I hate to be gross but i have not had a bowel movement

[Erica517 64]

I haven't gone to the bathroom in a few weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions? Suppositories do not work. I can't take any pills because i have to crush them. I was told to take colace but its a liquid pill. Is it normal not to have a bowel movement for this long?? I'm getting scared??

[swimbikerun 1,045]

How far out are you from surgery? Have you spoken to your doc? Yes, that can be a problem. Do you have a GI doctor? Have you been to the urgent care and what have you taken for it?

Do you take anything that constipates you?

[Erica517 64]

Took suppositories 2 times. First time had very minor success…. but is it because i have barely had any food? ?

[swimbikerun 1,045]

That's part of it and you need to drink. You need to talk to your surgeon. How far out are you? If you aren't eating a lot then you shouldn't be far out. Otherwise, a good GI would be worth their weight in gold.

[Erica517 64]

2 weeks post op

[swimbikerun 1,045]

Never mind the GI call the surgeon first thing tomorrow morning. Did you go before leaving the hospital? They normally check on this the first week visit.

[Heatherhere1 1]

Milk of Magnesium. They have sugar free too. I would take tonight and see what happens in the am.. Wow I would have done something after a couple of days. Well I did.

[Kooky1 96]

Are you feeling the need to go or are you more concerned that you haven't gone?

[sleevie.wonder 306]

I take Milk of Magnesia (Phillips) and it always works. In fact I have a scheduled day of the week that I take it and that is my weekly bm lol.

For you it seems like things may be a bit backed up. The milk if magnesia will help soften it to get things moving. Try 3 tbsp before bed and you should have the urge to go by morning. Be sure to drink at least 8oz of Water with this dose.

Good luck! Don't let it go too long. You do to want to become impacted.

[PinkBubble 5]

^{That is awful. I freaked out after 5 days in the beginning when I couldn't go. You should definitely go to the urgent care or your doctor. But in the meantime drink Water... drink water...and drink more Water. It sounds like you are dehydrated at the very least. Good luck. I know you are miserable:(}

[boccob81 244]

I take Probiotics it helps plus yogurt .

But it took a while for a bm like 3 weeks started with stool softeners then probiotics I do one or two a day

[LumpySpacePrincess 594]

Get some Miralax. Its a powder that you can mix with Protein shakes that will keep you regular. Its what they give to patients in chemotherapy and radiation treatment because chemo is notorious for making them constipated. You have to take it every day, though, and it will be a few days before it works.

The reason you're not having a bm more regularly could be for a few reasons. First, at two weeks out you probably haven't eaten enough solid food to produce one. Second, if you're not getting enough Water (and more is needed in the first month than in subsequent months), it can slow things down. Third, the liquid pain medication they send us home with can slow down our bowels. The visiting nurse I had just after surgery told me this; those meds can be very constipating.

For what it's worth, I'm 7 months out and I only have a bm about once a week, and even then its really small. You'll be fine.

[MRhynard11 41]

I'm having the same problem. When it's been over 3 days, I usually drink about 1/2 a cup of coffee and then take a walk. That seems to help.

[Jersrose43 837]

Prune juice has been working wonders for me.

[Scylla 106]

My surgeon recommended Peri-Colace, which is a combination of senna (a stimulant laxative) and docusate sodium (a stool softener). The brand name is pretty expensive, so I buy the Walgreens version for a fraction of the cost.

When I was on the 1 month pre-op liquid Protein diet I was so backed up and miserable! The Peri-Colace helped normalize the situation.