The life of a BM

 When should bowel movements start....is it safe to use dulcolax post op?

Spence

 I was lucky, it was day 4 for me. I also had bad diarhrea for 2 more days, Everything seems OK now.

That is the question-6 weeks out and I am still needing assistance to poop.  I cannot get enough roughage in to help things naturally.  In time this will too come.

Generally the TWH suggests Milk of Mag, along with the colace(stool softeners) daily.  You can take 2 stool softeners a day as well as the MoM when needed.

 Well not to scare you but i'm a little over 6 months and still feel like going to labour everytime...lol...tried everything...MOM, fiber supplements (actually made it worse), laxatives like ducolax or whatever they are, the ducolax helps better then anything I tried but I can't stay foreer on that and if I stop then its hell...i'm losing hope that this condition will stay with me forever..very disapointing...hope it gets better with you....best of luck
Nathalie

Mine started the first day home from hospital without intervention....Ahhh relief.  I was fine until I was in the diet stage of eating solid protein, then I needed a bit of extra help and now use prunes in the evening for a great morning :)

I was told to take 2 Senekot pills before bed. Works like a charm!

 Hey Spence! 
My clinic suggests milk of Mag. when I needed help. They first time is made me feel sick to my stomach. And no relief..... The next day I tried again and put the dose into a shot glass mixing it with a very small amount of crystal lite to help cover the nasty taste. Low and behold .... Success! If softening is required they suggested glycerin suppositories. 
Now 1 week out and I finally feel relief and the gas is finally getting better!

Hope you get relief soon!!
Tam

Its an on going battle for me since surgery. Not to give TMI but some days it feels like I'm trying to poop at tree stump. I would suggest MOM and if that doesn't work and you are really bound up I would go with the suppositories. I'm not 100% sure but I think the brand I used was Dulcolax. The clinic in Ottawa also suggested that I take Colace tablets along with the suppositories until things started moving again.

Now eight months out I have lots of fiber and eat two prunes at some point during the day, this has helped.  

Many people believe that if you rely on laxatives your body gets used to using them thus needing intervention to go. I would check with your centre and see what they recommend and what their belief is.

I cant remember how far out you are but if you are fresh out of surgery (under a month) I would go the suppository route along with the Colace.

I am 10 weeks out from surgery... I have tried everything under the sun and still having problems... I use a fleet when needed to bring it down and out or Ducolax suppositories when it's there but I cannot empty. Both work great ... I get tons of fibre, but if you do not get in enough water you will have difficulties... make sure you walk loads. I now go with "assistance" every 4th-5th day. Prior I went daily problems started on Optifast and have continued. Right after surgery I went 7 days before I felt the need to go and trust me I never want to experience birthing an ELEPHANT again...almost killed me... LOL! I figure when this is all done I will probably need rectal surgery to fix all the damage I am sure has been done :( Constipation has been the ONLY problem I have had todate after WLS, so I guess I should consider myself lucky!

Enjoy your day, Donna

 Thanks everyone!