for you. We live in hope that science will bring us new medications and in the meantime us fellow slow transits try our best to navigate very difficult digestive systems. I must admit my diet isn’t great and I’m a chocoholic but I seem to suffer whatever I eat! Thanks again for your post, take care x

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Rumours]

Thanks for your reply. I was so desperate I signed up to be a research participant in a Parkinson’s Disease study. They wanted some IBS-C people and as I lost my mum to PD I was up for it. They were researching the microbes living in the gut so I thought maybe there might be some answers in the microbes but this was right before the pandemic, so the study was put on hold. I did manage to submit a “sample” just before the first lockdown but my transit test which they had arranged for me had to be cancelled.

Not to be defeated, I discovered another research programme that had been suspended due to Covid but there was an online form for people who wanted more info and I thought I might as well see what this is all about. Earlier this year I unexpectedly received an email about a research project and they wanted samples from the UK, so I agreed and they sent me the kit and duly sent it back. I have the results but it’s all totally meaningless to me, just a list of bacteria though there is a simple graph showing a few of the common ones in relation to other people. But with Googling around I learned that one I have rather a lot of is associated with slow transit! Well, there’s a surprise, haha! But the question is, what can I do about it?!! If that’s even possible. I’m going to send the results to the very lovely research lady who leads the PD study and see if she can shed any light on it.

Maybe the answer is what lives in our gut, who knows? But as yet, I don’t have a clue.

[Orchid99 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Wouldn't be methane by any change?

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Orchid99]

No, this one is Oscillospira. It’s also associated with a low BMI which also applies in my case, as well as other things. From what I’ve learned so far, which isn’t all that much TBH, it’s probably not just one type of bacteria that has a specific effect, it’s more of a consortium of microbes that occur together.

I did have a methane-producing archea species called Methanoculleous. I don’t know if I have a lot or little of it, or whether it’s relevant in IBS or slow transit. That’s the problem with just getting a list of bacteria, there’s no real context. Googling around is fun but I’m totally out of my depth when it comes to reading the research papers.

I’m certain that the worst of my symptoms are caused by excessive fermentation of colon contents hanging around longer than it should. I’m certain there is “dysbiosis” going on in there. There’s a whole industry of probiotics and prebiotics and so on, but whether these things do any good is another matter. The people who research all this say that the effects of probiotics are only temporary and last only as long as you consume the product. I wish I had an answer.

[Gardenlover2020 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

That’s interesting regarding the high bacteria & slow transit , it would be very useful to get an answer on what to do about it , I hope you find out .

[Rumours in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Oh wow! The plot thickens! Keep us updated would be very interesting to know! Many thanks x

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Rumours]

I’m going to be spending an afternoon with the PD researchers soon. She tells me she has my gut microbiome results though she says there is a lot of data from all the participants and it’s all with the statisticians for analysis. The PD researchers are looking for quite specific things though. It’s real high end science-y stuff, but the way I see it is that it’s an awful disease for anyone to go through and I watched my mum go through it. I felt quite powerless to help so this is in memory of my mum, in a way, to contribute to bank of knowledge that might help future generations. But there are my own selfish reasons, to see if there’s something that might help shed some light on decades of my own problems with IBS and gut symptoms.

[Meleber]

Maybe cascara sagrada is worth trying. I'm a long time user and are pleased with the effect it has. In the past I used bisacodyl but my intestines didn't like it. I use cascara twice or three times daily and it's approved by my gastroenterologist 🙂

[Rumours in reply to Meleber]

Thanks so much I’ve never tried that and like you Bisacodyl does give me awful gripes, do you use it together with prucalopride? X

[Meleber in reply to Rumours]

I only use cascara sagrada (rhamnus purshiana) but since a week also take digestive enzymes with my dinner.

[Rumours in reply to Meleber]

Thanks will give it a try got nothing to lose! X

[Meleber in reply to Rumours]

I take 2 capsules each time and at least twice daily. The capsules I take contain 450mg rhamnus purshiana from the bark.