Okay.. I can't take it anymore.. Not something I expected to talk about on a forum but... During the 800 calorie a day two week pre-opp diet, I first started noticing changing bowel habits.. my stools were loose and watery, but I didn't worry about it much.. My doctor and program never talked once at any point about constipation or changed bowel habits post-surgery and how to deal with that - never even mentioned it could happen.

So what's going on now?

Basically I've gone from never having problems with constipation to infrequent watery stools with lumps that come only every few days or less and when they do happen it rarely feels like I got "cleaned out" I spend a lot of time feeling bound up over a several hour period and then feel okay again.. for a while.. but it always comes back.

I'm -terrified- of the idea of taking a laxitive.. I've never had one.. I don't really understand how they work or if they're safe. I'm scared I'll take one and just wind up with bigger issues.. My mom suggested taking Herb Lax from Shaklee since it's more natural than OTC laxitives but I'm still scared..

I'd love some suggestions for what to take.. if you have experience with herb-lax or a similar medicine I'd love to know about that.. or other medicines...

Two things though - it can't be liquid.. it needs to be in pill form and it can't have any artificial cherry flavoring (the latter I'm very allergic to). I would prefer a pill over a powder like metamucil because I just find it hard to believe it's as tasteless as the advertisements insist.

Help... encouragement, information, medicines I could take that won't do something bad to me?

Please .. don't ask me to talk to my doc lol. I'm not all that comfortable with him / his staff anyway (as many of you know from previous posts) and certainly not about this.. so I'd like to hear from you guys and -your- opinions and experiences that might help me.

My mom and I have been sleeved and she helps me through my stages and give me advice from her experience. She actually put a teaspoon of miralax in one of her drinks daily plus a stool softener daily and it helped her go. She said the first couple weeks it was kinda painful to go and hard to go but when she started to this it helped a lot.

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Fresh or concentrate Apple juice on an empty stomach in short time sends me to the bathroom with everything moving in a liquid fashion keeps working too for a couple of movements. Works when my stomach isn't empty but not as fast and as well.

Not wanting to talk to my surgeon isn't a matter of shyness. It's a matter of his lack of bedside manner and just him and I not jiving on a lot of points it's been an ongoing issue for months where I haven't felt happy with the treatment (and attitude) I've gotten from his staff.

To be frank, I was never even told by him or anyone in my program that I could experience this issue at all or what to do if it happened. So returning to them after multiple disappointments on my care beyond necessary follow ups just isn't realistic if I want to get actual answers. Thankfully I do have a great relationship with my pcp and if I can't get it to improve on its own using colace and benefiber (so glad to hear it's not the way I feared ) I'll reach out to him next week.

Also, I'm kinda skeptical my insurance will pay for skin removal down the line anyway usually they rule that cosmetic and very few people (unless they were much more overweight than me) qualify for insurance help to get medically "necessary" skin surgery at least that's what I've been told by my surgeon though it wouldn't surprise me a great deal if he wasn't giving straight info about that as well.

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It took me about 9 days for my bowels to "wake up" after surgery. (Anesthesia and pain meds) There's nothing but liquid in there. Mine woke me up at 2 am so be prepared.

Yep just got my day #8, 330AM wake-up call

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I am dealing with the same problem, I was sleeved on 6/7 and have only had 4 or 5 BMs since then, two of which were induced by MoM. MoM did not help today. I am sipping warm prune juice right now, if that does not help I have glycerin suppositories as back up.

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I am dealing with the same problem, I was sleeved on 6/7 and have only had 4 or 5 BMs since then, two of which were induced by MoM. MoM did not help today. I am sipping warm prune juice right now, if that does not help I have glycerin suppositories as back up.

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Oh and farts are untrustworthy... For about a year, I hear...

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Miralax and the generic brands are amazing . It draws Water into and helps you have a meaningful, less painful bowel movement. I'm PreOp but I don't go regularly for many years. Miralax really helps me and my son. My GI doctor recommended it when I started having issues after my gallbladder removal. It's non addictive. Meaning your body does not become reliant on it to move your bowels. When I'm stopped up, I put the scoop in hot tea every day for 7-10 days and I can regulate for a bit. When I feel it slowing again I use it for a day or so. That's what has worked for me.

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I'm in my second week post op and I use MCT oil. I add a little bit to my Protein smoothie and it does the trick. Check it out! Dr.oz did a bit about it awhile ago!

Erin - 35 - illinois

HW:262/SW: 228/CW:216

Surgery date - 6/22/16

Eat some baby food.... You'll go

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Ugh well I've been using a mixture of collace and benefiber and go most days.. if I go 2-3 without I take a second colace and that does the trick.. Still not easy but.. at least it's helping.. the way I understand neither collace nor benefiber are addictive and your bowels don't get to where they "need" these to move right? I'm not at the stage in my diet yet to where I can add in many natural sources of Fiber (still soft foods) so I'm hoping this will improve!

Absolutely no laxative, miralax is the suggestion in my Booklet given by my surgical team. Mixed into liquid should bulk up your stools to produce something. Like said above, you have changed and we have to wait. In due time it will come. Drink your fluids.

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2 words: squatty potty ... Google it

2 words: squatty potty ... Google it

I'll agree, it's a game changer.

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Dried prunes was the answer of this issue for me.

I hate taking laxatives so my mother told me to take few dried prunes everyday and voila, i have no constipation anymore and it taste yummy too

Good snack for a very good reason

Good luck

Lots of Iron too!

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Miralax for me! I buy the costco brand. Much cheaper and the exact same thing. I mix in my Protein shake each morning until I 'go' then every other day. It's not a laxative.

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