For the past few months I've been having rock-hard immovable stools with no clear cause -- there is plenty of fiber in my diet and it's 100% healthy. Bowel movements became so traumatic that I developed anal bleeding and fissures. They were accompanied by severe abdomenal cramps, sharp piercing pain in the front and back of my body, preceding the hard bowel movements.
I couldn't figure out the cause. My diet consists of rice/pasta, chicken, beans, legumes, and veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, occasional Nutella or chocolate.
Through the process of elimination I concluded that the culprit is probably broccoli, which I started eating a few months ago (raw chunks/florets picked from an open salad bar). Somehow, although broccoli is an ultra-healthy fibrous food (people always say it relieves constipation), in my case it seems to have caused severe constipation.
Can anyone comment on whether any of this makes sense? Am I misdiagnosing the problem?
I had a Dr.'s appt. where the doctor told me that fiber can sometimes exacerbate constipation if there's not enough fluid intake. They told me to drink more water. But even after drinking more, the constipation continued -- and I didn't really want to drink more water since I wasn't thirsty in any way. I only returned to normal once I stopped eating broccoli, even with the same (low) water intake as always.
