Can you’ll share how long does the constipation last after surgery and when do your bowels go back to normal. I am 3 weeks post-op.

I hate to say this, but for many of us, it's a chronic issue. It has to do with the high protein diet plus some of the supplements we take (iron and calcium are notorious for it). I'm eight years out and still take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it.

When I was very cognizant of my protein intake on a daily basis I was constipated and had to take a laxative once in awhile to keep things moving. Lately I haven't been as good about hitting my protein goals so it hasn't been a problem.

It does improve especially as you start eating more & a wider range of food types so closer to your final stabilised weight. At the moment you are eating so little that not going every day is to be expected. Just don’t let it persist otherwise that’s when you’ll start to experience discomfort or at worst pain or you may need to use more shall we say ‘dramatic’ treatments/interventions. If I hadn’t gone by day 3 I’d take a stool softener so there’d be movement on day 4. That worked for me. Try adding a non swelling soluble fibre to your diet every day to help.

Yes, you may continue to experience it as @catwoman7 said forever. I’m four years out & every week or two I can have a day or two of little or no action. I only take something if it persists into a third day but that rarely occurs now.

I had a 6-hour incident with constipation. I was in tears (the last time I cried was in 1999 when my Mother died to give you some perspective). It was an awful feeling. We did everything to get things moving. That next day, we essentially bought out everything in Walmart that had anything to do with constipation or stool softener. I do notice every few days when I haven't gone. My main concern with this surgery is that I don't start having long-term pains or issues since I didn't have any before the surgery. I never had this issue at all. Now, I'm worried about this all the time.

9 hours ago, Bluphiguy said:

My main concern with this surgery is that I don't start having long-term pains or issues since I didn't have any before the surgery. I never had this issue at all. Now, I'm worried about this all the time.

don't worry about the issue, just stay on top of it. As I said above, I take a capful of Miralax every morning. Lots of us do - that or stool softeners, fiber (like Benefiber or Metamucil), eat a few prunes every day - whatever it takes to stay on top of it. I rarely have problems with it since I've started the daily Miralax - but if I skip it for a couple of days, yep - the constipation comes back. It's just one of those "features" with WLS - at least for some of us. Taking daily MIralax vs weighing 373 lbs again is a no-brainer for me.

I take a teaspoon or 2 of miralax daily in my coffee too. No biggy in my daily life, works wonders. For me, what could be worse than being morbidly obese with all the health problems that go with it, not to mention the other annoying things in obese life like not being able to fit in an airplane seat, for example. 300 lbs or a tsp of miralax a day, hmmmm. No-brainer for me too.

oh the Weight-Loss-Phase-Constipation-Woes.

I feel you.

I was chronically constipated for months after surgery.

I developed a regimen of adding 2 tsps of Benefibre to my protein shakes twice a day, drinking tons of water, and exercising/moving regularly.

And if i hadn't pooped in 4-5 days i'd take a dose of Senokot or similar. If i still didn't go after more than week, then it was time for a glycerin suppository...which usually did the trick (only 2-3 times did i have to do 2 suppositories)

I did notice it got better when i started eating more veggies and fat (i was mostly just eating protein during weight loss phase).

Now i no longer do the daily Benefibre and poop pretty regularly every 3-4 days (which is a huge departure of having to poop 2+ times a day pre-wls). I only get constipated now during/after vacations...but i think thats because i have an irrational need to only poop at home lol!

I can't tell you helpful this is... I had another really bad episode yesterday. I have every product under the sun to help with constipation but I wasn't sure of how to incorporate these products with the post op process. I've tried to just take a stool softener and exlax and I was doubled over in pain for an entire day... lesson learned. I will try your process starting today. It's hard to explain how bad this can get. I get this topic may not be for everyone but the awful bouts of constipation I've had started making me regret the surgery (never even remotely had this issue before). Everything else is going really well but I just need to solve this issue. Your response is very helpful, thank you!