Hi everyone, I am 3 weeks post-op. I have only gone to the bathroom twice since then and it's been very small bowel movements. What can I take to help me use the bathroom?

Also, I get very tired after walks in the park. More than I did before surgery. Is this normal?

56 minutes ago, OhioSparkle said:

Hi everyone, I am 3 weeks post-op. I have only gone to the bathroom twice since then and it's been very small bowel movements. What can I take to help me use the bathroom?

Also, I get very tired after walks in the park. More than I did before surgery. Is this normal?

Ok, Please tell me you've spoken with your doctor, PCP, Surgical team... SOMEONE other than the internet for this issue... You might be impacted and need medical attention.

Otherwise, the standard, common items might help. Milk of Magnesia, Miralax, Colace. All of these are available at your local pharmacy. You also need to make sure you are getting enough water, sounds like you might not be. You need to shot for 128oz, you might not be able to get that much in, but you need to be getting as much water as you can right now to help you heal, to prevent constipation and impaction, to assist in fat removal, etc etc etc. Water is such a critical part of this whole process I'm shocked at how often people don't pay attention or how lax people can be with their intake.

Hi Matt. Thanks for the input. I drink 7 bottles of water a day which puts me at roughly 113 oz. I picked up some colace and doculax like my doctor said. I'm just still concerned about the movement. They aren't taking it as a big deal. I haven't taken any pain meds since I left the hospital either.

24 minutes ago, OhioSparkle said:

Hi Matt. Thanks for the input. I drink 7 bottles of Water a day which puts me at roughly 113 oz. I picked up some colace and doculax like my doctor said. I'm just still concerned about the movement. They aren't taking it as a big deal. I haven't taken any pain meds since I left the hospital either.

Cool, glad to see you reached out to the Docs, you have no idea how often people post serious medical issues here asking for help when they haven't reached out to their doctors first.

Work in some fiber, I take chewables every morning to help supplement. If you aren't noticing any pain, and your docs are cool, then just keep up that water intake and things will work out. I fully understand the concern, I had the same as well around the same time frame as you. The reduced solid matter intake plays a part. Good luck and I hope it all resolves!

I'm surprised my doctor didn't mention taking fiber. I will have to see if I can take those I suppose.

On 09/17/2018 at 05:48, OhioSparkle said:

Hi everyone, I am 3 weeks post-op. I have only gone to the bathroom twice since then and it's been very small bowel movements. What can I take to help me use the bathroom?

Also, I get very tired after walks in the park. More than I did before surgery. Is this normal?

I also had these issues post-op. I found that milk of magnesia helped clear me out better than miralax or glycerin suppositories. Once that issue was out of the way- I relied on a daily colase pill and a cup of smooth move tea at night to keep things moving.

I still take the colase on occasion and am two months out. I also try to consume a bit of beans in my diet, as they are fiber-dense foods.

29 minutes ago, OhioSparkle said:

I'm surprised my doctor didn't mention taking Fiber. I will have to see if I can take those I suppose.

In your post op diets, did they mention using ground flax seeds or refried beans? These are all excellent sources of fiber and will help with constipation without the use of stool softeners.

I add ground flax to my yogurt daily and since I have I have a small BM nearly every day.

I tried taking colace and senokot. Was not effective for me.

I switched to miralax every other day and has been fine since. See how you do but keep in mind it can take a bit of trial and error to get a regimen that works for you down pat.

On 9/17/2018 at 5:48 AM, OhioSparkle said:

Hi everyone, I am 3 weeks post-op. I have only gone to the bathroom twice since then and it's been very small bowel movements. What can I take to help me use the bathroom?

Also, I get very tired after walks in the park. More than I did before surgery. Is this normal?

I’m a little late to this post, but I had the exact same issues early on and ended up with impacted bowel and endured the worst week of my life about 4 weeks post surgery. Turns out too much fiber can actually do the opposite of what it’s supposed to do. For the last 5ish months I’ve been doing 1/2 cap of Miralax three times a week and I’m making sure to eat foods with natural fiber but not go crazy. I monitor the bathroom situation just as much as my water and diet. If I don’t “go” for two days I increase to a full cap of Miralax. If you do end up having impacted bowel issues and need to know the TMI of how to fix an impaction when every over the counter option doesn’t work, shoot me a message.

Also, early on I had zero energy. Once I got the protein/water/food/sleep thing balanced I was able to walk forever. It took about two months for me to feel real energy.

Nothing mentioned above worked for me. I work at a gym and a nurse came in and told me to try coffee as it's a natural laxative....i hate coffee.... but i drank 4 small cups of decaff.... it worked!!!!!

I think many have went through this situation and as some others have stated you will definitely need to keep your Dr. abreast of the situation. I tried many of the suggestions some offered with minimal improvement, some did not help at all. My issues was not just constipation, but getting the stool out. I had to take stool softeners 3 at a time to assist with the actual bowel movement, and at one time when it was really severe, had to drink some magnesium citrate. Please do not use that route unless you absolutely cannot go. Also beware of taking to many laxative's and stool softeners as the colon can become addicted to such methods and have a rebound affect.

I sure hope all the suggestions helped and your are better now.