Ileus

I'm 24hrs post op at home dealing with Ileus, anyone have any suggestions?

Hi Whitty1,

Is this a diagnosis you had previous to your surgery? or have you just developed some constipation and swelling since your surgery? If it is the latter, then it comes with the hysterectomy territory. You need to drink plenty of water, take stool softeners (if you doctor recommended them), get up and walk occasionally, and realize it make take a couple days to get things moving. If it is a previous diagnosis, then you should contact you doctor and ask how to deal with the problem since it may be compounded by the general difficulties of hysterectomy recovery. Hope you feel better soon!

This is new to me post op, wasn't sure if I could take a stool softener to get things moving and didn't want to bother my dr with a silly question. I've been walking quite a bit and discontinued my narcotic pain meds as I think that is part of the problem, I'm using Tylenol and ibuprofen and it seems tolerable other than this gas pain!! Thank you!!

You should actually bother your doctor with this question. Most (but not all) doctors recommend stool softeners, and some even recommend gentle laxatives. This is a very common problem. I found eating dried prunes and dried apricots helped a lot. Some women find that gas-x helps, I found it constipating. About stopping your narcotic meds, while they can contribute to constipation, it is important that you aren't in a lot of pain as that can slow healing. Keep reading these boards, there are plenty of threads where women post that it can take several days to get things moving. For me it was three.