So i have this issue ,..major issue with constipation. I ended up calling my dr yesterday because for over a month i have been going once a week and then its like an act of congress to go.. I am having to use something, sometimes more than one thing to get this crap ( no pun intended) to move along LOL.. Anyways.. my dr yesterday said to take an enema last night( it was still an act of congress) and then to take ducolax every day for a week to stimulate the intestines, then to stop it once my body started to go normally again.

My question is:

Should i be taking this before bedtime each day or in the morning? Is there a difference, a time better than another! I should just call the Dr. back, but sometimes i feel like the office gets annoyed when i call LOL.

Take it at bedtime. Usually it will work over night and you will go in the morning. Also, may get some discomfort from the bowel stimulation. Easier to deal with discomfort if you sleep through it.

Oh gosh a subject near and dear to my rear!

Hugs to you sweetie. It's no fun. Like Rosemary's Baby kind of no fun!!! Sorry to hear you are also suffering from "occasional irregularity" *snort*!!!

So for me (we're all diff), I don't know much diff in when I take something (morning or bedtime) other than MOM, I pretty much time it for 12 hours from ingestion. And Dulcolax may be like that for you? You will just have to wait and see.

My daily protocol now (and it's still spotty at best -- like every 2-3 days--but at least they aren't painful deliveries) is:

17g Miralax in coffee

3 Colace (docusate sodium)

11g Whole Psyllium Husks (NOW brand), dose split in half in mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I dissolve it in Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea with a squirt of liquid vanilla stevia. Stir and drink. Then follow with a bottle of water.

1/2c of Greek yogurt with live cultures

I also try to get in as many greens as my tum has time to process.

100+ oz of liquid each day

Then about every 10 days to 2 weeks, I end up needing either MOM or a glycerin suppository. The goal would be to stop the use of MOM/supps and be able to ween off of Miralax. But dunno if that's ever gonna be possible.

Hope it gets better for you and that some of this protocol works for you!

Edited January 30, 20197 yr by FluffyChix

There's an old joke about not taking a laxative and a sleeping pill on the same night! ?That being said, I'd probably take it at night to let it do its thing and be ready to go in the morning. I guess I'm lucky that I've had no issues and am able to go on my own each day after 12/11/18 sleeve.

31 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Oh gosh a subject near and dear to my rear!

Hugs to you sweetie. It's no fun. Like Rosemary's Baby kind of no fun!!! Sorry to hear you are also suffering from "occasional irregularity" *snort*!!!

So for me (we're all diff), I don't know much diff in when I take something (morning or bedtime) other than MOM, I pretty much time it for 12 hours from ingestion. And Dulcolax may be like that for you? You will just have to wait and see.

My daily protocol now (and it's still spotty at best -- like every 2-3 days--but at least they aren't painful deliveries) is:

17g Miralax in coffee

3 Colace (docusate sodium)

11g Whole Psyllium Husks (NOW brand), dose split in half in mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I dissolve it in Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea with a squirt of liquid vanilla stevia. Stir and drink. Then follow with a bottle of Water.

1/2c of Greek yogurt with live cultures

I also try to get in as many greens as my tum has time to process.

100+ oz of liquid each day

Then about every 10 days to 2 weeks, I end up needing either MOM or a glycerin suppository. The goal would be to stop the use of MOM/supps and be able to ween off of Miralax. But dunno if that's ever gonna be possible.

Hope it gets better for you and that some of this protocol works for you!

Thanks Fluffy! I think my issue is being that i am not even 3 mo post op yet. I NEVER get past the protein at each meal! I am lucky if on occasion.. once a week or so.. I make something that has cauli rice and ground meat.. and that is the only way i get anything besides protein in.. Hopefully i can start eating more ( eating as we speak and i am finishing Half a chicken burger that i started yesterday.. and i have the hiccups already and i still have 1/4 patty to go LOL)

Thanks for the tips.. I am hoping something gives soon.. On a good Note.. when i go.. I drop weight instantly! LOL

46 minutes ago, ldawn said:

Take it at bedtime. Usually it will work over night and you will go in the morning. Also, may get some discomfort from the bowel stimulation. Easier to deal with discomfort if you sleep through it.

