To shit or not to shit?

September 6, 2005 3:30 PM

How to handle chronic constipation?

I've been constipated off and on (mostly on) since I was 10-11 years old. In adulthood, I tend to go once every 3-4 days. Some things (meds, metamucil, exercise) help, and occasionally I'll go daily for 5 or 6 days at a stretch, then it's back to being plugged up. The doctors have been pretty much useless, mostly recommending over-the-court meds, but some telling me that I should be taking metamucil at least once a day (apparently for the rest of my life).

Recently, I've had periods up to 6 days long without a bowel movement. Towards the end I feel like crap (pun intended) and my skin is awful. That prompted me to use an over-the-counter enema kit (worked pretty well) and one of the 'stimulant' anti-constipation drugs (useless).

But what am I going to do for the rest of my life? I hate having to think about how often I take a shit! I'm 35 and I don't relish decades of worrying about this and the negatives of constant constipation. I also don't like the idea of taking metamucil twice a day forever, though I don't know what negatives there are in doing so, if any.

As well, what -are- the negatives of chronic constipation, in terms of diseases that may kill me (colon cancer? Crohn's?)

posted by anonymous to health (50 comments total)

Ummmmmm.... Eat more fiber? Whole grain break/pasta/anything instead of white flour, etc. etc. Have you tried this without success?

You can take fiber supplements in capsules, too.
posted by trevyn at 3:39 PM on September 6, 2005

Er, bread, not break.
posted by trevyn at 3:40 PM on September 6, 2005

You did not mention what your diet consists of, or whether adding fiber to your diet (in the food you eat or with supplements like Metamucil) and whether that has any effect on your stools. You seem to balk al the notion of taking regular fiber supplements, but if that does the trick... ??
posted by pmbuko at 3:42 PM on September 6, 2005

I would suggest more of the same. Eat more fiber. Drink lots more water. I use psyllium that I buy at Trader Joe's and I use it daily. It's called "Secrets of the Psyllium" It seems to work much much beter than something like metamucil. Start the dose low and increase until you have daily bowel movements. Oh by the way I am not a doctor.
posted by snowjoe at 3:46 PM on September 6, 2005

Psyllium is your savior. My SO has high cholesterol so he, and consequently I, started taking a couple tablespoons of it every night and we started having the most amazing shits, regularly, of course. All fiber is absolutely not alike. I find flavored stuff repulsive, capsules and Benefiber pretty weak. I never though I would find shitting so fascinating, but really, it can happen.
posted by scazza at 3:47 PM on September 6, 2005

You don't say what your diet is otherwise, but increasing fiber (assuming it's low) intake helped me. Granted, Metamucil is unpleasant at first, but I've taken it once a day for several years and it's no big deal now. There are also new products that claim to be much more palatable you could try. I take Metamucil capsules when I travel, but I think they're too expensive to use every day.

If you don't want to take something every morning then try a high fiber cereal like Mini-wheat's or something for breakfast every morning. A serving or 2 of most of those has at least as much fiber as Metamucil (or whatever.) For me the fiber supplement is just more convenient.

On preview: what everyone else said.
posted by sevenless at 3:49 PM on September 6, 2005

Fiber makes a huge difference. I was constipated my whole first year of college because of an awful diet. As soon as I got back home and started eating normally again (fruit and vegetables at every meal) I was golden. I also eat grapenuts and oats for breakfast, which I think makes a difference. My grandparents go for the more extreme All-Bran.

If that doesn't help, there are things you can do, at least in the UK. My grandmother had awful problems with constipation when she was about your age and got an "anal stretch" (no, I'm not making this up) operation while she was still in England. When she came to America and told her doctors about it, they were shocked and had apparently never heard of such a thing! But it helped her out, and if adding a bunch of fiber to your diet doesn't do it, maybe that's worth looking into (as gruesome as it sounds).
posted by puffin at 3:51 PM on September 6, 2005

Oh and yes, negatives, definitely colon cancer. So much stuff, red meat especially, stays in your colon forever. You must flush that stuff out. It was the thought of all the toxic stuff that's sitting in my colon that made me start with the psyllium.

