The poop won't come lol every 2-3 days I can go a little but have to take laxatives to really go! I take stool softners and fiber supplements everyday. Any other advice to get more regular? Is the small amount of food just gonna slow me down and I'm never going to go everyday again because there just isn't much food going in!? HELP!!???

My surgeon recommended Milk of Magnesia- its natural, and it won't weaken your system over time like other laxatives. Take two tablespoons in the morning, and thats it. Some people take it every day.

Also remember that because you are eating so little, theres not a whole lot of bulk. You're not going to go like the old days I don't believe, but try asking your physician.

This has been a major issue for me. I was told not to take milk of magnesia on a regular basis (although the two times I took it, it really helped. I am on 3 stool softeners a day. I also take a medicine Amitrol (or something like that) an am trying to find the right amount (too little does nothing; too much and I feel like I will explode.) Today I have an acupuncture appointment and I have high hopes that doing 1x week acupuncture for a few weeks will really get things going : )! And by then I hope to be eating more stringbeans and other things with fiber. Good luck everyone.

And my big news -- today I finally hit the -50 lb mark that I've been waiting for (I stayed between -48 and -49 for a long time!) Yeah

same thing happened to me, milk of magnesia makes me gag! i had a hard time getting it down, miralax works well but it takes a few days.

i did teas and coffee in the morning that def helped me. there is one called Smooth Move, look for it in your organic/health section of the store. it works wonders!

Several people I know use a product called Natural Calm that they swear by. Are you feeling constipated? I only go about every 3 days but I don't feel constipated and with the small amount we eat, there's not much waste produced after digestion.

Add some natural fiber to your diet & up your water. I was blending spinach into my protein shakes from day 1. It doesn't really change the flavor but it does turn it green. I also get fiber & protein from beans. Early on I puréed them and mixed with veg broth & unflavored protein powder for a protein packed soup. At 10 mths my BMs are pretty much back to normal. I go at least once a day, sometimes even more.

I had gastroparisis preoperative due to the requirement of narcotic pain meds for chronic pain. The doctor said surgery should help. It didn't.I am on large doses of colace,senna and take a God awful med called lactose. Make sure to hydrate and walk. Also I take benefiber once a day,I put it in my protein shake.

I feel for you because I couldn't go to the bathroom either. However, mine got severe enough that my colon was removed and then there were complications with that surgery which ruined my whole life plan. It's been 15 months and I've been through about 20 surgeries so PLEASE take this post seriously. I wouldn't wish what has happened to me on my worst despised enemy. These are the things that I've experienced and learned after being stuck in the same situation. First of all, be real with yourself. Are you REALLY TRULY drinking the 64 oz of water a day that you are supposed to be? BELIEVE ME, I KNOW that it's hard but you've just got to sip on it all day, every day. That's a HUGE factor in it. Next, your diet. Choose foods that meet your requirements but also help aid naturally in this department. Like for instance, fruit that have seeds in them or a pit naturally stimulate bowel movements just the same as exlax. And you can google all the different foods that help. Vegetables are definitely in my own option, the way to go. Next, I wanted to answer your question. Everyone is different and even our own same bodies act differently from time to time out of the ordinary but not everyone has to or needs to have bowel movements daily. I know a lot of people do but it doesn't necessarily mean that just because I might only go twice a week that something's wrong with me. And YES, you are eating so much less than before so think about it, you had your bowels FULL with food that sits inside of you going through its process so every time you eat another big meal it just pushes all that waste further and faster down causing you to go more. But now you've got the same size bowels with MUCH less food sitting and going through them. Now it may take a few days or so until you need to go. In theory if we were all out there working hard physical labor jobs our metabolism should be working much faster but in today's world, the only way to get that is exercise. Which brings me to my next point, have you been working out? What you do is not really important when it comes to exercise. What matters is the effort being put into it. Like swimming just sounds fun but it's my form of exercise. So, step it up in that area also and if you are STILL having problems after all this then talk to your Dr about a prescription drug to help you go. I use to take it and it worked great. It's called Linzess. I know you do Fiber too and I don't know which kind you use but I recommend Miralax. I hope this post will help someone out there. Believe me, if anyone understands... It me!!

