I am having the worst constipation. I have not pooped in five days. I am taking colace just once a day. I am going to up it to twice day.

I don't know what to think.

Four ounces of prune juice works for me.

I am 8 months out. I only go once maybe twice a week. Usually on the weekend. Every once in while I feel constipated and take miralax.

Mineral oil, 2 tablespoons before I go to bed every night. I've not had an issue with constitution in over a month. I was taking Colace everyday and just gave up on it.

It has truly been a life saver.

Best of luck!

Carol

I am having the worst constipation. I have not pooped in five days. I am taking colace just once a day. I am going to up it to twice day.

I don't know what to think.

@@wildGoose I know your feeling. I was sleeved on 12/2 and I haven't a BM as well. I have tried Colace, Prune juice and Fleet. I'm going to try the mineral oil next.

Call your doctor. I waited too long and ended up in the er with a severe bowel impaction. Now I take stool softeners and miralax early on when I start having problems. I hope you get relief soon.

Constipation can be a difficult problem to deal with after surgery. Sometimes it is caused by not drinking enough fluids each day. There have been several threads that discussed several solutions on this website.

The one that worked for me was to eat an apple each night before bed and the problem disappeared. But you must eat the skin of the apple. It is a combination of the skin and the pulp that provides the cure. It has worked for me for over a year now.

Another solution is a herbal tea called Smooth Move. It is available at Krogers and other stores.

Others recommended drinking warm prune juice or eating prunes.

One of the off-the-wall remedies is eating sugar free gummie bears.

I take 2 fiber tabs every morning and have no trouble going.

I had a terrible time post op with constipation. After my surgery I hadn't gone yet when I saw my doc to get my staples out. He told me to stop on the way home and get Milk of Magnesia, and to take a dose and a half to get things moving. After that he told me to take 1/2 dose every other day until my body got into a routine. He then said to take a natural softener like senna every day to keep things regular. So far I'm ok now. Once you're eating more real food I think it makes a difference too. I'm almost 6 wks. out and am eating many more things now.

Ugh. That is theeee worst! It took me almost two weeks before I could go and it hurt like child birth but once I got going...its been verrrrry regular.

Sometimes anesthesia and pain meds and the trauma of surgery will do it.

If no relief, I'd definitely call doc. Mine asked me all the time how my bms were.

Feel better soon!

Do you swallow the colace pill whole? I tried crushing one and almost died from the taste!!

Anyone got a case of the black poops? Haha I thought I had internal bleeding and then I find outs it's the Iron pill. Grin.

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by bellabloom

Milk of Magnesia works for me.

My surgeon's office told me that if I hadn't gone by day 3 post-op to start taking Miralax one to three times a day. I take it once a day but I am very early in the post-op days of eating. (eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.) I may have to increase the dose when I move up to chicken and fish later this week.

Mirlax is an osmotic that pulls water into the intestines, it is safe, and effective.

I also ended up in the hospital impacted. Do not wait until it is to late. I went through Colace, Milk of Magnesia, Miralax, SF Metamucil and would still have to use an enema to really feel relieved. TMI...I know. I have a very lazy colon and bowel but didn't know it. So now I am on Amitiza. A prescription medication for people who have severe constipation or IBS. Hopefully when I implement more foods things will improve but for now it seems to be doing the job.

Last night at two in the morning had to make an emergency trip to the pharmacy for milk of magnesia. Ugh.

Got home and thank goodness I pooped. This is the worst. I don't know what to do because I can't get in enough Water and there is no Fiber in the foods I can tolerate, if I can tolerate anything at all. It's gotten to the point that I just don't want to eat anymore.