Irregular Bowel Movements

For as long as I can remember, I've had a problem with regular bowel movements. When I was a lot younger I put it down to my poor diet, as I had very little fibre, drunk a lot of milk instead of water and fruit juices, and wouldn't eat vegetables.

As I got older I corrected these problems, but my bowel movements still only average to approximately one a week, and if I go much longer than that, I get terrible constipation, and it's distressing painful to pass stools.

I make sure I drink around 6-8 glasses of water a day, I eat fruit and vegetables every day, and have switched to eating wholemeal bread to increase my level of fibre, but I still have no idea how to make myself "go" more regularly. Can anything be suggested to increase this?

[meniere135]

My daughter had the same constipation problem since she was young.  We tried everything.  I had read that cow's milk products were the #1 constipator.   Her only milk products that she took in were one to two slices of cheese a day and maybe some butter on veggies.  So we eliminated all forms of milk and voila....within a week or two (I don't remember exactly how long it took because it was so many years ago) she started going to the bathroom every day...instead of every 4-5 days.  She was so relieved.  Some days she cheats and has some cheese on a salad and she pays for it..but she quickly returns to her restrictive diet to fix the problem.  I hope this helps.