Amburmist

I tried it for anxiety but I honestly don’t even know if it helped because I was too busy eating everything.

Hey Karen,

I know EXACTLY what u are going thru. It's been happening to me about once a month for the past year. It doesn't happen everytime I have a BM which is why I waited so long to talk to my surgeon. I'm 2 yrs out from bypass surgery btw. The pain is incredibly intense and i can feel the poop moving extremely slowly thru the lower intestines as the pain is happening. The poop will move, intense unbelievable pain happens, poop stops moving, pain eases. Rinse and repeat. I'd be drenched in sweat by the time the cycle stops and sometimes the poop would come out, othertimes not.

As much as I want to curl up into a ball, it hurts more when i do that. Once I started stretching my stomach out, like arching my back/leaning back type of position so my guts were as stretched as can be, I found the pain would last for shorter bursts. Still painful but less so. Also, this is going to sound silly but also putting pressure on my lower belly where the pain is and rubbing around in circles or jiggling that area also seems to help the bouts of pain go by quicker.

My surgeon immediately told me not to worry, this can unfortunately be a common ailment with bariatric patients, worse in summertime due to dehydration, and it's Constipation and/or harder poops. The poop (probably harder, less Water in it) is trying to move thru the intestine which is what is causing the pain. I, too, was terribly concerned that it was a twisted intestine or choked bowel or some horrible thing and he assured me it wasn't that. For a couple of reasons:
1. I can have a BM without pain. The excruciating pain doesn't happen every time/day.
2. If it was one of those very rare horrible ailments I was so afraid of, he said it would be OBVIOUS. My other symptoms would be things like uncontrollable vomiting, fever, pain doesn't stop, no bowel movements at all, can't keep food or drink down, etc. Stuff like that.

So, he said I needed to incorporate Miralax (polyethylene glycol) daily into my routine immediately, keep trying to drink lots and lots of water, and get more Fiber (green veggies and other fibrous foods or fiber supplement).

That convo was last week so I'm just starting the new regimine and can't tell u how successful it's been yet, but I'm hopeful. Many other people on this board are also taking daily constipation prevention OTC solutions for the same reasons, so we are not alone. Some folks use Milk of Magnesia once a week and/or daily colace and/or daily magnesium citrate...along with lots of water and fiber of course. Just another thing we need to keep up on in our new "rearranged guts" lives! [emoji6]

All that said, I am not a nurse or doctor and above all, if u feel concerned and that u should see a medical professional about your pain, u do it immediately! Don't let anyone stop u or talk u out of it!!

Good luck sweety! [emoji106]

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I take miralax (clear lax) = 1 capful
2 magnesium citrate caplets
1 gel cap of colace (250mg)
12g whole psyllium husks dissolved in Lipton decaff Apple Spice Tea (room temp)
100+oz Fluid per day
emphasize leafy greens and lots o' cruciferous veggies and indols (cauliflowers and broccolis)
It's my perfect recipe for throne room harmony.

Understood. Thank u much for ur feedback!

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Hey Fluff! Long time!
I was wondering about this too. My poo routine has always been slow, between 3-5 days between trips so it was no oddity that it was that long between trips even after surgery. The difference after surgery, tho, is that my #2s are - most of the time - oily rabbit turd little things, sometimes bigger and drier. I had been thinking about starting on a Miralax habit as well prior to this.
Ps. I guess I expunged so much on the 28th, I still haven't gone since. And I don't even feel anything coming. I feel very empty, really. My food intake has been super, super low bcos I'm afraid of pooping again...the pain was THAT bad. And I don't wanna go back to the doctor...so no food, no poo, no pain. I know, I know...[emoji53]

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Thank you. Me too!

Sent from my LG-H932 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi@bariatricbutterfly! Very motivating post, thank you! Would u mind if i picked ur brain for just a few questions? Such as:

--Did u lose the majority of ur weight within the firsr 12-18 months?
--Assuming u did, thinking back to that time, what was ur exercise regimen? Like did u exercise 1 hr, 5 days/week...or ?
--What was ur diet like? Specifics like max # of cals/day u allowed urself, and max # of carbs/day, etc?
--Ur body looks great, not a lot (if any at all!) loose or excess skin. What types of exercises did u do, or was it removed by cosmetic surgery afterward?
--After 8 years of keeping the weight off, what are ur max # cals/day now, what is ur exercise regimen now? Do u find it harder to maintain or harder at first trying to get it all off?

