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[Taylor]

I'm on Tasigna and in regards to the end-game of the digestive process, I experience some pretty bad constipation.  I try to deal with that the best I can, although some days I will have an extremely painful bowel movement and I have intermittent pain for a day or two later (probably some minor interior hemmoroids).

However, one thing I've noticed is that I seem to have an extremely large amount of stool.  It's all solid, due to the Tasigna.  I only have one bowel movement a day.  For two years before being on Tasigna, I almost always had loose stools/diarrhea, because I had my gall bladder out and the job I was in was typically conducive to fast, greasy food.  I can't remember how many BMs I would have, maybe two a day, but I don't think they added up to the amount I have now--then again, I never kept track.  But whenever I have a BM I just can't really believe there would be that much waste from the day before.

Other than that, everything is normal.  I don't have trouble with my weight (I could probably lose a couple of pounds), and it's not like I'm malnourished or anything.  I do have the fatigue problem but I also have some other issues that I wonder about, such as some lingering anxiety problems as well as a few other things (poor nail quality on fingers).  I was wondering if the meds can cause some actual absorption problems that could related to some of my issues. 

Is there a connection or am I just really full of crap?

[Pin]

Heya Taylor,

I've had a very similar experience to you before and after starting medication. Not many have this problem, it's generally the opposite!

One thing I would suggest checking is your (insoluble) fibre intake. I thought I ate a pretty good fibre-rich diet before I started on the meds but turns out I really didn't at all (once I started reading the labels for this information) - and just adding some fibre-y foods really helped me. I eat a bowl of bran cereal (all-bran or similar) for breakfast with 1 piece of rye toast plus a piece or two of rye bread instead of regular bread during the day. That's all I changed and it has completely fixed the problem. I used to think those ads about fibre were a bunch of crap but I now know differently...

Also, Wikipedia says:

Sources of insoluble fiber include:

• whole grain foods
• wheat and corn bran
• nuts and seeds
• potato skins
• flax and hemp seed
• lignans
• vegetables such as green beans, cauliflower, zucchini (courgette), celery, and nopal
• some fruits including avocado, and bananas
• the skins of some fruits, including kiwifruit and tomatoes^[5]