Hysterectomy tomorrow 12/9: How often should I take stool softener?

How often should I take stool softener? The directions only say to take 1-2 pills, but not how often.
My surgery is tomorrow after being canceled for December 2nd and I feel constipated today, so I am scared that I will have issues with BM after tomorrow. I did drink some prune juice yesterday (1 cup) and took 2 softgels, but I still don't feel any movement

I took one with breakfast and one with dinner. I had to add in a capful of miralax at lunch. It still took me all of 4 days (2 of which were miserable with constipation pains). I am not sure that MORE would have helped me - my first stool was pretty firm and painful, but everything after that was soft. My issue seemed to be due to movement more than consistency. My first BMs were small - my intestines just did not want to wake up. Just this morning (day 6) I finally got the "clean out" to happen. I am going to keep with the 2 a day and cut my miralax back to half a cap to see if I can get on a schedule, which is what my body likes.

I do twice a day as well. And after first few days it wasn't a matter of firm BMs. Its that it hurts my abdomen to push it out. I'm 13 days post op and may switch from stool softener to just Miralax. Mostly to keep me regular, as I still have no appetite and eat just to give my body what it needs.

I was also told to use an enema (regular Fleet) the day before surgery, so that might be something you could ask your doctor or nurse about.

I was told to take 2 at night with lots of water..

I had with every pain pill in the hospital. When I got home, I had 2 at night, and ate prunes and prune juice everyday. Also drank Smooth Moves Tea in the evening. Took me 5 days. But just because you have your first bm....doesn't make you regular. I'm still taking the pills, eating and drinking those things because I still don't want to strain.

I took a capful of Miralax in a cup of warm apple cider every morning for a LONG TIME. At least two months. A month beforehand since my fibroid was preventing anything from moving easily, and a month afterwards due ot the typical intestinal sturm und drang after surgery. It's a great one to take since it's a colorless, odorless, tasteless powder and you can tail yourself off of it gradually by just mixing slightly less into your beverage of choice.

If you take this stuff though, be sure to drink lots of liquids. It works by drawing water into your poop to make it soft, so it needs the water to work.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by BornACrone I took a capful of Miralax in a cup of warm apple cider every morning for a LONG TIME. At least two months. A month beforehand since my fibroid was preventing anything from moving easily, and a month afterwards due ot the typical intestinal sturm und drang after surgery. It's a great one to take since it's a colorless, odorless, tasteless powder and you can tail yourself off of it gradually by just mixing slightly less into your beverage of choice. If you take this stuff though, be sure to drink lots of liquids. It works by drawing water into your poop to make it soft, so it needs the water to work.

I am with BornACrone. Miralax is great, and I took it generously and for longer than it seemed I needed. Even though I had laparoscopic surgery I was sore on the inside when I pooped-even soft. It really tapered off by about 6 weeks. I did stop the softners around 4-5 weeks.

I have issues with my bms being loose all the time. My surgery is Jan 7. I recognize that if I drink a lot of coffee I get diarrhea. My point being having 3 cups of coffee if constipated may get things moving and loose once the bowels have woke up. Obviously this is just a guess. Ask your dr before you do anything in case it would cause a problem.