Let’s talk poop strategy

[Betty1971 386]

So here is a bit of knowledge that may or may not be helpful in your life.

i have been struggling “big time” with Constipation and tried everything I have been taught in nursing school and in life about how to help with constipation. It hasn’t really been helpful but it’s gotten me by. Well this week everything I thought I knew went right out the door and an Asian lady in Tacoma taught me a trick.

I have spent the last week traveling with my hubby for a work thing, staying in hotels, with the covid their workout rooms were closed and I didn’t know the area so I wasn’t walking as much and with driving all the time I wasn’t getting in the massive amounts of liquids I was at home so I was stopped up right!!!
I asked a friend there if she could give me a ride to Walmart to get an enema, well that was quite the conversation starter!!

anyway she informed me that I could do whatever I had to do but: if I drank some hot ginger tea and took long hot bath and massaged my stomach froM right to left and then tried on the toilet with my feet on a stool or the garbage can turned upside down I would have a bowel movement. Haha right, I mean I haven’t pooped in four days and I think I may just pass a small elephant when it’s time what is tea and a stool going to do......

I pooped. I pooped a lot. It worked. I don’t know what part of the equation is the magic part but you can bet your bottom dollar that every other night I will be drinking ginger tea in the bathtub with the garbage can turned upside down in front of the throne because it works.
maybe it’s the position of the knees up or maybe it’s the hot tea mixed with the knees or the abdominal massage but by golly it’s better than any alternative I have found!!!

thanks to Dtan I am again a happy woman

[GreenTealael 25,622]

30 minutes ago, Betty1971 said:

So here is a bit of knowledge that may or may not be helpful in your life.

i have been struggling “big time” with constipation and tried everything I have been taught in nursing school and in life about how to help with Constipation. It hasn’t really been helpful but it’s gotten me by. Well this week everything I thought I knew went right out the door and an Asian lady in Tacoma taught me a trick.

I have spent the last week traveling with my hubby for a work thing, staying in hotels, with the covid their workout rooms were closed and I didn’t know the area so I wasn’t walking as much and with driving all the time I wasn’t getting in the massive amounts of liquids I was at home so I was stopped up right!!!
I asked a friend there if she could give me a ride to Walmart to get an enema, well that was quite the conversation starter!!

anyway she informed me that I could do whatever I had to do but: if I drank some hot ginger tea and took long hot bath and massaged my stomach froM right to left and then tried on the toilet with my feet on a stool or the garbage can turned upside down I would have a bowel movement. Haha right, I mean I haven’t pooped in four days and I think I may just pass a small elephant when it’s time what is tea and a stool going to do......

I pooped. I pooped a lot. It worked. I don’t know what part of the equation is the magic part but you can bet your bottom dollar that every other night I will be drinking ginger tea in the bathtub with the garbage can turned upside down in front of the throne because it works.
maybe it’s the position of the knees up or maybe it’s the hot tea mixed with the knees or the abdominal massage but by golly it’s better than any alternative I have found!!!

thanks to Dtan I am again a happy woman

Yes, abdominal massage for constipation really does work!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360859210001063

[cocosexy99 1]

I feel like crying I am 2 weeks 4 days post op . I am having a hard time. I am constipated first it was for 1o days my surgeon office said do an enema right away. I suffered from Constipation before surgery so I had hemorrhoids. well it was not a good sight besides the pain I bleed also. It was hard like a rock in there only little bit came out. That night and some next day it has now been 5 days since that bowel movement. The Miralax did nothing to help. I wonder if messaging would even help me at this point.

And I have Shortness of breath went to ER they ruled out any blood clots.

ANy suggestions?

[Spiderbaby289 2]

The same here. All my doctor said was it was too common do not worry. This next part is TMI (sorry but honest) I did have to get the intima and suppositories'. It did not work all that well but enough I could get in the bath (yea I know Gross) but when you are hurting and desperate you do desperate things. So long story short when I finally got the hard rocks out and I mean hard! I take a stool softener and Miralax twice a day with my Protein Shakes. The Miralax only worked on the new digestion and same with the stool softener I had to get the hard rocks out to clear the path. Once that happen and I started taking Miralax it has been so much better. Sorry for the candidness but I found that most people sugar coat it and that was not what I needed I needed help

[tarotcardreader 196]

7 hours ago, cocosexy99 said:

I feel like crying I am 2 weeks 4 days post op . I am having a hard time. I am constipated first it was for 1o days my surgeon office said do an enema right away. I suffered from constipation before surgery so I had hemorrhoids. well it was not a good sight besides the pain I bleed also. It was hard like a rock in there only little bit came out. That night and some next day it has now been 5 days since that bowel movement. The Miralax did nothing to help. I wonder if messaging would even help me at this point.

