How often should you go to the bathroom?

[Finding-ivy 0]

I am 12 days post op. I have only had 1 BM since surgery and that was at 5 days post op. I have not even felt the urge to go. I am still on liquids, I have a hard time getting all my liquid in. Am i constipated? How often should I be having a bm?

[Ed_NW 684]

If you're getting your Protein in, you should have a BM every day. Not much but something. You might have to take a shot of polyethylene glycol. I was given a prescription before I left the hospital. It gets things moving.

[elcee 3,342]

Even without surgery everyone's norm is different. Some people go multiple times a day others only a few times a week

[sillykitty 10,781]

12 hours ago, Ed_NW said:

If you're getting your Protein in, you should have a BM every day. Not much but something. You might have to take a shot of polyethylene glycol. I was given a prescription before I left the hospital. It gets things moving.

As @elcee stated, everyone is different. A bm everyday isn't necessary, especially if you're only on liquids.

[notmyname 593]

My doc said every couple days. I had horrible Constipation the first month or so. I might call your doc. Twice I didn't go for 7 days and when I did it wasn't pleasant. To the point where I nearly had to go to urgent care. When I told my doc later, he said I should have called him. My doc told me to take milk of magnesia. He also said that once I'd gone, I could take colase stool softener every day to make it easier. He did say that if I take MOM, stop taking the colase because they shouldn't be taken together. Good luck.

[FancyChristine15 810]

From what I've read on this site, Constipation is pretty common right after surgery. I had the opposite problem for some reason though. I would contact your surgeon's office and see if there is a Fiber supplement that you can take or something to help you go. As far as what's normal, it definitely varies; I've heard that normal is anywhere from 3 BMs a day to 1 BM every 3 days.

[Ed_NW 684]

1 hour ago, sillykitty said:

As @elcee stated, everyone is different. A bm everyday isn't necessary, especially if you're only on liquids.

Sometimes I just think about what's normal for me. I can't imagine going a day without taking a load off my mind.

[FluffyChix 17,418]

Every time I have a CT, they come in and tell me I still have a metric crapton of poo from 1982 stuck "way up on in there." 🤣 So no way to I allow it to lurk and hang around up there more than necessary, recruiting new Mr. Hankies. I move so slowly now with the Iron supp that I take Miralax, 3 Colace every day. And I take MOM at least 1x every couple of weeks. Sometimes even glycerine suppositories if I have a Rosemary's Baby size situation develop. I get into huge issues if I don't have one at least every other day...but I'm happiest with a daily poo fairy visit.

YMMV...