For the first 6 months of post op, I was taking Pro Care Health Bariatric Multivitamin without Iron. I pooped on an average of 6+ times a day. I know.....TMI, but this is a real problem.

Since I had my 6 month follow up, the docs told me to take the same vitamins, but the one with 45 mg of Iron. I have been on them now for about 2 weeks. Now I am constipated, cramps, really have to push to poop, and it hurts my bum really bad. I am only going every other day now.

This is a HUGE change from before, in only a short period of time. I am very worried that this is now the norm for me.

I don't know if there is anything I can do about it. I just want a happy medium. Any suggestions would be great.

constipation is a pretty common side effect from taking iron (it is from calcium, too - and high-protein diets, too - so we WLS patients are hit with a triple whammy - and it's why chronic constipation seems to be an issue for many of us)

lots of people take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep things moving. Others use stool softeners, magnesium tablets, Smooth Move tea, or eat a few prunes every day. Whatever works for you! Just be sure it's something that's safe to do every day - because some laxatives are NOT safe to use every day.

Dietary fiber is your friend. I take a bigger dose of iron, too....cause I don't eat a lot of meat and have heavy periods still (cross your fingers that perimenopause turns into total menopause for me soon...cause this whole menstruation thing is getting old)

I find that when i'm getting 25g of dietary fiber every day and including fermented foods in my diet (pickles, yogurt, kombucha, tempeh)...my daily poo habit is normal.

Also...this is weird, but it works. Eat a few sugar free Haribo gummy bears before you go to bed. Not too many...maybe 3-5 bears. They have maltitol (lycasin)...a sweet tasting sugar-alcohol that has the infamous side effect of giving unsuspecting people looking for a low calorie treat....massive diarrhea....when they eat the whole package.

Just a few bears....will get things moving and make you super regular when needed. (least that how it affects me)

26 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Also...this is weird, but it works. Eat a few sugar free Haribo Gummy bears before you go to bed. Not too many...maybe 3-5 bears. They have maltitol (lycasin)...a sweet tasting sugar-alcohol that has the infamous side effect of giving unsuspecting people looking for a low calorie treat....massive diarrhea....when they eat the whole package.

Just a few bears....will get things moving and make you super regular when needed. (least that how it affects me)

yes - maltitol evidently has that effect on a lot of people - for a good laugh, go to amazon and look up sugar free Gummy Bears and read some of the comments....

After reading the reviews on Amazon, I would NEVER eat any of these!! OMG

2 hours ago, Creekimp13 said:

Dietary Fiber is your friend. I take a bigger dose of Iron, too....cause I don't eat a lot of meat and have heavy periods still (cross your fingers that perimenopause turns into total menopause for me soon...cause this whole menstruation thing is getting old)

I find that when i'm getting 25g of dietary fiber every day and including fermented foods in my diet (pickles, yogurt, kombucha, tempeh)...my daily poo habit is normal.

Also...this is weird, but it works. Eat a few sugar free Haribo Gummy bears before you go to bed. Not too many...maybe 3-5 bears. They have maltitol (lycasin)...a sweet tasting sugar-alcohol that has the infamous side effect of giving unsuspecting people looking for a low calorie treat....massive diarrhea....when they eat the whole package.

Just a few bears....will get things moving and make you super regular when needed. (least that how it affects me)

I will try to eat more fiber. I will NOT eat the gummies after reading the awful reviews on Amazon!

5 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

constipation is a pretty common side effect from taking Iron (it is from Calcium, too - and high-protein diets, too - so we WLS patients are hit with a triple whammy - and it's why chronic constipation seems to be an issue for many of us)

lots of people take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep things moving. Others use stool softeners, magnesium tablets, Smooth Move tea, or eat a few prunes every day. Whatever works for you! Just be sure it's something that's safe to do every day - because some laxatives are NOT safe to use every day.

I will try to eat more fiber first. If it doesn't work, then I will take something for it.

3 hours ago, HealthyLifeStyle said:

I will try to eat more fiber. I will NOT eat the gummies after reading the awful reviews on Amazon!

I don't think the gummy thing is an issue if you just eat four or five of them. I think it's when people devour half the bag. That happened to me once with Werther's sugar free hard caramels. I had a binge moment and ate almost a whole bag of them, as opposed to my usual three or four. Ha! That's the last time I do that. Those also have maltitol as the sweetener. Let's just say I had the same experience as those amazon reviewers of gummy bears did!