Thank you so much! I am going to take my first dose tonight. I am going to start with 1 tablet. I read the directions and it says 1-3.. LOL.. Since i am cleaned out i dont think i need to overdose!

Well, I had a couple of days just after surgery when nothing much seemed to be moving so I took Colace? Anyway, it helped. Now I try to get some greens/fruits in every day. Not much mind you but I do it in the hopes of keeping regular. My current favorite thing is to do a 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce as a snack somewhere during the day. I seem to be fine with getting my protein in at meal times but having room for anything else at that time is difficult. Not helpful at the moment I know but maybe something to consider for the future?

54 minutes ago, Jazzy1125 said:

Thanks Fluffy! I think my issue is being that i am not even 3 mo post op yet. I NEVER get past the Protein at each meal! I am lucky if on occasion.. once a week or so.. I make something that has cauli rice and ground meat.. and that is the only way i get anything besides protein in.. Hopefully i can start eating more ( eating as we speak and i am finishing Half a chicken burger that i started yesterday.. and i have the hiccups already and i still have 1/4 patty to go LOL)

Thanks for the tips.. I am hoping something gives soon.. On a good Note.. when i go.. I drop weight instantly! LOL

The restriction is real!! Love it LOL. I agree with the OP I would suggest taking at night too. I'm the same as you with getting in veggies so i usually mix some spinach, zucchini, squash or carrots with ground chicken or turkey so that I can get some in...It's going to get better for us, hang in there and so will I

I had severe constipation in the beginning. After using miralax to finally unplug and go, I put benefiber in my water every single day. It dissolves instantly and has no taste whatsoever. Good luck!

I still have issues with constipation and very hard stool so my dr has me on Miralax one day stool softener and 2 prunes 3×day and that really worked

I did the enema as directed on Tuesday and last night took the ducolax as directed.. YAY for me! I went today without any issues.. Will see how this works for the next few days!

I swear by colace. It didn't make my stomach cramp like m.o.m. The max dosage is 3 pills a day. You could take them all at once or break them up through out the day. If it's really bad you could try magnesium citrate.

Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE this forum - I have had a few bouts of constipation since surgery 5 weeks ago (actually now that I think about it, I had one bout right after starting on the liquid diet pre surgery also!) But today was by far the very worst yet!! I did 1/2 a dose of Miralax this morning, and suffered thru the LONGEST day of work ever but finally had some relief when I got home! After reading this post, I picked up some stool softener after work and took that and another 1/2 dose of Miralax. I am hopeful that by tomorrow morning, I will have even more relief - thank you for sharing - I am always able to find the info I need when I need it!

I'm on two doses of Miralax a day, MoM evening of the third day, haven't put myself on Colace but when I was hospitalized in late November, they were trying to give me liquid Colace until they got tired of changing my bed linens, made me puke up every time. Shoot, they knew doggone well part of my problems was a tight little stoma stricture, why give me something that wasn't trickling through? Now that I am on TPN, another nugget of FYI , I have a movement every other day of greenish- black soft squishy stool, the shade from ingestion of iron, sticks to the opening, a multiple wiper, but I still cramp afterwards like my colon isn't totally emptying out. By mouth, I take either protein shake or homemade thin soups , so one meal a day to keep my swallowing muscles,in gear(or so they say) just how d9 they think I'm getting in my forty-eleven meds they prescribed except by swallowing? So the majority of my body nutrition is from the 1400 cal TPN, on which my weight loss has slowed down to 3 pounds a month. Hey, A Loss is still a Loss! And surely I shall frolic in the Sunlight? with you all someday!