Sorry if TMI but I woke up this morning and struggled to have a BM for an hour. Nothing came out. It was very painful and when I felt what was going on back there (gross I know), it was a hard mass. This happened on my pre op liquid diet and after taking stool softeners for 2 days it eventually broke up & passed. I thought when I was on soft foods it would be better but.. No..

What can I do? Am I allowed to have a couple of stool softener gel tabs at this point? Any home remedies?

I had the same problem, ended up in the ER. What helped me was colace and suppositories. (Sorry for the TMI). Also lots of fluids and a bit of daily fiber.

Well I just left the ER. I spent 6 hours there. They found a bad bowel obstruction (impacted stool). I received 4 rectal exams and 2 enemas... I am physically and mentally exhausted. It STILL did not all pass. They said I need to take more stool softeners and drink as much liquid as possible tonight so the rest can pass tomorrow. It is still very painful when I try to go, and I have rectal bruising from all the exams.

The nurses were amazing, but this has been my lowest point since being banded.

Thank you everyone for the tips. I just got miralax and prune juice. Will also get activia and smooth move tea.

Daisy- I'm so sorry! What a horrible thing to have to go through! I sure hope you feel better soon. Until then, rest up. Take care!

My miracle food as of this morning is watermelom! I tolerate water melon extremely well, I ate a ton of it through the day yesterday and TADA it was as if the heavens opened up this morning....LOL....If you tolerate try it, remember to chew chew chew, by the time I swallow it its nothing but water, water really is the answer, just a fyi watermelon is 92% water!

Thank you for the support. It's been a rough couple days.

And I haven't tried watermelon since getting banded, but since it has such high Water content I'll give it a try! I'm desperate to never go through this again.

I am drinking fluids nonstop today and had miralax. Just waiting for the rest of it to pass.

Miralax. Every day. It has no taste and dissolves easily - better than trying to get pills down. You need to establish a bowel routine also, like sitting on the toilet after Breakfast every day. You can actually help train your body to go.

On my own TMI share, I've had the opposite problem and am POD#15 today. Almost worried if I would make it to the bathroom in time!

If you haven't tried V8 juice, it's a miracle cure for me...

Natalie, I am so sorry your feeling to awful, constipation has to be the worst~

I hope you get some relief soon!!

Miralax, miralax, miralax!!!!! I live on it now... since being banded. Once a day gotta have it

Well I just left the ER. I spent 6 hours there. They found a bad bowel obstruction (impacted stool). I received 4 rectal exams and 2 enemas... I am physically and mentally exhausted. It STILL did not all pass. They said I need to take more stool softeners and drink as much liquid as possible tonight so the rest can pass tomorrow. It is still very painful when I try to go' date=' and I have rectal bruising from all the exams.

The nurses were amazing, but this has been my lowest point since being banded.

Thank you everyone for the tips. I just got miralax and prune juice. Will also get activia and smooth move tea.[/quote']

Hey Daisy-- you might want to try either using psyllium husk or Flax seed ( powder) in your food everyday. It helps with keeping you regular. I've been using psyllium husk in my shakes/ smoothie in the morning and it has helped. I hope this helps...

So, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that has had this problem. I'm 2 weeks post op. I have been drinking more Water than I ever have in my whole life, so I know my water intake isn't the problem. I haven't taken any narcotics since day 3 post op. I'm guessing it's the multi-vitamin and Calcium. I'm gonna have to decrease the amount I take until I can figure out what the culprit is. I started Miralax and it's pretty good stuff usually, we'll see. It dissolves in any drink and you can't even taste it!

Yesterday I almost had to call 911 because of constipation issues and I'm really not one to do crazy things like that. I was so impacted that I almost passed out. I will try not to go into the graphic details, but let's just say it was not a good situation. I'm a nurse so I don't freak out easily, but this was bad!

I guess my point is, do something NOW before you end up in the ER! It happens, A LOT!

Good luck! Let us know if you find anything that helps you so we can all give it a try!

Kim

Thank you for all the suggestions! I had no idea this was such a common problem with bandsters. I have started taking stool softeners daily, miralax (my doctor said I have to take one if I haven't had a BM in 2 days) and upping my Water. I need to try flax seed. But so far things have been a lot better.

Kim, exact same thing happened to me. The pain was excruciating, so I know how you feel. When after several enemas a nurse tells you she has to manually "break up" the stool that's all the way up in your lower colon.... It's not pretty. lol.