How Laxatives May Be Giving You Constipation

If you have constipation, what is the first thing you do? Many people will respond that you should take a laxative or an enema to achieve constipation relief and get back to normal. This is something we have been taught for generations. Unfortunately, that message did not come with a disclaimer that explains that using laxatives on a regular basis can actually make things worse instead of give constipation relief.

This concept may not make sense to you. After all, laxatives are supposed to soften your stool and make everything flow though your body easily, right? Well, that is what they are supposed to do to periodically treat a temporary problem. Unfortunately, there is too much of a good thing in this case. Regular usage of laxatives will annoy your digestive system and can actually lead to more constipation problems.

Colon Dependency

The reason that the regular use of laxatives is a problem is because you are teaching your body to be an addict. Instead of getting it into the habit of doing it's job properly and feeding yourself the foods that will help that happen, laxatives allow your colon to not care about working properly. Over time, your body forgets how to work without laxatives, and as soon as you try to quit using them for a couple of days you will be completely stopped up and suffer from a recurrence of constipation. Essentially, your colon becomes addicted to the laxatives, just as you would think of any other drug addiction.

Dehydration

You may have noticed that when you take a laxative for constipation relief, it makes your stool much runnier than it would usually be. That is not magic. The laxative pulls water from your body to mix with the waste to make it flow out of your system more easily. This is water that your body also needs to survive. The prolonged usage of laxatives can actually lead to you being more dehydrated. As soon as you stop using laxatives, being dehydrated will mean that your stool will not have the water it needs to be of a natural softness and you will become constipated.

What Can You Do?

If you are reliant on laxatives at this time to keep as your method of constipation relief, you may wonder what you can do to stop the cycle. Do you want to suffer with constipation while your body tries to get back to normal? You shouldn't. Instead you need to help your colon reclaim its health.

Colon Cleanse

One of the most effective ways to do this is to clean all the blocked up waste out of your colon. The most effective colon cleanses are taken orally and through a chemical reaction flush out all of your intestines as well as your colon. Getting all the packed up waste out means it will be easier to move future waste through the system.

Diet

In addition to cleaning your colon out for constipation relief, you need to make sure the new items you are putting into it are healthy for your body. You should make sure your diet includes a lot of fiber and liquid so your body has what it needs to create easy to move stools on it’s own.