And I have Shortness of breath went to ER they ruled out any blood clots.

ANy suggestions?

You can speak with your doctor for a script of docusate sodium 200mg. That might help. Some also use sienna. For me I combine with miralax. However, if you read up on intestines over at harvard you will find that coffee has an effect on the intestines that helps to push food along. So for me I added coffee to my daily routine (with surgeon approval only and 3 months post op because caffeine can be a stomach irritant) and that worked for me. If you have frequent issues u might want to see about a referral to a gastro they can prescribe some other new meds.

[Betty1971 386]

I would definitely recommend a stool for your feet. I know it sounds too simple to help but it does help ALOT! Even after an enema if your hips are up flexed up it allows things to pass more smoothly. It’s so simple I feel stupid but it really has helped a great deal

[ms.sss 15,859]

I suffered from Constipation the first couple months as well. I had to figure out a routine that worked for me and stick to it to keep it at bay. Generally, I had it under control with daily Benefibre supplements in my morning Protein Shake, drinking lots of Water. If I didn't go in a couple days I'd try Miralax, if still none by the next day, I'd do Milk of Magnesia. If STILL none by the day after that, I'd do a glycerine suppository.

It got alot better later, after I started eating more food (specifically fat).

Note that I did have really bad bout of it about 1 year later when I had plastics (it lasted 13 days!!!), but I blame that on the pain meds & Iron supplements (causes constipation), the lack of food I was eating, and a fear of bearing down in fear of busting open my incisions.

Edited to add: moving seems to help too, like a going for a walk or something.

Edited December 18, 2020 by ms.sss

[Hellie1028 20]

Miralax works by adding Water to the outside of your stool so it slides through more easily. Dulcolax works by increasing intestine contraction. I found that miralax just wasn’t cutting it. I think my intestines are just a bit sluggish still 2 weeks after surgery. All I had to take was 1/4 dose of dulcolax and it worked like a charm.

Also, if I eat enough sugar free popsicles and suck on enough sugar free werthers, it helps too.

[Lilfootie 82]

My brother is a GI doc and he says that Miralax is extremely safe! You can take HUGE doses and be ok. I take a double dose every day I don’t have a BM. If I go more than 3 days without one, I add a stimulant and take 1.5 doses of Miralax every four hours until I go. Before doing this I was going once a week, after taking laxatives (Colace and Senna) for 3-5 days. It was AWFUL.

[STLoser 1,099]

I know the stool thing works.. There is a thing you can buy on Amazon called the Squatty Potty that's just for that purpose. Having your feet up on a stool is a more natural position for having a bowel movement and that's why it works.

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

[gabbyd 13]

Hey I am in Tacoma too!!! I will definitely be using this tip and getting myself a squatty potty!!!

[Kim1 0]

So thankful for all these posts! I’m 12 days post op VSG and currently going every 4 days (today was on my own accord without Milk of magnesia) I have history like many of you of Constipation. While I’m going, it’s more loose watery with solids mixed. I sure hope this regulates. Sorry if that was TMI; I tend not to be squeamish regarding these things. 😊

[kebsa22 1]

the miralax combined with raising your feet on the stool and i have also been adding benefibre to my drinks, it certainly helps keep you going once you get things moving

[Kim1 0]

Thank you for the recommendation! 😁

[lizonaplane 1,613]

I haven't even had my surgery yet, but due to medications I have taken for decades, I have a lot of problems with Constipation, especially when I eat "healthy" (i.e., not too much fat). Here is what I have learned:

1) I can't speak highly enough about Miralax. Amazon and costco both have great generic versions. I find it mixes well in room temp beverages like tea, coffee, Crystal Light, etc. (I used to drink it in soda, but no longer drink fizzy drinks). Miralax usually doesn't work right away, so start taking it as soon as there's a problem, and it only works if you're taking it with FLUIDS.

2) exercise helps a LOT. it might just be a brisk walk

3) Don't expect to have to "go" every single day. While that might be "normal" it's okay not to go every day.

4) Fat helps, but depending on the cause of your constipation, Fiber might not. I can literally eat 40 grams of fiber every day and not poop for 5 days. Increasing my fiber just makes me more uncomfortable. Just because they advertise fiber for "regularity" on TV doesn't mean it works for all causes of constipation

5) Laxative suppositories are a great last resort... don't plan anything fun for that evening.