Thankful for Having Surgery? Mixed Emotions.

For the most part I am very happy that I had the surgery.  One of the greatest benefits that I have seen so far, are the changes I am seeing in my children.  They are reading food labels and choosing foods and beverages that are better for them.  They are more active too.   My son (age 11) is quite heavy and has lost almost 10 pounds since I started my pre-op diet.

WARNING - TMI

I am mostly feeling great, but like so many I am having terrible trouble in the bathroom area.  Since I started eating solids I  have been unable to #2 on my own.  I have tried Colace, Lactulose, Muralax, Citrucel, prune juice, Metamucil, and suppositories.  When I get to the point where I am feeling ill, I use an enema.  It's the only thing that helps.  I am really hoping this isn't some permanent condition.

I have my 6 week follow-up in the morning.  I really hope the surgeon has some more suggestions.  At least I will be cleared to eat raw fruits and veggies.  I plan on taking advantage of the increased fiber I will be able to get.  Also looking forward to being able to do more than walk.  I love lifting weights and have been wanting to do so for a couple of weeks.

Val

Check with your dr of course, but I was sent home with milk of magnesia which really helped in those first few months. I still take it on occasion when things get stopped up.

A lot of sleevers take stool softners every day.

For me this is a huge issue as I dont want lazy bowel or be dependant on meds.I add ispagula husk to my food now and it really is a struggle to balance protein,vitamins,fibre and water.

But,I am so much thinner that with some work and some tweaking to the diet (constantly!) I will manage this.

I also added some acidophillus 3 times a day which finally seems to make ahuge difference in the no 2 issues.

It is just a lack of fibre and when I eat enough food with fibre,I dont have space for proteins.More exercise might also help and more water.

Good luck as I am finding this the biggest challenge since the surgery.

A cup of decaf coffee does the trick for me :D  Good luck!

I'm only on stage 2 but have had similar difficulties. My cup of coffee in the morning along with magnesium supplements helped pre-surgery but my surgeon won't allow caffeine until 1 month post-op and I stopped taking the magnesium because of the size of the pills.

I bet if you increase your fluids and do some abdominals along with the weight training, that will also help.

Don't know if this applies to you but when I was on clear liquids pre-surgery, I ate sugar free popsicles for the first time. Whatever artificial sweetener (maltodextrin?) is in those acted like colon-blow for me. 

Even with this issue, and I do have it, I have no mixed emotions about my sleeve.  I'm much happier dealing with this than the other health and body issues I had before. 

I'm going to a gastrointerologist later this month to see if he can help me with my digestive issues.  In my case, constipation has been a lifelong issue and is compounded by other issues as well, so I decided to go to somebody whose expertise is in that area.

Before I had the surgery my husband was doing some reading and he came to me and said, "Do you realized that you might have to take antacids and/or stool softeners every day for the rest of your life? Have you really thought about this?"

I refrained from blowing my top. I calmly went on about my business and replied cheerfully, "Well, it's either that or take blood pressure meds, sleep with a CPAP machine, maybe end up diabetic and with bad joints, unable to walk for the rest of my life!"

He shut up. And that's the way I see it.

Are you taking the multivitamin with added iron? I know that is what my surgeon recommended....I find the added iron to be constipating. When I was pregnant I was constipated the whole pregnancy so I feel your pain! I also tried everything to help.

Maybe try to add just a wee little bit of caffeine a day? That always helped me. I'm only 9/10 days post op and have only had a few BMs (not that I would call what I had was normal lol). But I was told that was from the contrast I had to drink for my sleeve leak test. Milk of Magnesia was also recommended by my surgeon. That also helped me when I was pregnant.

I'm worried too! I've always been regular. GL!

How about probiotics?  I'm still preop but I take a probiotic that helps me go regular.  Ultimate flora Critical Care.   I don't know if it's okay to take after surgery but wouldn't hurt to ask.

Coffee works for me...not sure if its on your plan or if you even like it but give it a try maybe!

I'd been blessed up until this past month w/ no real issue. Then I had a few weeks of issue... so totally understand the posts. Yikes that was NO FUN!. I seem to be back on track now. I wish I could say I changed my diet to fix it but I don't think I did!? I do drink coffee everyday and I may have cut back a little but have gone back to my 2 cups / day. ( only thing that seems different)