Also, since fiber is the source of gas, know that psyllium results in scentless gas. It's the broccoli and greens that cause the deadly stuff.
posted by scazza at 3:53 PM on September 6, 2005

Well, when one of my kids went through this, and it's certainly no fun, we were told to give enema's two days in a row (to clear any blockage), then Milk of Magnesia daily for 4 to 6 weeks, amount gradually tapered off. Meanwhile it was a matter of training and diet - more fiber, water, etc. and a set time for daily toilet duty, whether he felt he had to or not. I don't think going every 3-4 days is bad, if it's regular. Pay very close attention to your body's signals - never ignore the slightest urge.

Karo corn syrup works well too - can't think of any harmful effects from that.

Also, if you haven't already, research foods that can cause constipation and avoid them (you may be sensitive; bananna's are a no-no for my kid).
posted by LadyBonita at 3:57 PM on September 6, 2005

I had a problem with this last year when my doctor put me on 200% the daily RDA for iron. I stopped up completely. She told me to use colace (basically an oil in pill form) and that caused constipation with intermittent oily diarrhea. Finally we gave up (and I got iron through an IV), but it messed my system up really bad and took a while for me to get regular again. This is what works for me:

Try clockwork: http://www.tryclockwork.com/clockworks/default.asp
You can get it at drugstore.com, and I've found it at a local Walgreens, too.

The nice thing about clockwork is the mix of soluble and insoluble fibers (including the all-popular psyllium) and it also has gut-friendly bacteria. It's sweetened with stevia, not sugar, and on the whole is one of the least offensive tasting fibers I've ever taken. It is designed to be taken once every two days. The downside? It's expensive.

Your other options are: eat more fiber. Make sure you eat five servings of veg a day and two of fruit. You'll shit on a fairly regular basis. Also, do trigger foods constipate you? Some people can't tolerate cheese or other milk products. Other people can eat one slice of white-flour bread and stop up cold. Heavy fiber cereals can work for some people but have never worked for me. I get even more constipated (often these cereals only have one type of fiber anyway...you should be getting both for good health).

Shoot for 30 grams of fiber a day. Eat more legumes. Eat more rice. Eat more oatmeal, or 7-grain cereal for breakfast.

(Also, if you're in an emergency situation and would like to avoid the enema route, you can buy over-the-counter stool softener suppositories. Not fun, but it will get you out of a tight spot.)
posted by digitalis at 4:06 PM on September 6, 2005

Additional note: a couple of times a week try to ingest some of your vegetables in raw form (cooking breaks down fiber). Raw celery (maybe with peanut butter), salads, raw carrots, etc. And a good source of omega-3 oils can help sometimes.
posted by digitalis at 4:08 PM on September 6, 2005

The cereal wit the highest fiber, but you may want to add sugar, Uncle Sam's.

Also (god my fiber obsession is really being revealed, here live, on AskMe), I make quick steel cut oats with 2 tblsp of flax meal. Getting flax meal and not flax seeds is very important, unless you are going to crush them yourself. Flax seeds have to be ground up in order to give you any benefit at all. The skin and inside and everything of the seed has to be let loose to do its work on your colon, otherwise the seed passes as a whole unit, like corn. Here's my precious oatmeal recipe:

1/4c McCann's Quick Steel Cut Oats
2 tblsp flax meal
1.5c H20
2 tblsp Olivio (yes, makes it yummy creamy. If you use butter, only use 1 tblsp)
3 tblsp brown sugar
2 tblsp raisins, optional.

1. Bring water to boil and add oats. Turn down the heat to a simmer, set the timer for 15 minutes.
2. After the first 2 minutes add the flax meal and raisins. Stir your oats regularly and vigorously.
3. When the timer goes off, add the butter and brown sugar and serve.

This produces looser stools than those well formed by psyllium, so you may want to reduce the flax, to your own taste.
posted by scazza at 4:10 PM on September 6, 2005

Dehydration. Drink a lot of water on a regular basis. If you get the slightest bit dehydrated, fiber can actually work against you instead of for you.
posted by digitalis at 4:11 PM on September 6, 2005

I think the above advice is good, especially the eating-your-vegetables part. One word of caution about psyllium: it's good for occasional use but puts a little bit of a strain on your colon, so daily use over an extended period of time is not recommended.

On a different note: it really sounds like you've got an undiagnosed food allergy. I'd recommend seeing a dietician or even better, a naturopathic doctor who can look at your problem holistically. If you are averse to that, I can recommend an allergy elimination diet. Email me if you like.