I feel for you because I couldn't go to the bathroom either. However, mine got severe enough that my colon was removed and then there were complications with that surgery which ruined my whole life plan. It's been 15 months and I've been through about 20 surgeries so PLEASE take this post seriously. I wouldn't wish what has happened to me on my worst despised enemy. These are the things that I've experienced and learned after being stuck in the same situation. First of all, be real with yourself. Are you REALLY TRULY drinking the 64 oz of water a day that you are supposed to be? BELIEVE ME, I KNOW that it's hard but you've just got to sip on it all day, every day. That's a HUGE factor in it. Next, your diet. Choose foods that meet your requirements but also help aid naturally in this department. Like for instance, fruit that have seeds in them or a pit naturally stimulate bowel movements just the same as exlax. And you can google all the different foods that help. Vegetables are definitely in my own option, the way to go. Next, I wanted to answer your question. Everyone is different and even our own same bodies act differently from time to time out of the ordinary but not everyone has to or needs to have bowel movements daily. I know a lot of people do but it doesn't necessarily mean that just because I might only go twice a week that something's wrong with me. And YES, you are eating so much less than before so think about it, you had your bowels FULL with food that sits inside of you going through its process so every time you eat another big meal it just pushes all that waste further and faster down causing you to go more. But now you've got the same size bowels with MUCH less food sitting and going through them. Now it may take a few days or so until you need to go. In theory if we were all out there working hard physical labor jobs our metabolism should be working much faster but in today's world, the only way to get that is exercise. Which brings me to my next point, have you been working out? What you do is not really important when it comes to exercise. What matters is the effort being put into it. Like swimming just sounds fun but it's my form of exercise. So, step it up in that area also and if you are STILL having problems after all this then talk to your Dr about a prescription drug to help you go. I use to take it and it worked great. It's called Linzess. I know you do Fiber too and I don't know which kind you use but I recommend Miralax. I hope this post will help someone out there. Believe me, if anyone understands... It me!!

Thx for sharing!

I was taking miralax and MOM every day and adding benefiber and Metamucil to my Protein shakes. I still only had a BP every 3 days and it was so hard I would make myself bleed trying to go.

I finally discovered what worked was INSOLUBLE fiber. Metamucil and benefiber are both soluble fiber and can actually make constipation worse. Since I started adding insoluble fiber (Now Foods Apple fiber and ground flax seed) to my smoothies and Greek Yogurt I've been able to stop the miralax and MOM and I have a soft formed poop every morning.

I have tried MoM, Senna, Smooth Move Tea, Lactulose and still haven't gone. I was never regular anyway and I am only on the pre op diet. I am drinking over the amount of Water required. In 14 days I have been twice and that wasn't a lot.

I used to have colonics years ago. Has anyone tried that to help?

Kate

Thank you Vanessa for such a powerful post. I am so sorry you had to go through all of this.

I'm still having trouble with constipation. I wouldn't mind just going every 3 days but I find that my weight won't budge and on third day I have lots of pain. So, today I took MOM and I'm expecting it wil eventually work. I know it is not a long term solution. I am increasing my Fluid intake since it was closer to 50 and now working on getting to 64. I am adding more vegetables but since I can still onky eat a small amount each day I don't really think it will help. I have a prescription drug but even that is not working -- either does nothing or causes explosive diarrhea with lots of pain beforehand. I don't want to take it (and once free samples end I was told it cost around $200!).

Kindle - Do you know how long after surgery we need to wait to add ground flax into our diet? Years ago I used to add that to shakes (way way pre-surgery) but had forgotten about it. I remember it got clumpy -- do you have a way you add it so that does not happen and how much do you add each day?

Other than this constipation I feel great and am ecstatic with my almost 50 lb loss (is was 50 2 days ago but went back up when I stopped pooping!) I am ready to get that scale moving down again...especially since I am so close to being out of the morbidly obese BMI level (3 more lbs to lose). Looking forward to getting rid of that awful word "morbidly" and just being severely obese! 53 more lbs before I become plain old overweight.Not sure I'll ever get to "normal" (and who is to say what that means anyway) so my goal is to be overweight!

Has anyone tried calcium citrate chews to resolve constipation? I've read other posts about this that say it helped but I believe they were talking about liquid calcium citrate. If so, what brand did you find helpful and how much did you take? I've had two bouts of constipation since May and I don't want to go through that again!

Not sure about it for constipation but I know I'm not supposed to take calcium for at least 3 months after sleeve surgery (I) I have to check since it might be 4 months -- I just know it is still too soon for me.) When I do take it, it needs to be calcium citrate chewable. I already ordered both the calcium citrate and chewable multivatimins from unjury since it seemed hard to find the chewable calcium citrate in stores without adding a chocolate chew with carbs and sugar. if you find something please let me know.

Prunes work for me!

But are you allowed to eat them. Maybe I'll ask my nutritionist. Eating prunes would be a real treat!