2+ Weeks with no BM
I was 16 years old and almost daily I would spend hours on the elliptical. I was getting minimal sleep and working at my family’s lodge. I noticed that I would occasionally feel like I was going to pass out at least once a month.
My diet had always been unfortunately the farthest thing from actual whole foods and when I thought I was being healthy it looked hyper-focused on low-cal, low-fat, “fat-free”, read as garbage.
It wasn’t until I was closer to 18 that I noticed that my bowel movements had shifted from “irregular” to at my absolute worst going 14+ days without a bowel movement. At that point, I told my mom that I needed to go to the doctor to have this tended to because this pattern had continued for months at this point.
My mom went with me to our doctor’s office. The attending physician was not my usual care provider, her dad who had recently passed away had been our family Dr. since my dad was 12. All of that to say, I had no history with this woman up to this point.
She heard my concern, looked over my chart, and said that I should just take Miralax for occasional constipation. I stressed to her that this was not occasional at this point, it was shaping up to be chronic, and requested a referral for a colonoscopy. She scoffed at me and told me that I was too young to need that procedure and sent me on my way with a Dr.’s note with “Miralax” on it.
So, I went to the nearest store that sold it, bought it, and took it for a few months. After a few months, I finally stopped taking it because of how awful I felt. I vividly remember saying that I felt like I had an alien inside my intestines and it was trying to get out. Even with the Miralax, I was still going 3+ days without a movement.
I lived with this for another two years until I got married. Zach’s insurance was absolutely amazing, they even had a doctor’s office at their corporate office for their employees. I scheduled all my bloodwork etc. my first official pap smear (you know because you’re “supposed to” - forget the fact that I had been flippantly given a birth control prescription 6 months before my wedding from a male doctor) and I was so excited to finally be heard by a doctor who would listen to me since I am a “grown adult woman” and I’m going to my first official doctor’s visit alone.
I walked into the room and I was instructed to take off all my clothes and put a robe on. I sat and waited on the table and then she walked in.
It was the same doctor from two years previously who told me to take Miralax. It was obvious she didn’t remember me and I didn’t mention it until the end.
She asked me about my birth control status and I informed her that I was not taking anything. She finished my pelvic exam and sat me up and started explaining to me that it would be in my best interest to be on birth control, “you wouldn’t want to accidentally have something to deal with right?”
I informed her that my husband and I were at peace if we did get pregnant which is another reason why I wanted to schedule this appointment. As soon as she heard “husband” she had a sigh of relief and said that she was so worried that I was a single woman that was sexually active and not on some form of birth control. But I digress…
I mentioned to her at the end of my appointment that I was demanding a referral for a colonoscopy because here I was two years later and still dealing with this issue. With Zach and I talking about getting pregnant I knew that it would not be healthy to grow a baby in the same body that was not able to release all this waste.
She begrudgingly said she would have their office call me to schedule the procedure. My blood work came back normal and aside from my blood pressure being a little low, everything was in range and I was in good “health”.
A week or so later I walked into the procedure and the Dr. was astonished at my story and said that he was so sorry no one took me seriously and that I absolutely should have had this done years earlier.
I expressed my desire to get pregnant, so I was doing this to see what needed to be fixed because something was obviously “broken”.
My results came back, the procedure was super boring, and absolutely nothing to report. Everything looked super healthy and normal. He told me that since I was having these issues I would have to be on a prescription for the rest of my life to get my bowels to release. I asked him if there was anything I could possibly change in ways of diet or exercise that may be of benefit. He didn’t even look up from his clipboard when he responded with, “You can, but it won’t help”
I left the office, got in the car, and started researching the prescription that I was given and the first thing I saw was labeled that it should not be consumed if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant as it will abort the fetus.
That was my intended last visit to a family doctor, a specialist, or anyone who was not going to listen to me.
I went on to find that different diets and exercises helped a little, but what I ended up doing to band-aid the situation was regular and frequent colonics. I would go almost every month if not twice a month to get everything cleaned out so it was not sitting stagnant.
It was not until three years later I did a popular elimination diet that removed gluten, dairy, and sugar and primarily focused solely on whole real foods that I saw a change. Then it happened.
I had my first-ever positive pregnancy test. Once I became pregnant and to this day I have never taken anything to make myself have a BM, and I go daily if not twice a day. I still do colonics but for routine maintenance maybe 1-2 times a year. Healthy poops for the win!
My point to this long-drawn-out story that really has encompassed so much of my life was that I was not content with being stuck on a prescription for the rest of my life. I changed and ultimately took full responsibility for my health and the health of my baby. This really is my origin story. The first instance that I really recognized that doctors can not save you, it’s ultimately up to you to do the work and to heal yourself.