On preview: yeah, water!
posted by Specklet at 4:15 PM on September 6, 2005

For the oatmeal, cover the pot.
posted by scazza at 4:18 PM on September 6, 2005

What digitalis said about dehydration and fiber, and drink lots of water.
Fruits... bananas, peaches, pears, nectarines, grapes... lots of 'em.
posted by buzzman at 4:19 PM on September 6, 2005

So much stuff, red meat especially, stays in your colon forever.

This is not true. A diet high in red meat may increase your chances of getting colon cancer, but things do not hang around long-term in your digestive system. This was made up by those "colon irrigation" people.

"There is no evidence, however, that dangerous toxins or excess fecal matter or what have you build up in the colons of people whose digestive systems are operating normally."
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a900525.html
posted by trevyn at 4:34 PM on September 6, 2005

Yep, here's another one for lots of fibre but you need to concomittantly increase your water intake or the condition can get worse. Try aiming for at least a litre of water a day, on top of any other fluids you may injest.

I'm *not* recommending you take up a nicotine habit, but I've found that the coffee and a cigarette in the morning helps jumpstart my colon.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 4:42 PM on September 6, 2005

I will second the steel cut oats. I was constipated on a regular basis until I started eating steel cut every day for breakfast. Now I don't even have time to read!
posted by any major dude at 4:44 PM on September 6, 2005

First psyllium and metamucil are basically the same thing, fiber (which by the way, does not cause gas as someone else suggested). The way fiber ultimately functions to prevent constipation is by adding bulk to your stool, which in theory should stimulate peristalsis (aka bowel movement). And fiber will certainly do you good. Bare in mind that almost all of us need more of it, so it's not exactly the end of the world if you find that you need supplementation for the rest of your life.

However it's also entirely possible that diet alone isn't the cause of your problem. If more fiber really doesn't solve your problem, then your issue certainly sounds like it deserves further medical attention. It's unclear from your post what exactly has been done to at least find a cause for your constipation. Consider going to a reliable gastroenterologist. Chronic unresponsive constipation should be worked up with a variety of tests including but not limited to: abdominal x-rays, barium studies, colonoscopy, as well as possible imaging marker studies to assess transit time and motility studies. If this all sounds new to you, then perhaps enough hasn't been done.

While ultimately they may find nothing at all, this is obviously something that is troubling you a great deal, and you're at least entitled to an answer, which it doesn't sound like you've gotten thus far. There are a wide variety of causes for chronic constipation, so it's probably pointless to really speculate, especially without the rest of your medical history.

The main negatives of chronic constipation are complications like hemorrhoids, anal fissures, and periodic fecal impaction. While studies have found a link between low-fiber diets and colon cancer, the direct connection between constipation itself and cancer remains in question. Also to date, I've never heard of a connection between chronic constipation and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.
posted by drpynchon at 4:44 PM on September 6, 2005

What trevyn said. I read a debunking of this by someone who had performed hundreds of biopsies of nice, empty colons.

I have tiny, tiny constipation problems compared to yours, and always cure them with dark chocolate.
posted by Aknaton at 4:46 PM on September 6, 2005

"So much stuff, red meat especially, stays in your colon forever."

Let me join the chorus calling bullshit. I am a regular red meat eater. I had a colonoscopy two weeks ago, with only minor sedation, and I can assure you that my colon is shiny pink inside all the way up, with no deposits of undigested meat or "stuff". Neither did any come out with the scary effective Glycoprep I took beforehand.

Erm, just as an alternative to oats, fruit, and legumes -- which all work fab for me -- try a small bottle of stout every night. Seriously.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:03 PM on September 6, 2005

Not to sound like a drug commercial or anything, but have you ever asked your doctor about Zelnorm?
posted by geeky at 5:32 PM on September 6, 2005

The fiber and water are good ideas, but have you considered the possibility it might be normal for you to go only once every 3-4 days? Constipation is not defined by frequency of stools, but rather hard, difficult to pass stools. If you are actually constipated it should not affect your skin or overall sense of well-being as you describe, so you need to clarify those symptoms and possibly look into them in more detail.

You mention physicians, but have you seen a good gastroenterologist?
posted by TedW at 5:36 PM on September 6, 2005

More water, more fiber, more soluble fiber. Coffee/tea may help increase bowel activity. I find that oatmeal (I prefer the old-fashioned, long(5 minutes)cooking kind) and dried apricots with a nice glass of OJ will do the trick wihtin 24 hours. Exercise helps, too.

