Embarrassing: Camping & Constipated

Was always a problem until someone recommended eating a kiwi fruit a day. I have no idea what's in the fruit but problem solved!

Lactose & plums ?

Best thing I have found and tried quite a few is TROO syrup from Holland and Barrett. It's a miracle for me ?

So sympathise with you Rachb, I've suffered exactly the same, and tried everything, But......what's working for me & continues to do so for the last 3 months, is 2 small pieces of good quality liquorice every day and just before bed, a couple of dessert spoons of AllBran Original(not the flakes) in milk. No longer straining and very regular.

I am the same when we go away - new surroundings, etc - but never been camping and I think i would be like you and never go - think what Kesterel Is saying above is great advice. Remember to drink plenty as that can made you very constipated. Try eating tic tacs, or Harrbo’s are supposed to work well in that dept.

Good luck x

Take a puzzle book with you, soduku is good. Don’t forget pencil and rubber though! Something you can concentrate on. A map is good too Also a couple of pruned before bed!!!!

Prunes that should have read!

Back in my French camping days, I was always amused by the sound effects coming from the adjacent men’s loos. No embarrassment there from the mostly Dutch menfolk.
Prunes and Yakult are good for me but I like the idea of 2 Mars bars a previous poster mentioned

Try a good helping of sweetcorn to break it up - works every time for me - though you have to wait a little while for things to start working! I speak as one who has recently come back from wild camping in Scotland - where he choice of site involved finding suitable cover for the sort of operations under discussion here.....bushes and bracken and brambles ...

Rachb,this is what I do, works a treat. Lift the loo seat up, use a wipe to clean the bare porcelain seat, then sit down, your body creates an air tight vacuum around top, you can fart and poop away, and only you can hear anything, it’s quietly muffled from anyone outside! Traps any pong too. Then when finished a quick spray of mini air freshener, job done!! ( oh and a couple of glycerin suppositories up yer poo pipe 20 mins before you go! Seems to melt everything!!) ??

Nobody should be embarrassed to use a toilet. That's what they are for! And please don't ignore the urge to go, as others have said, it just makes matters worse and can kill off the sensory nerves in your rectum which tell you to when to go. Take a book, use your mobile to listen to some music and wait. I have to say, I have to spend a lot of time in the loo even though I have had the opposite problem since a teenager (IBS), so there are noises and pongs. There's nothing I can do about that, but laugh it off. I do have experience of constipation as a result of drugs I was given to combat sickness in chemotherapy, and I had 3 prunes every morning with 'overnight oats' (oat flakes soaked in apple juice). It worked for me. I hope you are better soon.

Having suffered from IBS for decades and being a veteran of public loos, I am totally immune to embarrassment about noises and smells. Just let it all hang out!

And spending so much time attending to nature, I have heard some fascinating conversations between and within cubicles, especially when there are children involved!

Wetheralls sugar free toffees don't know what's in the artificial sweeteners but it definitely gets things moving

I loathe having to use a public toilet, when there will be people waiting,it just doesnt happen then, and I get a bit paranoid and can only think of one thing, why are we ladies like this?

Drink gallons of water.

East prunes, popcorn and licquorice (don't quite know if these are available on a camp site - with a shop?)

Fybogel is useful (from a chemist).

'Blow up a balloon' (a figurative one) when sitting waiting - that promotes the correct bit of you to work in a good way.

Good luck!

I used to have exactly the same problem when camping - I depended on apples and licorice allsorts. I used to try to find a quiet public loo when out and about!

This is why I'd never go camping! Hope things have moved along for you by now.

I try and wait until the hand dryer goes on to do the deed (or at least one installment of it!)

Glad i am not the only one who finds it difficult to use a public toilet! I would take my phone with me and play music to 'hide' what I was doing As someone else says, men don't seem to worry about using public toilets (or using the loo when visiting family/friends etc), wonder why we women worry so much about it?

So pleased this thread is here. I was born with this tendency,
I know to never eat white bread and to avoid white flour in products, unless bread has lots of seeds and high fibre content.
A large mug of hot tea seems to get things on the right track but I always try to have high fibre diet and I take peppermint oil capsules morning and night. If I don't then I suffer. Staying anywhere new does seem to have the psychological affect of stopping things from happening. I have learned some extra tips from this thread. Never thought of kiwi fruit but will give it a try.

Cut meat and bread out of your diet....meat especially clogs you up. You will soon be 'flowing' again

@Bluesky and @MissAdventure, I live in Singapore! Thanks!

I always take a packet of those tablets for constipation as a last resort

@rachb2020

You have highlighted why there is nothing in this world that has ever persuaded me to go camping, and having to trek to find a loo or a shower would be top of the list. Give me my creature comforts every time!

Jaye53

I always take a packet of those tablets for constipation as a last resort

A whole packet? All at once??????

Crikey.