Hi All

I had surgery on Monday (today is Thursday) and I'm feeling really constipated. I'm wondering if anyone has any tricks to help go to the bathroom? I've been drinking as much as I can (low cal vitamin water) with two protein shakes and some broth a day for hunger. Any advice?

Call your surgeon and ask what to take (they all have different preferences). You're smart to do it now! Esp if you've had opiod pain relievers, constipation is a definite risk post op.

thanks! it seems they recommend fiber powders like metamucil so i went and got some. i'm not taking pain meds, been staying away trying to avoid this problem. so much for that!

Hi.....I have tried BENEFIBER packets, they look like Crystal light single packets and I pour one of those in my protein shakes or in a bottle of water mixed with ice tea and can't tell, plus it keeps me going regularly. I do about 2 per day. However you wanna gauge yourself and see if it has you going too loosely, if so, bring it down to 1 a day. Sometimes I stop for a little bit and if things start slowing down, I start back up again.

Benefiber is actually the one that I bought! I didn't get the individual packets, but I would imagine the powder should work the same way.

The fiber stuff just made me gassier so I went with my old IBS trick for constipation with an okay from doc,, squash! V8 makes a great summer squash soup, 1/4 cup at a time was good! Its not high in protein, but has fiber. I felt sooo much better after 2 servings of it.

i was told to use stool softners and let me tell u they worked beatutifully! i feel much better now since going poop!

Fiber and fruits didn't work for me, and I had a horrible experience. I would not wait if I were you. I ended up using Senna and glycerin suppositories because I was in horrible pain and needed to go right then. I should have really been more proactive, but I couldn't have anticipated it would be that bad. I thought the fiber would be enough. It was not.