So, try to re-engineer your diet to include a bit more fiber, water and exercise. Good for the whole you, not just regular pooping.

Is it just my mom, or does everybody's elderly parent regale them with detailed accounts of their, ahem, productivity. Oh. Just my Mom. figures.
posted by Mom at 5:51 PM on September 6, 2005

Hey, geeky, that's interesting. I checked out the Zelnorm link and it says it works by regulating the amount of serotonin in the digestive system. That clicked with something I read recently about melatonin easing pain (through the same serotonin pathways) in cases of irritable bowel syndrome.

I hit google, and sure enough, the studies popped up. I'd definitely say that Zelnorm is worth checking out for the above poster.

Relevant Google Search
posted by digitalis at 5:52 PM on September 6, 2005

Constipation is not defined by frequency of stools, but rather hard, difficult to pass stools.

Not true. There is no conscensus definition for constipation within the medical community, the American Gastroenterological Association includes in their definition fewer than 3 stools per week as a criteria for constipation.

If you are actually constipated it should not affect your ... sense of well-being as you describe.

Also not true. I can think of lots of reasons why chronic constipation may be associated with a general feeling of decreased well-being. The bad skin, now that's probably unrelated, though there are many example of dermatological manifestations of gastrointestinal disease.

And also, please for the love of god, DO NOT RECOMMEND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET. I can not emphasize this enough. In this particular case, it is most certainly putting the cart before the horse, as anonymous doesn't even know why he's constipated.
posted by drpynchon at 6:08 PM on September 6, 2005

Licorice is an inexpensive, pleasant and natural laxative.
posted by Carol Anne at 6:20 PM on September 6, 2005

Had your blood lead level checked? Severe constipation can be a sign of chronic lead poisoning.
posted by scruss at 6:30 PM on September 6, 2005

I found the suggestions at the beginning of this book enormously helpful. Also, have you tried eliminating dairy? Try if for a week and see if you're any better. I eat dairy now, but I'm careful. I only buy lactose-reduced milk and eat plain yogurt - the active cultures make it easier to digest. I eat cheese and ice cream with lactaid knowing it might mess me up!!. When I'm good, I avoid them.

Also, just saying more fiber isn't enough. More fiber can really mess you up. You need to learn the difference between soluble and insoluble. That book has a great list of safe foods when things aren't exactly going as they should. Really helps to get it all back to normal... or better than normal, as the case may be!!!
posted by abbyladybug at 6:32 PM on September 6, 2005

I too am a less than regular person. A cup of coffee in the morning works wonders for me.
posted by chiababe at 7:14 PM on September 6, 2005

Seconding the coffee. As a child and teenager, I had terrible problems. They disappeared entirely after I discovered strong brewed dark coffee. Mmm.

I've also heard alcohol can do wonders. But I find it easier to work after a pot of coffee than after a few bottles of beer.
posted by jb at 8:32 PM on September 6, 2005

I seriously can't believe no one has recommended prunes. They are so tasty (and if even if you don't like the taste, there are lemon and orange flavored ones too) and you need only eat 4 or 5 to notice an effect in a relatively short amount of time. And, like everyone else said, water, water and more water!
posted by j at 8:48 PM on September 6, 2005

SAM-e; s-adenosyl-methionine.

I used bran for decades (after the expert warned me that psyllium turns into glue, being more soluble; plain wheat bran just bulks up. Still carry a little bit with me to sprinkle into fiber-free meals.

But SAM-e is worth a try; it's OTC, pricey but half price (2 for 1) at Long's or Walgreen's once every month or two, and while a therapeutic dose for depression is 800 milligrams or more, very expensive, a single 200 mg pill every couple of days seems to make something in the intestinal flora and fauna very happy and prolific. Bulk, however you get it, moves things along.
posted by hank at 8:50 PM on September 6, 2005

And also, please for the love of god, DO NOT RECOMMEND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET.

drpynchon, take a deep breath. Anonymous can't get prescription medication without talking to his or her doctor, and there's nothing wrong with talking about and exploring options before you go to the doctor. If you go to the doctor knowledgable and prepared, the results are better, whether or not you end up taking the medication you've investigated.

