Hello, I was banded on 10/13 everything seems to be going good except no BM... Today is day 6. Should I be worried? Is there something I can take? I have lost 10lbs since 10/13 I guess it was all water. My doctor doesn't require any kind of pre-op diet. So yep, I'm sure there's a lot in there! :smile2: Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi! I was banded on 10-7-08 and had the same problem. Pre-op I took citrucel twice a day with 8 oz of Water. After surgery, I realized that wasn't going to work any more.

I resorted to 2 tablespoons of Milk of Mag in the morning and at night plus a colase capsule twice a day. I took 6 days, but for the last few days, I've running to get to the bathroom - thank goodness it has always been available. I have now halved the Milk of Mag and colase to see if that works better.

Life is an experiment!

My doctors suggested I take Colace or Senekot. By the way, I just had surgery on Oct 16th and havent taken any laxative since Tuesday as suggested. I have had a bowel movement every day since, although very loose and like diarrhea. But dont worry, ask your doc. Dont forget, your not eating! What do you expect?

At the risk of giving too much information - I used a fleet or enehma. Yes - it may a little embarassing to have it given to you. But it does work on a one time basis. I used it day 5 after my surgery just to get things going, without any straining.

Update,

I had my yearly appointment with my gastroenterologist (GI) doctor and asked him what his recommendation was to replace my pre-surgery twice daily citrucel. He highly recommended Fiber (of course). He said the easiest way for a lap bander to get enough fiber is to drink a daily "smoothie" concocted of the following:

a base of milk or some type of citrus juice such as OJ

add fresh fruit such as bananas, peaches, strawberries, etc.

2 tablespoons of ground whole flax seed

optional: walnuts or almonds for their Omega 3

optional: Protein powder such as whey protein

Put all ingredients in a heavy duty blender, adding ice as desired for a milk shake consistency. Not bad!

He also warned against regular use of senokot as it can led to laxative dependency. Milk of mag and colase were fine.

Best of luck!

Wow! Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your comments. Oh! by the way, it's all good now. ha