Constipation & Thai Ladies...

[pianoman]

A friends Thai wife who now lives in the US has had consitpation problems most of her life, and is always taking some type of herbal remedy for the situation.. I never really thought much of it until my recent Thai GF has brought up the same problem... She can go up to a week with "No Movement" and usually resorts to some type of strong Tea to aid with her problem...

Is this a common problem for Thai's, or have I just run across two Thai women that share a common problem??? Is there something possibly in their diet that might be causing this???

Pianoman

[Thetyim]

Glad you posted that.

My ex-wife and my present wife both have the same problem.

I was beginning to wonder if it was my fault.

Sorry cannot give you a remedy but at least you know you are not alone.

[mbkudu]

My wife has the same problem but not as bad as that; she sometimes goes a few days without dropping a log. She'll moan and grunt for up to half an hour perched over the toilet. She can't understand how can take a nice crap every morning after a cup of coffee. I think it must be something in the diet. Maybe it's the sticky rice?

[otherstuff1957]

My wife doesn't seem to have any problems. Two sips of coffee in the morning and she's CHASING me out of the bathroom!

[alex100]

There was a story in the press a few months ago about an American women who had not had a crap or been out of bed for 6 months. They had to take out the bedroom window and employ a crane to remove her for treatment. A good dose of sum tom is the answer.

[Erwin1011]

A good dose of sum tom is the answer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Works with my wife. The som tam, i mean.

[ayakiawe]

Hi try fresh, raw (only not cooked or canned) coconut milk or cream (made without the added water from the mature coconut meat)

Also the inside part of the skin of the aloe vera plant too helps.

[The_Moog]

Absolutely yes ! Their intestines are gummy and bunged up.

My wife right now is grunting and groaning on the lav trying to squeeze one out as I write.

(Good job she's not reading this)

[pedro01]

Absolutely yes ! Their intestines are gummy and bunged up.

My wife right now is grunting and groaning on the lav trying to squeeze one out as I write.

(Good job she's not reading this)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Coffee is a stimulant - anyone with experiences of stimulants knows that they loosen the bowels - hence the dump after breakfast.

Take her to starbucks & give her a double espresso...

[gburns57au]

I have found that they have the opposite to what we have there...most of us have experienced the Thai tummy and frequent trips to the bog due to the change in diet and enviroment....

They tend to get constipated. If you noted I did say due to enviroment change as well as diet change.

The short term answer is mild laxatives, The long term answer I dont know....but maybe a doctors opinion should be sought if the problem persists...

[suegha]

A vegetarian diet for a few days, lots of fruit salad to start, followed by leafy salad, followed by green veggy currry! Wait for the flood gates to open...

เสือ

Edited April 21, 2005 by suegha

[bambob]

not enough fibre!

maybe not enough water intake.

a tin of prunes is sure to work

[bino]

My GF has no problem here... quite a regular girl!

In fact she seems to take great pleasure telling me all about it! I always tell her that it is more information than I needed....

[pianoman]

Nice to know that she's not the only one.... I still think that it is all of the rice, especially the Sticky Rice.... Although I love it with ripe Mangos myself... I guess it's just a "Regular" (no pun intended) thing for them...

Pianoman

[Sheryl]

not enough fibre!

maybe not enough water intake.

a tin of prunes is sure to work

The local equivalent to prunes is fresh tamarind (the fruit itself or the unstrained pulpy juice), it's a standard Thai home remedy for constipation and works well.

Parasites (roundworm etc) can also cause constipation and should be considered. It's possible to have them for years/decades and never know it and the incidence in rural Thailand is quite high. As long as the woman is sure she's not pregnant, try deworming: albendazole 400mg daily for 3 days, cheap, readily available all laharmacies and no harm done if she doesn't have worms and takes it anyhow. Don't however take it (or anyother medication without first consulting a doctor)) if pregnancy is possible.

[Sarpedon]

Prune juice...devestating stuff!

[bangkokian]

Don't stick to any one thing.. you can become immune to its effects. Som Tum works well with our helper (she tends to get diarrhea, but loves som tum anyway). Coffee is cool, but you may also wanna try green tea--drink the water and then chew and ingest the fiber as well. Tamarind is also great as a fluoride detoxifier. Too little water can be a problem, but too much water can overhydrate and bloat the body. Switch to RO water. Squeeze a little lime juice into the drinking water until the condition gets better.

Edited April 22, 2005 by bangkokian

[bangkokian]

Consider using clove, eucalyptus, rosemary or other essential oils. many essential oils have antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties, and some have anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-worm properties. Take deep slow breath to get the essential oil molecules into the body.

[Dara]

Each of us tend to have a different remedy to solve our problems. One thing that we found out is that allergies can bind you up. When the pollen kicks in, the body seems to be lacking more water than usual and extra liquid foods help - soups, juices, fruits, etc. If all else fail, a product that seems to do it gently is Correctol - take one before bedtime helps regulate the movement in the morning.....

[Phil Conners]

The white polished rice they like out here have no fibres. If they must eat rice get the brown unpolished ones and see the bowels move again.

[fivevenoms]

This particular topic has been one that has mystified me to no end for a long, long time. I'm not sure why it happens, but I'm relatively sure it's not the diet. Since I arrived here for vacation I went through a brief and unpleasant period of gastrointestinal "adjustment", but after that was done, my toilet habits went back to normal. But, I have been eating the same thing as everybody else in the household (all Thai), and they unanimously have the constipated factor (except, I believe, Mother-in-law) as well.

