I’ve tried acupuncture, which helped me feel better, but I’m not sure if I’d say it was highly effective. I think if I can/could have continued more sessions, it could have been better. There are also a few different approaches and it took some trial and error to for example determine I felt best when we focused on calming my central nervous system and stress response (to your point about identifying root cause).

I have not tried herbs, which seems like what you may be getting at, because I’m sensitive to medications and prefer focusing on more evidence-based data when I’m putting something in my body to consume (I’m just nervous about supplements because it’s hard to know what you’re getting and where it’s from).

But, I do agree and have gotten benefit from more natural herbs and supplements. I’m trying a supplement with Pro-digest in it now to see if it’ll help me. It has ginger extract and artichoke extract which has been shown to help some with IBS and FD. I’ve had positive experience with Iberogast and IBGard, but constipation is still a struggle.

Yes, I was mainly referring to the herbs. I found only 2 available online. Looks like you generally have to see a Dr. that specializes in TCM and get them thru the Dr. There are quite a few TCM clinics in my area and I'm considering a consultation. After all, these remedies have been around for thousands of years. Tired of hearing what laxative or fiber supplement to take from my Dr. I've tried most of them with not much luck. Thanks for the reply.

doors4ever,
I have used acupuncture for body pain, not much help for me. My hubby is having great success with it for pain.
I have had CIC💩💩for 17 long painful years. If you find something that works, PLEASE SHARE , with all of us that are quite literally full of 💩 ShelleyW

A very interesting question. I have read the research on it and would be interested to hear how you go. I have used acupuncture before (to give up smoking 24 years ago) but it didn’t work and I needed strong medication and quit for good. I am also careful about ingesting supplements.

It would seem the best route is to find a very good TCM practitioner to start with. (The problem seems to be that TCM studies have been poor quality so have not been much help in assessing effectiveness).

Please do let us know how you go.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/traditional-chinese-medicine-what-you-need-to-know

Hi
I’ve had 5 acupuncture treatments so far. My acupuncturist said to expect about 10 sessions before I would see any major change.
I’m going weekly right now !
I have both methane and hydrogen SIBO.

Traditional Chinese Medecine. Dates back thousands of years. Relies mainly on herbs and repairs the root cause of the problem. Usually have to find a TCM clinic and work with a TCM Dr.

I was told by a highly regarded acupuncturist that acupuncture has very little effect on Irritable Bowel Syndrome and since constipation is a common symptom of IBS, I didn't pursue acupuncture any further than the 2 appointments I had. (The acupuncturist said if I hadn't started feeling better by the 2nd appointment, there was no point in continuing.)

I have struggled with CC for many years due to an unusually long (redundant) colon discovered on colonoscopy. It’s even worse now that I have to take pain meds daily. I have not tried any Chinese remedies but will share what has worked best for me. I mix 3/4 generic Miralax with 1/4 generic Metamucil and take it daily. There’s also a tea at grocery stores called Smooth Move that tastes good and works! I love the cute name!

TCM has been around for something like 4000 years. So, you know, they have worked out the kinks, by now.

I have used TCM for various things..it helps. And that can be some symptom reduction or more.

For constipation the basics are very key. TCM can be part of the solution, but if we don't hit the basic keys, it's not going to over ride various basic bad decisions we are making.

#1 - Hydrate optimally. If you have constipation, you absolutely have to drink those 8 glasses of water daily. No exceptions. Make a chart, check each glass off. If your body does not have enough water to process digestion, you can forget about solving that problem.

I did prune juice and senna, daily, for years. And that solved my constipation problem.

And then, I hit a wall and it was no longer enough.

What changed and solved my issues was Miralax, a stool softener.

Now, if I am regular with my prune juice and senna and add in Miralax, the problem goes away.

I also do other things - ground whole flax seed, ginger, bran. A typical breakfast for me is a bran muffin, a yogurt and a banana.

I stay away from nuts and other things that are hard to digest. Certain things...like peanut butter and tahini, just completely block me up. I probably have not had a steak in 15 years. I can do some ground beef, but not steak.

To be clear, I was in the ER with a diverticulitis attack, on Cipro, Flagyl and Dilaudid. They were thinking of cutting out some of my intestines. But solved with the basic prune juice, senna and Miralax.

And, of course...exercises. constipation and being sedentary go hand in hand. And definitely include abdominal exercises. Very very key.

Now, if you do all those things...and add a TCM formula into that mix...great. Will help more. But without a key foundation of basics, the constipation is probably not going to surrender.

The problem with some of us that suffer from CIC (Chronic Idiopathic Constipation)--and this is a fairly new theory in the GI world I heard about here on this site--is that some people appear to be born with a condition that causes their body to not correctly process much of the water that they drink with most of the water they drink going directly into the bladder. Some of it's processed correctly or they'd be dead; but with some of us--I really think I have this--nowhere near enough water goes into my intestinal tract (or other places it should), and since not only will fiber not work correctly, it will even be constipating if not enough water makes it into the intestinal tract, the amount of water you drink doesn't make much difference.

It was on here that I read about a doctor telling his patient that unfortunately he'd be constipated until the day he died because he had this condition.