Forgive me for this post, this might fall under the "TMI" context. Basically, I'm trying to figure out what is happening and if it's normal. Essentially, 2 weeks post-op, I'm having a lot of abdominal gas, gurgling, some pain until I pass the gas...Normally not too bad, but extremely painful today. My stool has also (a few times) been nothing but a foul-smelling gelatin like slime with some bright red splotches in them (Imagine the red thing stuck in green olives).

Background:

• 2 weeks post op
• drinking 1 ounce every 7.5 minutes, which is twice the rate my doctor said, but when questioned about it, was told it would be fine. I have a tendency to forget even with my annoying phone app, so I really need to drink this often.
• per day: drinking 2 premier protein drinks (11oz) and about 20 ounces of liquid (Vitamin water zero or 5 calorie minute maid lemonade) plus some frozen sugar free pop sickles and sugar free Jello. Some days I drink maybe 8 ounces of chicken broth.
• Doc prescribed milk of magnesia for constipation
• No lactose intolerance/IBS/chron's/UC before surgery
• Normal bowel movements after surgery, then this started about 3 days ago
• I stopped using the milk of magnesia about 5 days ago because it tasted so bad, I had no BM's for 2 days, so I resumed and the first morning afterward had a completely normal BM, then the "slime/mucous" problem started.
• Ever since the surgery I've had strange abdominal sounds, gurgles, could feel stuff moving around, pockets of gas, etc...I figured this was normal because my lap band did the same thing.

My theory is that the red stuff in the slime might be food coloring from the sugar free stuff, and possibly the laxative effects of the sugar free things. My 2 week post op is this Wednesday and I show no other problems (normal temp, etc) so I was going to wait until then to discuss...Except for today when I had extremely painful abdominal gas. It took about an hour to pass, and then I felt fine.

So what am I doing wrong? I know I'm on the low side for protein and liquids, but I would expect that to make me more constipated? I've drank the protein drinks for years and they never bothered me before, but I do feel more crampy/bloaty when/after drinking it.

Thanks for any thoughts and my apologies if this is a bit 'too much info'

After surgery I became lactose intolerant. Any dairy product (including dairy in some types of protein shakes) would set it off producing and upset stomach and a quick trip to the restroom. Two months later my lactose intolerance disappeared.

Another thing you should try is to take some probiotics. It will help with your digestion.

It could be the whey protein. I had no issues with whey until after surgery. I had horrible diarrhea for two weeks. I switched over to a plant-based protein (pea/hemp blend) and the diarrhea was almost instantly gone. I would suggest reaching out to your surgeon to see if this is an option to try. After this resolved, I felt so much better.

Thank you both, I did reach out to them today and they seemed to think that the Milk of Magnesia could be causing it, so they had me discontinue it. I mentioned James' remark about the lactose intolerance because my wife has it, and after describing it to her, she thought it was as well. The nutritionist didn't think it was the premier protein because he said it only had 1g of lactose, but he did suggest a few mentioning that "whea protein isolate" had zero lactose. My wife had some of her protein powder (Orgain protein powder) and I tried one sip and wow did it taste bad. My wife found a unjury chicken soup protein packet that was given to me prior to surgery and it is delicious. Thus far, absolutely no issues at all.

The team of doctors and such were not overly concerned because my bowel issues were not happening several times a day, but only once or twice.

I think I may try a few other ones only because I priced out the unjury stuff and wow is it expensive. Thank you both!

I know I was lactose sensitive prior to Surgery and I’m still very sensitive. Also all the gas, bloating, etc is very normal. Especially the first 4 months. Mine was awful. From diarrhea to constipation. Although you do drink a hell of a lot more than I ever could stomach. Good for you. 10 months out and I still have tons of stomach issues if I’m not careful. The gas hasn’t subsided at all with me... but now I’m more constipated than anything. It’s a balancing act for sure. Good luck with it all- seems like you have it handled

I'm just curious, has anyone ever tried taking lactaid + premier protein? I gave the doctors 2 options I'd try and they went with the whea isolate instead of the lactaid idea. I have my appointment tomorrow with them so I will nag them again, but I'm curious if it has worked for anyone.

And a hi-ya from the pews on the other side. 2 Miralax daily, MoM by evening of Day# 2, rationalized not much in , little out, Nurse Practioner Not Amused ( was Queen Victoria her ancestor?) and the only BM I have seem to have is this emoji?. I am not having pain, like constipation used to do, it is happy to sit somewhere in my Colon and relax. I am a BIG girl, maybe a Barcalonger in there? I don't want to end up at OSU and HAVE LOLFOS on my chart. Translation: largo old lady- full of s***.???