Additionally, I'm no expert insofar as remedies, but lots and lots of orange juice worked for my wife. Until we ran out of OJ, that is.

[bina]

could it be a psychological cultural thing like: all israeli women i know get migraines. never met so many women with migraines in my life but its a woman thing, before holidays, when p.o. w/husband, whatever, even not related to a specific event. . israeli men get back aches as the 'acceptable' thing, the more stressed, the more they have back problems; maybe this is just a thai women thing, like, a subliminal way to deal with stress and all the stuff they are upset,p.o'd about, whatever, shows up as chronic cosntipation as the acceptable cultural outlet. americans get anxiety attacks or complain about their PMS... etc. like it gives them something to complain about that is culturally acceptable. unless thai women sit around and compare how bad their migraines are and what pills they take that never work, and how much they have to do in the house but with the migraine they just cant... well, you get the picture.

or: could it be timeing? like, they wait til most people arent in house (difficult in village houses seem to have people in and out all the time) and so their system just got used to being 'lazy'?

i had a friend in serbia whose mother refused to use the bathroom when the 'menfolk' were in the house so she would wait; my friend was the same...consequently, constipation.

my father is like that so in our small kibbutz apartment he suffered cause someone might hear (that is soooo american) so now he visits and stays at nearby hotel with privacy

why dont you ask the women? like, it could be a sort of learned thing, mom was like this and grandma so as small child they learn (not conciously) to be the same (the migraine analogy again)?

just ruminating about this cause just realized that the two thai women that i knew closely here in israel also told me they suffered the same thing

maybe toilet training habits for girls in thailand are different than for boys? etc....

i'm female so have different viewpoint on all this: also, my 4 yr old nephew just went thru 5 days of constipation on purpose in his protest at having to give up using diapers!! he just refused to sh--!! to spite his mom.

[LaoPo]

My wife has the same problem; now her constipation is great....since:

1. she increased taking fiber (capsules or spoon in glass of water)

2. takes DANONE Actimel now or YAKULT in the morning, (if you can get in in Thailand); helps great.

LaoPo

[brianbrain]

Personally, I think too much rice and not enough fibre has to be the #1 problem. I know many Thai people with constipation - actually I think it is the norm here. Anyone who is bunged up needs to cut down on the white rice and replace it with something else - preferably brown wholemeal bread and vegetables. If she is unwilling or unable to do that, try some dried fruits. I eat a lot of Thai food (mostly vegetables and seafood - very little meat) and I find eating the dried fruits helps a lot.

Getting some exercise could also help alleviate the problem. If she's like most Thais then I guess she takes little or no exercise, preferring to take a motorbike for anything over 100 m.

A friends Thai wife who now lives in the US has had consitpation problems most of her life, and is always taking some type of herbal remedy for the situation..  I never really thought much of it until my recent Thai GF has brought up the same problem...  She can go up to a week with "No Movement" and usually resorts to some type of strong Tea to aid with her problem...

Is this a common problem for Thai's, or have I just run across two Thai women that share a common problem???  Is there something possibly in their diet that might be causing this???

Pianoman

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[donna]

I used to work as a tour leader, and when my passengers would come up to me and tell me about their lack of bowel movements, I would prescribe 2 large beer changs.

Got those blokes moving, that's for sure.

[aughie]

First trip I was bunged up for five days. We were eating at the Nang Nual twice a day so I was getting really backed up. My friend said get fiber tablets at the pharmacy but it only compacted things worse. Finally I resorted to taking pulls off a bottle of olive oil. Worked slick as ####.

edit: whoa, I thot there was an edit function for that word!

Edited April 24, 2005 by aughie

[maerim]

I know a cure for this problem.

Have a look at my income tax bill when it pops through the letter box, always works for me.

[taxexile]

go to the pharmacy section in tesco and get a 400mg tub of orange flavour mucillin for 199baht , i spoonful stirred into a big glass of water every morning and night and within 3 or 4 days you will be proudly laying some lengthy cables , pinching some fine loaves and opening the bomb bay doors and sinking the bismark on a regular and strain free basis.

its a natural vegetable fibre preparation.

[siamesekitty]

I think it's a case of too much rice+meat, rice+meat, rice+meat...

Have you noticed that much of the Thai food available don't really have a lot of veggies? Think of all the noodles, fried pork, kraphrao kai, khao man kai, khao kha moo, etc.. Not many salads, unless you count 'somtam'.

(I've tried on several occasions to become a vegetarian but it's just so difficult to find vegetarian food!)

[wilson steer]

Yes my TGF has constipation 4-5 days sometimes without a dump. She is envious of my daily dump, and everything I suggest does not work. She drinks water, exercises, eats lots of fruit and green weeds etc.

It is a mystery to me. Maybe enemas or deep enemas might work, and wash out the clogged up bowel. Colonic irrigation.

My guess is the insides are all blocked with 'sticky rice' and low quality meat which putrifies in the human gut.

Remedies that work is that tea bag, forget the name, but every Thai girl knows it, trick is 3 tea bags in one cup. The results are spectacular, I have witnessed the explosive effects first hand.