male only Guy's Room: The green poops after VSG.

[Nikasio 59]

My gastroenterologist did not answer this one for me so I had to find the answer online:

http://www.webmd.com/women/features/digestive-problems

Now that I know it is undigested bile from my low fat diet, I am wondering if any of you gents have gone through this and how long it lasts?

Being an optimist, I guess I should think of these as being environmentally friendly bowel movements.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Nikasio

[James Marusek 5,244]

Not exactly sure what is going on but I had a couple thoughts.

Many times when you undergo surgery, antibiotics are administered. Antibiotics kill many types of bacteria including the good bacteria that make up your digestive system. It is important to build up these good colonies of bacteria to bring back you digestive system to its full working order. After WLS, many times one of the recommended pills to take when you get home is a Probiotics. Probiotics restore your good bacteria in your digestive system.

After RNY surgery, I found that I was lactose intolerant. If I drank a glass of milk, it meant that within minutes I had to make a trip to the restroom because I had the runs. This condition lasted for a couple months. After surgery, my digestive system could no longer process sugars, that included the sugars in milk. After a few months, my intestines learned to perform this function and I was able to drink milk again.

[Nikasio 59]

@@James Marusek Good advice regarding the antibiotics and Probiotics. I've been taking Ultimate Flora with 30 Billion live cultures per capsule. Having learned from the effects of antibiotics from a previous surgery it is a good idea to build up a healthy flora early on. The green poops are due to bile not being digested. Apparently green is one of the first colors of the digestive track. So hopefully things will slow down and brown will come back to town.

I too am lactose intolerant. Have been using products from powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury, Bariatic Advantage, and Isopure since they are basically lactose free whey Isolate or Ion exchange. So far the Unjury shakes with skim milk in a Blender Bottle mix the easiest so I use this at work.

I have to use a small GNC blender for Bariatric Advantage. BA shakes seem to be thicker so I drink them more slowly. The thickness fills you up the most.

The Isopure low carb powders mix easily but aren't necessarily the best tasting to me. Whereas the ISOpure Zero Carb Protein drinks have 40 grams of Protein per 20oz, but don't give the same full feeling you get from 8oz of Unjury or Bariatric Advantage. The other disadvantage of the ISOpure glass bottles is that they break when being shipped. Used these for two weeks after surgery since they were Clear liquids and I measured out the liquid. The unflavored powdered is great for adding to chicken broth, but if you add it while the broth is still hot (~140F) you'll end up with something that looks like failed Matzo ball Soup.

The Lean Body shakes from Labrada Nutrition are supposedly lactose free, but go through me like regular milk. These plastic bottles survive regular shipping since they are plastic. In my opinion, they don't taste as good as the Unjury, Bariatric Advantage or ISOpure products. Lean Body has a strange chalky taste.

But I've digressed. From another obesity site, I found some postings that things should hopefully slow down when I switch to pureed foods.

Thank you.

[Nikasio 59]

Hooray. Adding pureed foods to my diet seems to have worked. No more daily green poops from things passing through me too quickly. As with most things in life, it takes time for the human digestive track to recover from WLS.

[MSWMike 22]

I agree with the idea of the probiotics. They give you so many antibiotics in the hospital that it wreaks havoc on your GI system. Probiotics help to re-establish order. The last time I was in the hospital and on antibiotics, I was surprised that they also gave me probiotics as well!

Green poop can also be from an imbalance of electrolytes in your body. It could be from being sick, not getting enough of a particular electrolyte, or possibly from another serious medical issue. If it persists, I'd see your doctor and bring up your concerns.