# Constipation...



## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

OK, so I know this is unpleasant, but thought I would document my post-surgery constipation journey for those of you who may end up struggling with something similar in future. Also, there is just something about poop stories that makes everyone over the age of 12 months giggle...:tongue0013:

WARNING: Stop reading now if you don't like hearing about the struggles of anonymous Internet users to have a normal BM after surgery.

So, I am on day 6 and the constipation has gotten bad. Really bad. It consumes my thoughts 24-7. After having surgery almost a week ago, I have had a ton of bloating and stomach pain, some gas, but virtually no BMs. What I have produced looks like hard rabbit turds. And this is after getting ultra friendly with my toilet for long periods of time. As my youngest child often says, my bum hurts!

I've tried lots of water, fiber pills, stool softeners, fruit, long walks, you name it. In my desperation I went out and purchased the following earlier:
Magnesium citrate
Glycerin Suppositories 
Butt wipes
Enema
Mirolax powder

FYI the glycerin suppository really only works if your stool is soft and ready to go. Otherwise you just strain for more rabbit turds. I just downed the magnesium citrate and read online that it's known for producing results...explosive results...and often more than expected. I'll keep you posted!

*Joplin, I have your poop story in mind and have made sure my path to the toilet is a quick one.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Hahahahaha!!!

Just don't take the largest allowable dose and don't do so while on crutches and you'll be fine.

May things, um, pass quickly!


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

Well, I drank an entire bottle so I probably made a poor choice there, but at least I am not on crutches! Good thing I went for a 2 mile walk earlier because now I'll be afraid to leave the house for a while. Of course, it will probably produce results later tonight when I am least expecting it.


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## megan (Jul 11, 2013)

Post-surgery constipation is awful! I tried very hard to stay off the heavy pain meds after my surgery on Tuesday, and have been doing just fine with Motrin since I got home yesterday. I have been taking stool softeners and eating Fiber One bars, and I just had my first poo since surgery. I am hoping to keep everything moving! Good luck, Eliza, and, Joplin, my incision was hurting last night as I read your story and laughed a little too hard!


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## Velcro (Jul 26, 2013)

I hope things move right along for you....no....move right along....literally....


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

megan said:


> Good luck, Eliza, and, Joplin, my incision was hurting last night as I read your story and laughed a little too hard!


Sorry for any discomfort I may have caused!  Take care!


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

megan said:


> Post-surgery constipation is awful! I tried very hard to stay off the heavy pain meds after my surgery on Tuesday, and have been doing just fine with Motrin since I got home yesterday. I have been taking stool softeners and eating Fiber One bars, and I just had my first poo since surgery. I am hoping to keep everything moving! Good luck, Eliza, and, Joplin, my incision was hurting last night as I read your story and laughed a little too hard!


Congrats on your first poo! That is great. Keep them coming!. hugs6

My mistake was to take pain meds the first few days after surgery. They really messed me up but didn't seem that strong at the time.


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

Update: I drank an entire bottle of magnesium citrate 8 hours ago but so far no dice. I do, however, have some gurgling going on... Am afraid this will not kick in until the wee hours of the morning.ugh!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

I feel your pain - Get in the habit of taking 250mg of Magnesium 2 times a day or when you get sluggish take more. I started doing this while increasing tmy calcium and it works great.


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. I will try it.

My stomach gurgled all night but nothing happened. I took 2 stool softeners when I went to bed (also ate prunes and a fiber bar yesterday) and when I woke up had a glass of water with Mirolax powder and coffee. This finally produced some results but not much. I am hoping LONG walk this morning and a high fiber diet today will get things moving. Will report on my progress if anything works so future sufferers will have some idea of possible tactics to try. I wish the drs at the hospital had warned me about this nasty side effect of surgery/pain meds....


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## partyofsix (Jun 19, 2013)

Thanks for all the sharing Eliza! My TT was last Thursday, I didn't go until Sunday. I then got the infection and haven't gone at all. They are giving me a stool softener here at the hospital, but it is obviously is not working. I think I am going home today so I can work on pushing it along at home...lol.


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

partyofsix said:


> Thanks for all the sharing Eliza! My TT was last Thursday, I didn't go until Sunday. I then got the infection and haven't gone at all. They are giving me a stool softener here at the hospital, but it is obviously is not working. I think I am going home today so I can work on pushing it along at home...lol.


Oh no, what kind of infection?? I must have missed this. Hope you are doing OK.


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

UPDATE: I am writing this in case someone does a search for "constipation post surgery" and wants to know what worked for one person at least (or seems to be working thus far).

This daily regime has been paying off for me:
-I drink coffee every morning and eat high fiber cereal, followed by an 8 oz glass of organic prune juice with fiber powder mixed in and a small amount of mirolax ( about 1/4 the usual dose) and a squirt of lemon juice
-I walk 2 x per day
-I eat fruit/greens daily and drink lots of water and hot tea with honey
-I snack on organic dried prunes every afternoon and salt-free almonds
-Before bed I drink 2 T of tasteless mineral oil (this stuff really seems to help and you can find it at any major pharmacy in the laxative section--it helps to coat the intestines and is very gentle)

When things were really bad, I was only able to do a BM with the help of glycerin suppositories or enemas, even the magnesium citrate failed to work. My stomach was painful and bloated and I felt awful. I think this is because everything was trapped in my colon. Now my aim is to make sure I have enough fluid throughout my body to make everything flow well, so to speak.

Hope this helps someone else in future!


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