Constipation...yay

I hate being constipated....its worse than diarrhea for me. Surgery was 4 days ago, last BM 4 days ago as well. 

Add that to my heartburn, which is causing nausea and I am just a big bucket.of win today. I am taking ranitidine for the heartburn, but so far it hasnt been a big relief.

I took some milk of magnesia a few min ago, per dr instructions. If that doesnt work he wants me to do a fleet enema. Awesome. 

I recommend looking into a PPI for the acid and nausea  - Prilosec, for example. 

I also take a dose of Miralax a day for constipation. It's a non-stimulant laxative so safer for longer periods of time. 

For what it's worth, there are solutions!

Gas and consipation- whew- were my big battles early on.  Was afraid it was going to be a forever thing.  Stay on top of it.  I found it helpful eary on to "note" BM events to ensure that I was going regularly every 3-4 days- minimum ( remember, you are not taking so much in- so not so much going out... however, that said, regularity is a good thing)  Hang in there- it does get better as you are able to reintroduce higher fiber vegatables into your diet.  I found flaxseed in my protein drinks  to be helpful, as well as mirilax--the occassional MOM did the trick.  The whole intestinal thing takes a while to resolve itself.  It will pass--(pun intended) bonnie.

 

you probably need a different ppi or h2 blocker , ranitidine is a very weak one and does no always do the job protonix or dexilant work much better for many people

I had diarrhea for the first few weeks then when I got on real food at 2 weeks the constipation starts , It will last till you start getting about 8 gm of protein a day , but I still get ing some times and MOM is a great heal , miralax did nothing for me but helps lots of people

1-2 cups of coffee does wonders for me and my surgeon said I could drink it at my 2 week check up

it will get better give it some time your still healing , treat you sleeve like a baby and give it some time to mature

I would try OTC Prilosec for the heartburn. Pepcid and Ranitidine are entry level H2 Blockers. (You can safely take 150 mg of ranitidine at a time, btw. That's the dose that used to work for me.)

Many of us find remedies for the constipation. Mine was a Dulcolax in the morning and before bed and a 1/2 dose of generic Miralax (much less expensive) with my morning protein coffee. Kept me going regularly once the Miralax kicked in (which was only a couple of hours for me).

Um, yeah, I'd avoid the enema, if at all possible. That would be awesome.

Good luck and welcome to the VSG side of life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

It sounds like you are experiencing some of the same issues most of us go through at your stage. All I can say is hang in there and things will begin to move.

Are you sure you're constipated?  That would be my first question before I started trying remedies.  I mean, it took me 10 days, post op, to have enough in my stomach for a BM.  Now I go every 4-5-6 days.  I know this is not ideal but I also know it's not constipation (I can pass gas and I have no pain).  It's just the fact that I eat very little and almost none of it is fiber.  For colon health, I have today begun taking fiber gummies so that I can try and go every 2-3 days.  But I wouldn't treat myself for constipation if I weren't in pain. 

Talkef to doc. He said to switch to prilosec, which I did. Heartburn is still there, but not constant like before.

As far as constipation, I was in pain. The MOM helped a few hours after I took it,

I will be getting some mirilax to keep me regular.

What is this protein coffee you speak of?! I must know!

No coffee for me yet,,,soon i hope!

My guess at 4 days out and no BM since surgery..... your constipated from the meds.

Anesthesia and pain meds are know to plug you up......

frisco

I use senekot.  It's all natural vegetable laxative.