It is not verboten to mention medication names. People ask each other about medication all the time. So, what do you take for X? How is medication Y working for you? People here recommended that anonymous also add fiber and talk to a gastroenterologist. No one was suggesting anonymous try to get some without a prescription. Take it easy.
posted by digitalis at 10:50 PM on September 6, 2005

Anonymous can't get prescription medication without talking to his or her doctor

Which internet-free planet are you living on, digitalis? Ever heard of Canada? That's a place they have up north that exists so US consumers can get prescription drugs without having to bother their doctors.

Anyway, I'd like to weigh in against alcohol in all its forms for these purposes. Alcohol pretty much paralyzes the intestine after only one or two drinks, and the effect lasts for hours. The original poster's first step should be to cut out all alcohol.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:13 PM on September 6, 2005

Try Aloe Vera Juice. It calms the bowels.

As recommended above, coffee, water, exercise. Try not to stress out too much about it or in general. That can add to the issue, contribute to your skin issues and general bad feelings.
posted by tinamonster at 11:15 PM on September 6, 2005

heather?
posted by keswick at 11:19 PM on September 6, 2005

I'm going on the assumption that you have been well diagnosed and it's just the way you are (and you are for sure not lactose intolerant?).

Yes, fruit, greens, and water (lots of it), EXERCISE (there's a yoga exercise that is very good for this that I can't remember the name of... you get on all fours arch your back and contract your stomach, wait, then relax... someone please help with the name of this), regular everyday walking, prunes or prune juice by all means, and you can take take over the counter oral stool softeners- start with a low dose and gradually work up to twice the recommended dose if that's what it takes. Do keep up with the metamucil. And again, water.

Try not to use stimulant laxatives or frequent enemas. Try glycerine suppositories first before resorting to them. They soften and lubricate and sometimes just the stimulation of putting it in gets things moving. You can easily get dependent on stimulants and laxatives and make the problem worse. Use them when you have to, certainly.

I don't think that your problem can develop into something serious. And as someone else pointed out, your current problem isn't a problem unless it makes you uncomfortable. Every 3 days is normal and confortable for some people.
posted by puddinghead at 11:26 PM on September 6, 2005

besides agreeing with the coffee, balanced diet, water and exercise, have an orange a day (the fruit, not just orange juice).
posted by mirileh at 3:57 AM on September 7, 2005

Anonymous can't get prescription medication without talking to his or her doctor

Wrong.

People ask each other about medication all the time. So, what do you take for X?

People they KNOW, not strangers on the net. Also, insert constipation into that sentence and ask yourself how many 30somethings do infact do this all the time.

If you go to the doctor knowledgeable and prepared, the results are better, whether or not you end up taking the medication you've investigated.

Despite sounding good, dubious at best.

The health care system is under a lot of pressures right now: to cut costs, increase efficiency, see more patients, avoid dilly-dallying. While you may think randomly throwing out medication options to your doctor is a worthwhile exercise, I assure you that doctors loath the time wasted on that experience, which could have been used to properly counsel someone on an issue relevant to their disease. In addition to actually trying to figure out what's wrong with someone and finding a way to improve their quality of life, we now face a barrage of direct-to-consumer advertising, which is generally speaking, evil. I don't have all day to diatribe against it, but believe me I could.

Do the research and ask the questions after a trained expert who gets a full history and examines you makes a recommendation, not a stranger on the internet.
posted by drpynchon at 7:00 AM on September 7, 2005

I'm similarly inclined to be skeptical about claims of things taking up long-term residence in the gut but this article woulc certainly support the idea. An interesting read as well.

When photographer Anthony Cullen heard the clank of glass on porcelain, he didn't need to examine the contents of the toilet bowl between his legs. He instinctively knew he had just passed the marble he had swallowed as a five-year-old; the small coloured sphere - "I think it was a bluey" - had lodged in his colon for 22 years. His nonchalance was understandable. Having flushed 400 pints of coffee and vinegar solution around his large intestine through 10 enemas, and taken 100 herbal laxatives, he had become hardened to extraordinary sights. He had already excreted yards of long stringy mucus "with a strange yellow glaze", several hard black pellets and numerous pieces of undigested rump steak. Like an iceberg breaking away from a glacier, the marble was simply the latest object to drop off the furred up wall of his colon.

