I am five days postop and I have not had a bowel movement, is that normal?

Honestly, I have never talked about or read about bowel habits as much as I have since my surgery. LOL! Constipation does become a regular occurrence for many of us - low food intake & less fibre contribute. The trick is to not to let it go on too long. In Australia, we’re not allowed to leave hospital until we have a bowel motion & they sent me home with a strong laxative (too strong actually) to keep things moving.

Add some soluble fibre to your diet like benefibre (avoid those that swell in your tummy). I was happy if I went every two days but if I got to day three without a bowel motion, I’d take a stool softener that night. That seemed to work for me.

I’d certainly look at taking something now before you need something stronger & it becomes painful (stool becomes hard & dry) to actually go to the bathroom.

Congrats on your surgery & good luck with your bowel habits.

Thank you so much for the advice. I will definitely take something.

I took a docolax suppository and then began taking Miralax once a day. I have a movement every morning and it’s glorious.

very normal. It can take up to a week for the first one. And as Arabesque mentioned, chronic constipation is a common problem among WLS patients, so this may not be the end of it...

I went 11 days without a bowel movement right after surgery but Milk of Magnesium took care of it finally after trying other products.

It took me 12 days to have my first bowel movement. I was told that while on clear liquids, not to worry about it. If it continued to be an issue once I started taking calories, try milk of magnesia for the first bowel movement and then drink miralax in the morning to keep myself regular. My doctor said when we can start eating a decent amount of veggies and getting our fiber in, it should stop being an issue, but until then, a lot of us need assistance.

17 hours ago, Mia Cole said:

I am five days postop and I have not had a bowel movement, is that normal?

I feel your pain! Trust me!

Chronic constipation is definitely a thing after wls.. I had a Loop DS, which is actually supposed to cause diarrhea, but I've rarely had that. I have been dealing with chronic constipation. I usually go most days, but it's small and hard. I didn't take it very seriously until a couple weeks ago, it caused an umbilical hernia I already had to get larger and one day it got incarcerated and I had severe pain and almost fainted. Now I have to get surgery to repair this hernia. I've had the hernia for several years and it never hurt or caused a problem.
My long winded story here is to illustrate that it's best not to ignore chronic constipation like I did.
I am now taking Miralax and Benefiber, which is helping.
Also, I highly recommend the squatty potty!

As long as we're on the subject...

I've managed two small BMs since my RNY on May 11 and... well, WOW, the barnyard aroma is overwhelming. My production was never quite like that before. I don't understand it. Is this normal?

(I'm still on full liquids only.)

Edited May 20, 20215 yr by GingersnapMI