About 14 weeks post op. Weight loss very slow but moving in the right direction so must not grumble. But my bowels have not worked since the op. Not once have I been to the toilet without assistance in one form or another. Even ended up in hospital at one stage with compact poop. I've done everything I have been told. More water. More fiber. More exercise. Laxatives. Enemas. Milk of magnesia. Fruit juice. Prunes. Olive oil. Give me any advice you have. Nothing at all has successfully started a normal movement. I have now ended up with tearing. Piles brushing from excavating lol. Well not lol really HELLLLP XXXXXX

I’m borderline right there with ya!?IF I used Miralax and Benefiber daily as surgeon suggests the plumbing would probably “work” okay. But “sipping” that stuff just turns my stomach —when I drank it really fast one day I was miserable for over an hour. Hopefully we’ll get some good, sage advice from someone here! Good luck Angel Sale!

Lilly66. Its tough isn't it. Milk of magnesia makes me gag. I'm thinking about a monthly colonic irrigation when lockdown is over

I have a capful of Miralax every morning to keep things moving. As in EVERY morning - backed up or not. I still get backed up maybe once or twice a month, and when I do, I'll do Milk of Magnesia for a night or two. Usually works. If it's REALLY bad (has happened maybe twice), I'll drink half a bottle of Magnesium Citrate before I go to bed (not sure if I'd recommend drinking the whole bottle as the stuff is pretty potent - if there are no results the next day, you can always drink the second half of the bottle then)

Sounds like a perfect regimen, Catwoman. Thanks so much and I’ll start it. I found the cherry milk of mag (Amazon) goes down easier than the white chalky stuff. Also picked up 3 bottles of mag citrate this week but have held off knowing how strong it was during my colonoscopy prep.

Miralax every morning—Milk of mag if needed-1/2 bottle Mag Citrate as last resort.
I’m on it!?

Phillips Cherry Milk of Magnesia...very tolerable when needed . Surgeon did say Miralax is much better on a daily basis. The mechanism is different—-Miralax is “nonstimulating” was his word.

Edited April 26, 20206 yr by Lily66

So.... weirdest thing ever worked for me. I take a stool softener every night for right now, but what's been helping me is that I've trained my bowels to go at the same time every day. You sit down first thing in the morning or whenever (and use a stool or a squatty potty!! it helps with tearing and hemorrhoids!) and wait for about five minutes. Let gravity do its thing, and only push if you *really* need to. After about a week or so, I've been able to start going fairly regularly because my body expects it.

3 minutes ago, Sammi_Katt said:

So.... weirdest thing ever worked for me. I take a stool softener every night for right now, but what's been helping me is that I've trained my bowels to go at the same time every day. You sit down first thing in the morning or whenever (and use a stool or a squatty potty!! it helps with tearing and hemorrhoids!) and wait for about five minutes. Let gravity do its thing, and only push if you *really* need to. After about a week or so, I've been able to start going fairly regularly because my body expects it.

So happy for you that it works! I do love my squatty potty and believe it does help. I also take a stool softener daily. I was trying to do both Miralax AND Benefiber Clear and believe that’s where I messed up. I think my surgeon may have meant for me to “try either or” but I was trying both same day. I truly believe Miralax daily will help, but yah, for SURE the squatty potty! (Hubby still thinks i’m nuts for so loving the SP?)

I took a lot of Colace (stool softener) after surgery. Maybe 1-3 a day for the first six or so months. That and being really hydrated helps a lot. I hate cramps from laxatives. Now I eat three prunes at breakfast EVERY morning and that's it. Works perfectly. Good luck!

About a year out here and Im still having problems in this area and have checked fiber etc as well. Ive started using Senna which seems to be doing the trick. Ive no idea if there are any long term problems with it but havnt been able to check with my doc due to lockdowns etc.

Same happened, colace and hot coffee in the morning worked me. I also stopped the protein daily and went to every other day until I was finally unblocked. Which worked right away.

I'm 6 months out and use Smooth Move herbal tea. Works like a charm.

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