As far as drug suggestions on the internet I feel far more positive about them than commercials for drugs that help you throw a football through a tire swing in the backyard. A fool who is going to self-medicate w/o a doctor is going to find the information anyway. Better to hear a variety of "this worked for me in this situation" from actual humans than the crap the pharms put out there. Additionally, that kind of variety of research is indespensable in dealing with a physician who needs to spend hir time being knowledgeable about everything where you have the time to go into depth about your particular situation.
posted by phearlez at 8:00 AM on September 7, 2005

So, let me second the suggestions of more natural fiber and lots of water.

One thing no one has mentioned is that some vitamin supplements can affect water absorption from your colon. Taking calcium with (or without) vitamin D or taking magnesium can affect your motility. Try doing some research on vitamin supplements and varying your supplement intake.

Also, try removing some things from your diet. Cut back on protein for a while. Cut out the extra-aged cheddar. You may have a dairy protein or wheat protein intolerance.

As a tangential story, my wife tried some diet changes when our daughter was breastfeeding as the baby was obviously in a lot of pain from gas, even though she was only eating breast milk. So my wife went on a diet of turkey, rice and pears (apparently none of these cause allergic reactions). The baby's crying and discomfort went away. When she started adding food back in, the problem turned out to be peanut butter. Once our daughter was eating real food, everyone went back to eating PB and that was that. But it could be some weird allergy to a very common food. We have a friend who is (allegedly) allergic to bacteria on raw vegetables. So she can only eat cooked veggies. Your constipation could be linked to a lot of things, so try a few different things out.
posted by GuyZero at 9:30 AM on September 7, 2005

In addition to adding the four billionth vote for "More fiber and more water," allow me to make one other suggestion:

When you defecate, crouch, don't sit.

Unless you live in a country where toilets are specifically designed to be used from a crouching position, the easiest way to do this is to keep a stool in your bathroom (insert obvious "stool" joke here) whose seat is about the same height as your toilet seat. If you rest your feet on this stool while you sit on the toilet, you'll simulate a crouching position, which some people find makes defecating easier.

Of course, if you have good balance, you can just crouch on the seat.
posted by yankeefog at 10:41 AM on September 7, 2005

And also, please for the love of god, DO NOT RECOMMEND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET.

Just to clarify, I am not recommending that Anonymous TAKE Zelnorm, but that they TALK TO THEIR DOCTOR about it. Which, for further clarification, does not mean I want Anonymous to go see their doctor and demand the medication, but rather to just ask about it. Geez. There's nothing wrong with being an educated patient - doctors are not all knowing. And it's not my fault if anonymous is stupid enough to order a drug from the internet based on the advice of a stranger on the internet and take it without medical supervision.
posted by geeky at 10:58 AM on September 7, 2005

phearlez, that very article was linked in the blue about a year ago. It drew forth a brilliant debunking from a gastroenterologist member who pointed out, among other things, that much of the stuff the author saw was dead gut lining, killed by the dubious enemas the clinic had given their clients.

You might also consider that not everything the clients were shown actually came out their bottoms - I know that I would happily put chunks of steak and a marble in a kidney tray if it made my rich and deluded Western guests feel better.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:17 PM on September 7, 2005

Also to phearlez: one of the things they make you eat in these enema colonies is bentonite clay, which has been blamed for creating the steaklike stools. I'll trust the guy who's done the hundreds of biopsies.
posted by Aknaton at 4:16 PM on September 7, 2005

A way to drink more water: A glass before going to sleep and one as soon as you get up. Also, get enough sleep.
posted by Airhen at 4:17 PM on September 7, 2005

Chronic constipation does not cause Crohn's Disease. Moreover, gastro-enterologists generally consider a BM every three days to be fine, assuming it is not causing you discomfort. And, fwiw, I've had a couple of colonoscopies and flexible sigmoidoscopies, among other tests, and there is no evidence of anything staying long-term in the gut. My GI says it's an urban legend. Quackwatch provides more information about the myths behind colonics.
posted by acoutu at 7:03 PM on September 7, 2005

phearlez, that very article was linked in the blue about a year ago. It drew forth a brilliant debunking from a gastroenterologist member who pointed out, among other things, that much of the stuff the author saw was dead gut lining, killed by the dubious enemas the clinic had given their clients.

I think this might be the link.
posted by trevyn at 11:18 AM on September 10, 2005