New DR says Bowel Training' with alarm clock for Constipation. Anyone heard of this!?

Digestive health
1

Hi,

Just a quick background:

33 years old, slow motility / constipation (bowel issue, not stomach) ...started 3.5 years ago & sudden onset. Highly doubt any obstructions, but rather related to brain/psych. 

Cured with Chinese herbs in the past , which only lost effectiveness after starting and then coming off prucalopride (Resotrans) after a week. That worked well for gut movement, but caused headache. Sadly, after that drug trial, the herbs lost effectiveness..perhaps drugs made my bowel lazier? I could always get a reformulation of the herbs and see if that works. 

In summary,  no known cause slow motility/ incomplete evacuation.  Pro kinetics is what I respond to. FIbre bloats me and makes me worse. 

Current situation requiring opinions:

Before seeing the TCM Dr and asking about new herbs, I saw a new Gastro 2 days ago to ask about other meds that don't cause headaches but can stimulate bowels (eg acetylcholine based).

He said he doesn't like them as they lose effectiveness over time. Fair enough. He also mentioned he doesn't use prucalopride due to side effects.

Here's where id REALLY appreciate any feedback tremendously.

He told me the ONLY thing that would work for me is to 'retrain' the bowels. (this was our first meeting).

Step 1.(once off).   Clear out bowels with glycoprep

Then every single day, you have to...

1. Set an alarm to go off at a time you choose. 

2. Do the dishes (or similar) for 15 min right after. 

3. Then sit on the toiler for 10 min , even if no urge. 

Over time this is meant to make me want to 'go' when the alarm goes off I guess, and could take 3 months to start working. 

I know there is a huge brain-gut connection, but was wondering if anyone has heard of this treatment at all?

I can also use lactulose, herbs etc (hes Vietnamese so open to that, which I liked), in the mean time.

But his words of 'nothing will work for you besides this, I guarantee it', were a a bit daunting.

Just wondering what people think of this treatment as if its known?

Thank you so much for any replies!   GMT  Detect languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu          Text-to-speech function is limited to 200 characters  Options : History : Feedback : DonateClose

2

I tried similar plan, without using a clock. However, the most important thing is eating foods that are not constipated.

Every day, at about the same time, after eating a fairly large meal, mine just happens to be breakfast, with a good quantity of liquid, mine happens to be a large cup of coffee, walk or stand around, wait for BM urge. If there is an urge, take a dump. If there is no urge after 30 - 40 minutes or so, go to sit on the toilet anyway and try lightly to poop, You may need to message your lower abdomen to help. If there is no BM after 10 minutes or so, try again next day.

This should work in a week or so.

Hank

3

Hopefully you are now having a bit of success with this training. I had to do something similar awhile back, although I had to start the morning with an early mug of coffee and a glass of metamucil fiber, then breakfast, then sit on the toilet as soon as I felt some fullness in my large intestine. I rarely had any type of urge and usually would have incomplete evacuation, so I would try sitting again. Usually it would take 2-3 periods of sitting (only for 10 minutes max if nothing is happening). I found that slow, deep breathing from my abdomen helped and also colon massage while laying on my back. A 2nd cup of coffee helped, but I didn't want to get dependent on the caffeine to stimulate my bowels. I found that after a certain time of the morning, moving my bowels was nearly impossible, so I have to get up early to do my regimen and catch the window of time. Perhaps your doctor's method is best, because you get trained to go at a specific time, regardless of what else you do. But I needed additional help or factors to be successful.