Lack of Bowel movements after MGB surgery

[TrueNorth1 56]

Hi There,

I had my MGB surgery on Thursday. I had a very hard bowel movement on Sunday. Nothing since (2 days). I’m on full liquids...is this why? Are others having this issue? I did order colace (stool softener) online and will receive tomorrow.
anyone have similar problems?

[Arabesque 7,517]

Oh yeah, Constipation and/or diarrhoea is very common. On day three I had terrible diarrhoea & then nothing for days. And this will continue for quite some time.

To begin with it’s from the surgery & then it’s because of your diet. Your caloric intake is a lot less than what you used to consume & there isn’t as much waste because your body needs all those nutrients. You’re also eating very few carbs & fibre. Add some Benefibre to your diet (mix it in your shakes) & when you’re allowed some rolled oats. Avoid fibre supplements that swell in your tummy as they will fill you up & then you won’t be able to eat.

If I pooped every second day I was happy. If I got to day 3, I’d take a stool softener (they will become your friend). This went on until I was in maintenance & was consuming more calories & more whole/multi grains.

Congrats on your surgery & good luck on your journey.

[TrueNorth1 56]

11 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

Oh yeah, constipation and/or diarrhoea is very common. On day three I had terrible diarrhoea & then nothing for days. And this will continue for quite some time.

To begin with it’s from the surgery & then it’s because of your diet. Your caloric intake is a lot less than what you used to consume & there isn’t as much waste because your body needs all those nutrients. You’re also eating very few carbs & fibre. Add some Benefibre to your diet (mix it in your shakes) & when you’re allowed some rolled oats. Avoid fibre supplements that swell in your tummy as they will fill you up & then you won’t be able to eat.

If I pooped every second day I was happy. If I got to day 3, I’d take a stool softener (they will become your friend). This went on until I was in maintenance & was consuming more calories & more whole/multi grains.

Congrats on your surgery & good luck on your journey.

Thank you so much Arabesque! Phew...I’m normal!! I was having scary thoughts of intestine and bowel blockage!

[catwoman7 11,231]

I hate to say it, but most of us deal with chronic Constipation, even years after surgery. It's due to the high Protein diet and some of the supplements (calcium and Iron being the two major ones) - all three of those things are notorious for backing people up. You'll just have to find something that "works" for you, and keep on top of it. I take a capful of Miralax every morning, which does a good job for me - others regularly take stool softeners, magnesium tablets, Smooth Move tea, prunes - whatever works!

[TrueNorth1 56]

On 11/25/2020 at 8:39 AM, catwoman7 said:

I hate to say it, but most of us deal with chronic constipation, even years after surgery. It's due to the high Protein diet and some of the supplements (calcium and Iron being the two major ones) - all three of those things are notorious for backing people up. You'll just have to find something that "works" for you, and keep on top of it. I take a capful of Miralax every morning, which does a good job for me - others regularly take stool softeners, magnesium tablets, Smooth Move tea, prunes - whatever works!

It's funny, for some reason I thought the opposite would have happened with bypass. In then out. But what you wrote above makes total sense. Thanks!

[catwoman7 11,231]

1 minute ago, TrueNorth1 said:

It's funny, for some reason I thought the opposite would have happened with bypass. In then out. But what you wrote above makes total sense. Thanks!

a lot of people assume we have diarrhea issues, but no. There's a minority who do, but most of us deal with the opposite problem. Diarrhea tends to be more of an issue with people who have the DS.