Bowel movements after surgery
arielleigh213
Posts: 9 Member
What is normal and what is not?
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It is probably different for everyone. I will tell you that mine were every 2 to 3 days and while on the liquid only phase were not pleasant. Our surgeon recommended Milk of Magnesia which was nasty, but did help.
Since we are now 8 months in (my wife had the surgery at the same time I did,) we are pretty much back to normal, but we do add a Yerba fiber supplement to our daily pill regimen. I also make sure I eat a Quest bar almost every day and it is packed with fiber as well as protein.
Talk to your surgeon's office for suggestions if you are having problems or questions. They will be able to tell you what to expect based on what your doctor recommends for your diet.
Hope that gives you some insight.0 -
I suffered from IBS (irritable bowl syndrom) with constipation for years. This disapeared after the surgery, so for me it was really different. Because we eat such a high protein diet and there is so little room for fiber and roughage, dward59's suggestion of Quest bars and things like that to increase your fiber is a must. Also, getting in all your water is also a must to keep things moving. Whatever your usual routine of evacuation, it will return to that eventually if you consistently eat fiber and drink your water. I have little constipation issues now. But again, you may struggle with that at first, but eventually your body will settle into it's own routine again.0
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And WALK!
(and congratulations, saw you on the boards pre-op. nice to see you back.
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I do suffer with constipation after 15 years of the other extreme with chronic ibs. My docs have decided my bowels are not very good at working so I take half a dose of senna every other day. I also obsess about liquids as I know I don't get enough.0
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I don't think there IS a "normal". I was 6 days post op before anything happened in that department, (I did have to cleanse pre-op). Things were really backed up the whole time I was on liquids and purees to the point I needed Miralax 2xday to keep things moving. I added a multi-strain probiotic daily. Once I moved to soft solids and then finally unrestricted, things slowly returned to normal. I take the just the probiotoc every other day now and things are fine.0
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This issue scared me the first few months post op. If we looked there are probably some topic posts form me about it - HA!
Before surgery I went daily and experienced frequent diarrhea, after surgery total constipation.
Now at 13 months out , my new "regular" is every 4 days or so. I do go more frequently with extra fiber, water and exercise, but I dont think I'll ever be 'daily" again0 -
