"But I've got Diverticulitis!..."

Anyone remember the old Saturday Night Live skit with Jane Curtain (and others) who were unhappy whiners and used to say that?  Well, now that's me.  Not the whining part but for SURE the unhappy part.

For two days I was feeling a stitch/crampy thing in my left side, and a full feeling, bloated, like I needed to either pass gas or poop... nothin.  So I though, Ok, two days and this is still here (I researched bowel obstruction and was pretty sure this wasn't one), called the doc, went in for a CT, and voila' - this FABULOUS diagnosis.  The radiologist was like, "So you need to up your vegetables, fruits, and grains.".  HAHAHAHAHA -- I'm 8.5 weeks out from RNY - I'm a protein hound - HOW am I supposed to do that??  Undaunted, for I am a kick-ass survivor if nothing else, I bought Benefiber and am adding it to EVERYTHING I touch.  Hoping this will help long term...

...but in the SHORT term, have not pooped for days.  Again.  So I'm asking all you folks who've dealt with this (or not but have some good advice), should I do the Milk of Mag blowout thing to get things rolling again while I wait for the Benefiber to do it's thing?  (Oh, and I have scheduled an appointment with a gastroenterologist)

Anyone with real advice is invited to reply - but I don't need any hand-holding replies - no offense, but I'm a big girl and just need good, strong, experienced, or even best educated guess, advice right now.

Thank you SO much!

Miralax every day can help a lot.   It almost always keeps me regular.  It's not a laxative but it works better than a stool softener, for me.

If you feel really backed up, what I do in those instances is a dulcolax suppository.  Not much fun but has always produced results for me in no more than 30 minutes.  The Miralax doesn't work fast like that.  It's mostly good for prevention but not for immediate results.

When the doc told you to eat more fruits and veggies and grains, I think what he meant was to eat more fiber.  Many RNY post ops, especially in the first few months, don't get much fiber because we just don't have room after we eat our protein.  Beans are a great source of fiber, though, and they are reasonably high in protein.  So you might want to add some to your diet.  You can also use a fiber supplement like benefiber.  If you use a fiber supplement, make sure you drink TONS of liquids.  Fiber makes your stools bulkier, which helps them over through your large intestine, which is good.  However, if you don't drink enough liquid, you end up with big hard stools, which do not come out easily.

So should I do the Miralax AND the Benefiber?  I'm off school for a week right now (and sick with a big ole' cold), so if ever there was a time to experiment, it's now (being close to a bathroom!).

You can do both.  They are two different things so it's not like you're taking a double dose of something.  Neither should send you running for the bathroom, either.  If you're really constipated, when  you do go, you may end up being in the bathroom for a while, though.  I'd put a book in there.

Hahaha!  I'll put the book in there now!  :-)

I've started adding Benefiber today - will have to buy Miralax when I'm over this stupid cold from hell.  I have the suppositories but the weird thing is, I don't feel backed up - just "full".  I have no urge to purge so to speak.  I'm guessing this is from the diverticulitis...?  Maybe I should just do the suppository anyway?

So from this link, which of these is best for RNY AND will cause the least amount of constipation?  I'm getting low and need to buy some Iron but want to buy the right thing.  Or do I even need to do BA?  This is very confusing.  Bottom line: What type of iron should I take, what is the dosage, and how often should I take it?  And not take it with calcium right? (the two hour thing)

Thanks!

http://www.bariatricadvantage.com/catalog/categoryHandler?cat=Bariatric%20Advantage%20%3A%20Iron

Carbonyl iron.  And no, you don't have to buy it from bariatric advantage, although I believe they carry it.  but any brand of carbonyl is good.

The ASMBS recommends 54 to 63 mg iron daily (and that's elemental iron, carbonyl is all elemental, but many other types of iron are not so if you use one of them you need to do the math to figure out how much you're getting) for menstruating women and 36 mg a day for everyone else.  Unless your labs indicate you need more, of course, which many people do.

Take it once a day, at least two hours away from calcium.

I am 2 months post-op tomorrow and I have found two things that work.  

1. I take a Senno (natural laxative pill) every 2-3 days in the evening, and when I wake up, well things have started to gurgle in the night and my morning starts off with a BM

2. I accidentally found out yesterday, when I made a new snack of baked kale chips (parchment paper on tray, preheat oven to 350, cover paper with small pieces of kale leaves, mist with olive oil, season with salt/pepper/garlic/crushed red pepper/whatever you like) and bake for 13-15 minutes until they have shrunk into dried crispy deliciousness...well, let's just say that kale is roughage and it DEFINITELY made me GO, if you know what I mean :)  It's a crispy, low carb, not tons of protein snack...and it will move things right along...

Good luck!  At least you have an entire forum of people who vividly know exactly what you are dealing with :/  Misery loves company, right?  lol

So kale chips?  They sound icky but you're saying they're delish so once I'm through this really fun stuff I'll give 'em a try - thanks for the recipe!

What kind of iron do you take? The ferrous salts are constipating. When I switched to carbonyl, things loosened up a lot.

Extra fat helps too, especially if you are doing low fat now. Fat is malabsorbed much more than protein and carbs, early out, so you don't have to worry as much about the extra calories. Plus, extra fat will keep your coat nice and glossy.