I am 6 days post surgery. Required no pain med in hospital, but when I got home, dealing with gas pain, and constipation. Not able to eat all my required full diet food, because of the uncomfortable gas and constipation. I walk a lot, and have only minor soreness at the port site, and no other pain, but this gas and constipation is not fun. I tried apple juice diluted with water last night, and wanted to die after. I had such gas all night. Finally fell asleep with the heating pad in the recliner.

I would talk with your doctor and see what he suggest taking. My doctor had me adding a TBS (a day) of benefiber to my liquids and that really helped with the constipation and still does when my body is low in Fiber.

HTH

My doctor recommended taking Milk of Magnesia to help with constipation. I had to take it post-op and it helped in a few hours. I have since added in fiber to stay regular.

O.M.G.

I am 6 days post-op and I had the worst constipation last night. I think that pain and discomfort was worse then everything else combined. Personally, I have never experienced severe constipation before so this was an alien feeling for me. But I just wanted to be taken out of my misery! I added some Miralax to my Gatorade and I used a suppository and finally got that sucker out Sorry if thats TMI.

But even after I got through it, I think my body was in shock and I didn't sleep all night from cramping.

Ugh. I just want to feel like myself again!!

Its totally natural to deal with gas & constipation post op. Even if you're not taking your pain meds currently you have undoubtedly been eating much less the last week & received meds during surgery & also that *wonderful* Co2 that adds to the loely gas pains/cramps post op. If you're miserable by all means contact your MD but adding stool softner or MOM daily for a while (especially while taking narcotic pain meds) is a good idea. I'm 2mts post op still deal with gas (especially after eating too much or fiberous meals) and constipation at least once a week. No where near as miserable as immediately post op though! The gas pain & cramps is awful I know.. walking, gas X strips, heating pads, colace (stool softners), massages & small meals helped for me. Best of luck!

I've always dealt with constipation and since my banding 2 1/2 years ago, I take a stool softener every day. The doc said it won't hurt me and it really helps.

Also make extra sure you're getting your Water in. Lack of hydration makes a huge difference.

I hope you feel better soon! Hang in there.

I had surgery in Sept and can remember being constipated so badly. I started taking stool softners and those seemed to help. Now I take laxatives and probably am addicted to them but I have this idea that they help keep me from gaining the weight back. It goes back to pre-surgery thinking. I should get off them but try them if you need something to help you poop. Being stuffed up is never fun. Good luck.

Since we cannot really swallow pills anymore, what type of stool softeners are best? I am 5 days post surgery now and am starting to feel pain from this issue as well. Since I am on mushies, I am just trying to rely on getting in a bit of banana or apple sauce or something in the mornings. Not sure that is helping much, but I do know fiber is a good thing.

I've always dealt with constipation and since my banding 2 1/2 years ago, I take a stool softener every day. The doc said it won't hurt me and it really helps.

What softener did you find that works best, so I can add that to my pre-op shopping list?

For immediate relief, suppository or enema (fleet, can be found from walmart, cvs, walgreens, grocery stores...basically anywhere execpt toys-r-us). I've used benefiber but it wasn't immediate for me but it did help so after using it everyday. You want to add the activa yogurt to you diet for long term.

Hope u get some relief soon.

You should be able to swallow pills, just nothing larger than an M&M. At least that's what I was told.

I just take store brand stool softner. I usually buy it at Wal-Mart or Giant food. Just be sure that it says that it does not contain laxative. You certainly don't want to take those on a daily basis.

I take one a day and if I'm having a little trouble, I'll take an extra one at night for a few days.

I use Metamucil (pink lemonade flavor) over the others. Benefiber did nothing for me. Also as someone mentioned, you really need to get in enough fluids daily. Plumsmart Light juice helps also. I've tried MOM, but it makes me gag. Also the Metamucil will get thicker the longer it sits, so it's almost like drinking a shake which helps me stay satiated longer. Bonus!

1 glass daily helps for me!

I use Metamucil (pink lemonade flavor) over the others. Benefiber did nothing for me. Also as someone mentioned, you really need to get in enough fluids daily. Plumsmart Light juice helps also. I've tried MOM, but it makes me gag. Also the Metamucil will get thicker the longer it sits, so it's almost like drinking a shake which helps me stay satiated longer. Bonus!

1 glass daily helps for me!

my doc told me that metamucil is BAD BAD BAD and that I shouldnt use it. Others on this forum have posted that as well.

Does your doctor know your using it?

I drink an organic smooth moving tea and on the box it does say that it's a laxative hmmmm :thumbup:.. I wonder if that is bad for me????

I am 4 days post op and have not had a BM in almost two weeks. I thought it was normal because of the 2 week liquid diet before surgery but now I am just frustrated.

my doc told me that metamucil is BAD BAD BAD and that I shouldnt use it. Others on this forum have posted that as well.

Does your doctor know your using it?

The surgeon who performed my fistulectomy knows it and recommended and knows I'm banded. I've never heard of Metamucil being bad to use. But I'll post on my doc's forum and see what they think. I am always suspect of hearing things like this without any proof to back it up. So I'll get a professional opinion. Thanks for calling it to my attention.

I am 4 days post op and finally had some "success" at 6 this morning. I only took pain meds in the hospital and haven't even had Tylenol since Wednesday morning.

Colace was part of my discharge instructions but since I've never taken any type of stool softener before, I was taking the bare minimum dose rather than the recommended dose.

When I took the recommended amount, it took about 12 hours to work.

Good luck to you!

kagead