Anyone have experience with bowel training?

I have IBS, so my bowel movements can be unpredictable and range from having the runs to constipation all depending of diet, exercise, stress and food allergies. I regularly take probiotics and fiber supplements to keep things regular and predictable. So one of the things that my doctor has advised is bowel training.

Basically conditioning your body to go once a day at a specific time. Get into a bio rhythm so to speak. Has anyone got experience with this? Would love to exchange experiences.

For the first two weeks, I got up, had water and some coffee because coffee stimulates the bowls. Then I take a glycerin suppository and go 20 min later. Every day at the same time/routine. After two weeks I started backing up on the glycerin, and only need it occasionally - maybe 4 times a month or so. But I make sure that is stick to a routine to minimise the impact on the rest of the day. Anyone else with similar experiences?

A family member has IBS and like you, found that diet and trigger avoidance made a huge difference.

For this family member, timing things so they were at home rather than at work when the urge came also helped a lot. They did not share exactly what they do to train their body, only that they have coffee and a very light breakfast well before going to work, at about the same time every day, including weekends.

In rehab after every meal our gowns and diapers were changed after every meal we also got our glycerin or bisacodyl suppository we where left resting in bed until we used our diapers and then normal OT or PT therapy until the next meal diaper break , if your bowels didn’t move 2 X’s on glycerin you would get the bisacodyl, beyond that there are oral agents like I take that are guarantee your bowels move , it’s indiviuadilized it’s important for your survival that you are on a the lowest reliably effective medication to move your bowels post injury many recent injuries died in rehab due to obstipation when emphasis was not on keeping bowels moving . In my case I take the oral syrup that makes going automatic I can be fast asleep or wide awake . So unlike targeted suppository that is given and works in a given time period my medication prevents me from retaining stool it’s always pushing waste down and out , any amount of stool that reaches my rectum is quickly deposited in diaper , usually within 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours after a meal I will have a profoundly filled diaper( my aide knows if she hasn’t seen me fill the diaper , by 2 1/2 its already happened and she missed it ) .

Definitely following this thread. I am constantly constapated and frequently resort to a laxative. My butt plug use helps a little but even enemas don’t clean me out all that well. A friend gave me a colon tube to use as an enema nozzle which is nice to get the water way up in me so will see how that works. Love to hear how others deal with this issue.