I just love picking the brains of success stories to try and glean best practices, good and new ideas, etc, from those like u who have been where I am (2 months postop) and have made it - so thanks in advance for responding with some details of ur journey.

And Congratulations for the long term success!

So, I'm 2 months out from RNY and still having a problem with hunger. About every 2 hours or so, I find myself thinking about food, wanting to go rummage thru the fridge or pantry for something to munch on while I'm working or on a conference call. Now, I know that's not a very good idea and so to help me NOT go back to old mindless eating habits, I started sucking on hard candies whenever I feel the urge to go get some food (outside of my planned 3 meals or snack times).
Is this happening to anyone else? Does anyone else suck on hard candies, mints, chew gum, etc in between meals/snacks to try and quiet the head hunger? What's bad about this is that my hard candies are Jolly Ranchers - and NOT the sugar free ones. I know, I know! That's all I had around at the time I started this new habit, and I figured it was better than shoveling in foods I shouldn't.
And here I was so excited to have the grehlin hormone essentially cut off from sending such strong signals to my brain, I was hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones who stopped being hungry altogether after surgery!
Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts? Words of wisdom? Advice? What did u do to quiet your head hunger after several weeks post-op? Are u in the same boat as me, still feeling hungry in much the same way u felt PRE-OP?

I like the idea of the quiche. A soft Protein at 4 weeks is a good idea. If you haven't had much meat yet, I would hold off eating the pull apart chicken or pulled pork in public. Chicken was the first meat I tried when I was cleared for meat. Came right back up.

How about pull apart chicken in a crock pot?

At 4 weeks out, she can't have veggies n dip, she needs something she can eat. I am sure everyone else can eat what the others will bring. Quiche would be good too, if you can tolerate eggs or deviled eggs.

Have u talked to ur doctor about this? How long ago was ur surgery? I'm just afraid ur body is low on something important, causing the delerium. That's the part that worries me. I don't have any suggestions, but i hope u get to the bottom of this quickly. Good luck and take care.

Nah, not everyone loses at the same rate as u, which is probably how they can do that and not wither away, lol. Like me, for example, I'm a slow loser so my weight loss is like the little engine that could. Stall, lose, stall, stall, stall, lose...and on amd on I chug chug chug. Although, your body's way sounds better to me!! [emoji6] Although, the eating 3x a day thing doesnt work for me either, but just because I feel like Im hungry for something every 2 or so hours now. May be mental hunger, but I just grab a nib of something healthy (ie, couple 5 almonds, sugar free hard candy, etc) to plop in my belly to keep me satisfied until the next 'main' meal.

Any answers you need ping me anytime [emoji847]

Same!

Yes, u will eventually be adding back most things, including carbs. Just at the beginning and then for the first 6 months to a year postop, u wanna lose as much weight as possible during this "honeymoon phase" while ur body figures out its new inner workings and becomes efficient again. My doc said that right now (the first 6 months to a year post op), our bodies arent really efficient with our new inner workings, so weight is more likely to come off faster. So take advantage of that and stay on diets that allow faster weight loss, like a low carb type diet.

Yes, u will eventually be adding back most things, including carbs. Just at the beginning and then for the first 6 months to a year postop, u wanna lose as much weight as possible during this "honeymoon phase" while ur body figures out its new inner workings and becomes efficient again. My doc said that right now (the first 6 months to a year post op), our bodies arent really efficient with our new inner workings, so weight is more likely to come off faster. So take advantage of that and stay on diets that allow faster weight loss, like a low carb type diet.

Yes, u will eventually be adding back most things, including carbs. Just at the beginning and then for the first 6 months to a year postop, u wanna lose as much weight as possible during this "honeymoon phase" while ur body figures out its new inner workings and becomes efficient again. My doc said that right now (the first 6 months to a year post op), our bodies arent really efficient with our new inner workings, so weight is more likely to come off faster. So take advantage of that and stay on diets that allow faster weight loss, like a low carb type diet.

Yes, u will eventually be adding back most things, including carbs. Just at the beginning and then for the first 6 months to a year postop, u wanna lose as much weight as possible during this "honeymoon phase" while ur body figures out its new inner workings and becomes efficient again. My doc said that right now (the first 6 months to a year post op), our bodies arent really efficient with our new inner workings, so weight is more likely to come off faster. So take advantage of that and stay on diets that allow faster weight loss, like a low carb type diet.

