I'm currently about 16 months post op and I have been severely constipated ever since. I go once every 2 - 3 days, and when I go it's extremely painful. Before surgery I never had any problems. I'd be already done going before I could even sit down. Now I'm in the bathroom minimum 10 minutes but usually 20+ minutes. I've talked to my surgeon about it, all he did was give me some stool softeners and miralax and some other type of powder (basically just like miralax.) and told me to try to up my fiber intake and drink plenty of water. Nothing worked ....I drink at least 80 oz of water ...I eat lots of things with high fiber, I get plenty of exercise, nothing is making it ANY better. Has anyone else experienced this or still is ? I really want to fix this because like I said going has become really painful and unpleasant. Like I don't look forward to my next bowel movement AT ALL.

I am not as far out as you but I feel your struggle my bowels are a mess, plus I get next to zero fiber because I am on all protein. I find that on the second full day of not going if I take a docolax the movement is a bit smoother and although there might still be some pain it is much better. If I hit a 4th day with no go I take 2 docolax and that gets everything out. It is not a perfect system but for right now it is what I have.

I have not yet had surgery but, I have suffered from extremely severe constipation. If you will take the Miralax every single day it will work. I have been taking it every day for the last 6 years.

I also take probiotics and digestive enzymes daily.

I know first hand how painful this can be.

I was a skeptic...but I tried it....and I have to say I think the Smooth Move tea works wonders. It's sold at most grocery stores with the herbal tea.

Drink chicken broth with cayenne pepper helped me sooooo much! I was severely constipated after my surgery and that helped a lot

21 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

I was a skeptic...but I tried it....and I have to say I think the Smooth Move tea works wonders. It's sold at most grocery stores with the herbal tea.

I'm not historically (still pre-op) someone who gets constipated but one time I did and my wife had some of that tea on hand so I gave it a try. I have to say, it worked better and faster than I expected!

Edited January 9, 20188 yr by VSGnewguy

As I neared the end of my weight loss phase as I transitioned into the maintenance phase, I found constipation became a major issue. I became so constipated that I had to rely on glycerin suppositories (that I had to shove up my rear end every few days) to unbind me.

Eventually I found a cure that worked for me. I found that if I ate an apple each night before bedtime, by morning things were good. But it was important to eat the skin of the apple in addition to the pulp of the apple.

Other past recommendations from this site to deal with constipation were:

Smooth Move Herbal Tea

Prune Juice (warmed)

Prunes (4 in the morning and 4 at night)

Magnesium citrate

Insoluble fibers (Garden of Life Raw Fiber or Renew Life Triple Fiber).

Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears [Warning: eating too many can cause severe diarrhea]

Aerobic Magnesium 07

Ground Flax Seeds (but don’t try to grind it yourself). Use 2 tablespoons per glass of water every night before going to bed.

Bowel Clear (herbal blend)

I’ve been taking 200mg colace in the morning and 200mg at night. I have this problem too. It’s a softener not a laxative so if your issue is the stool is really hard maybe this will help.

I found adding 25 grams of fiber a day takes care of that. Costco sells Fiberone gummie, I have to have it daily, the 10 gummies only have 50 calories too. I started taking it nightly since about 4 months post op as constipation was the worst side effect.

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I changed my probiotic so I'm taking a much stronger one now and I drink a half bottle of kombucha most days (recommendations from my dietitian). Also, by chance, I discovered that increasing the fat in my diet helped - in fact that probably helped more than both of the other things combined. I still have trouble but things are getting better.

What about your water intake? I find if I don’t get enough then constipation is an issue. 60 ounces of water is my goal every day, my surgery was 12/18/17.

Pear juice is a laxative or pears in general. My dr suggested the pairs in a can in pair juice and it worked well.

Miralax, every-single-day! Even if you are doing good. On days you aren’t doing well, take 2 doses. It took me weeks to become regular. My GI doctor told me that Miralax is the only medicine on the market that your body doesn’t become immune to. And soluble fiber, not the gummies or tabs.

I'm not sure how you're dealing with all this still, but I had the same issue after surgery until I started working out daily. Since then, I've been regular like pre-op. Have you gotten into working out yet? When I don't workout, I notice how big of an impact it makes.

RNY 12/20/16 5'9" 32yo HW-408 SW-388 CW-247

Sweat is just fat crying!

ok 3 month check and I was told that I can add fiber powder into my drinks as long as they are sugar free. Wooohoooo may the movements come swift and regularly

Surgery 8/18/17 & life has changed dramatically. I rarely had a constipation issue before, after...my gut went into lockdown. Major taste changes, amount, speed of eating, all changed. Get it wrong, too fast, (still can't handle beef or chicken well) & I'll be nauseous, salivating like a water faucet left on, stomach pain. If I'm lucky, I'll throw up, usually saliva, maybe a tiny bit of food. Then, I'm good.

But, the worst was gut on lock. I mean, ZERO URGE......until what went in must go. Pain...? Wow..!

So, here's my routine now. Most mornings, oatmeal w/Genepro, maybe unsweetened applesauce mixed in. Btw..glad someone mentioned PRUNES! I will incorporate that too. BEANS...I try to have them in some form at lunch daily. Don't overdo cheese! But, most importantly, I take the recommended dose of Yerba Prima Fiber Plus caps (5 caps) at minimum, every other day. Once a day has worked well for me. BUT, I am going to try a few of the other methods too and see how those work for me.

Glad this topic was posted!