Premier Protein, Vanilla...i drink one every morning. I look forward to it. Love them! Ive had the Caramel, strawberry and Creme, and chocolate. I think the Chocolate is bad but the others are good.

Good point. Some foods make my pouch feel more restrictive than others. That's why my team instructs me to eat by portion, not by time (20mins) because with the foods that aren't as restrictive in my pouch, I'd probably overeat if i just ate to 20 mins, regardless of portion. So I eat to the portion size (2-4oz per meal), up to 20 mins, and then call it. If i do t finish my 2-4 oz by 20 mins, oh well. No more to eat until next meal.

I, too, was frustrated so much at my slow rate of loss. I was seeing so many on these boards losing so much so fast that i was feeling defeated when i had only lost like 15lbs a month out. I am about 2.5 months out now and "only" down 33lbs (310 to 277 lbs) and have resigned myself to just "keep with the process" and what will happen will happen. There's not much else i can do. My body is just not one of those bodies that is going to lose quickly. But if i continue to follow the program, i can't go anywhere but down, right? My big butt cannot sustain all this weight only eating 600-700 cals/day, plus exercise. I thought that too, that people who didn't have this drastic-ass procedure lose weight at 1-2 lbs a week, same as what's happening to me now (unless im in a stall, which i have been in SEVERAL TIMES already in 2 months!). But, like a poster above said, the difference is I don't feel hungry all the time, like I'm forcing myself into this diet of starvation like i used to. It's easy now for me to only eat 4 ounces of food and push away from the table, for instance.

Also, keep in mind, just because we're only eating 400-600 cals/day, doesn't mean we're going to lose faster. I, too, thought that initially. But when i started including more grams of healthy fats a day (almonds) and about 100 more cals, i started losing more. That's the hardest part, i think, is finding the sweet spot of cals/day, fat grams/day, protein/day, carbs/day, etc to where ur body doesn't think ur starving it. I think my body was holding onto weight before i started increasing the macros. And I'm ok now but i know I'll have to change again as my weight gets lower. Bottom line, its a pain in the butt...but it's way easier now post-op than it was pre-op, don't u think? Maybe it's a mental thing but whatever it is, I've finally given in to the process. Eat better, exercise daily. There's no magic trick (eg, rny bypass)...just tools to make it easier. You'll get there too!

Ps. I still cannot get in 64oz of water/day. No matter what i do, i just can't do it. I'll continue to strive but as of now, i can only get in, max, 30-40oz/day. Yes it would be good if i could drink all sorts of Water, but my body seems to be accepting of my lower intake...for now. It may change or it may not. I just have to wait and see. My point is...just keep trying. That's all we can do.

Hi@bariatricbutterfly! Very motivating post, thank you! Would u mind if i picked ur brain for just a few questions? Such as:

--Did u lose the majority of ur weight within the firsr 12-18 months?
--Assuming u did, thinking back to that time, what was ur exercise regimen? Like did u exercise 1 hr, 5 days/week...or ?
--What was ur diet like? Specifics like max # of cals/day u allowed urself, and max # of carbs/day, etc?
--Ur body looks great, not a lot (if any at all!) loose or excess skin. What types of exercises did u do, or was it removed by cosmetic surgery afterward?
--After 8 years of keeping the weight off, what are ur max # cals/day now, what is ur exercise regimen now? Do u find it harder to maintain or harder at first trying to get it all off?

I just love picking the brains of success stories to try and glean best practices, good and new ideas, etc, from those like u who have been where I am (2 months postop) and have made it - so thanks in advance for responding with some details of ur journey.

And Congratulations for the long term success!

Nah, not everyone loses at the same rate as u, which is probably how they can do that and not wither away, lol. Like me, for example, I'm a slow loser so my weight loss is like the little engine that could. Stall, lose, stall, stall, stall, lose...and on amd on I chug chug chug. Although, your body's way sounds better to me!! [emoji6] Although, the eating 3x a day thing doesnt work for me either, but just because I feel like Im hungry for something every 2 or so hours now. May be mental hunger, but I just grab a nib of something healthy (ie, couple 5 almonds, sugar free hard candy, etc) to plop in my belly to keep me satisfied until the next 'main' meal.

Same!