LSH How long is too long to go without a BM?

I had my LSV on the Dec 16th and was home the same evening. I pass gas and pee with no problems. I haven't had a BM (finishing up day 5 here), but I am not feeling discomfort from that.

I am drinking TONS, able to eat small meals, and taking Benefiber. I'm moving more everyday and am taking 600mg of ibuprofen every six hours.

I'm afraid to take any meds to get things moving because my milk of magnesia bowel prep made me throw up a lot ( in addition to the diarrhea). The pharmacist thought that given that response, any stool softener/laxative med that I had to swallow would probably make me vomit.

I don't want to mess up my steady progress, but I also don't want to screw myself by going too long without a BM. Does anyone know how long is too long (especially without discomfort)?

Oh, and I was very regular before the hysterectomy. I had a BM daily with no straining.

Thanks sisters!!!

I went 6 days after surgery before I had a BM. It was very painful and I had been taking Colace (stool softener) and MOM. A nurse friend of mine told me to mix a cup of orange juice with a cup of prune juice and heat it in the microwave. It honestly doesn't taste bad and it's really helped. You can drink this 3-4 times per day.

It took me till day 6 and that was after taking colace twice a day, eating prunes and taking Miralax once a day. But believe me...once I went, I almost passed out. Not trying to scare you..just that the first time is the worst.

Have you thought about miralax? its not too terrible and it works slow with no cramping. You can put it in any drink. The prune juice is good too. I was desperate and drinking it straight!

I had to use a fleet enema to have my 1st bm because of iron supplement combined with narcotics. The enema cleared the immediate impaction then I had 3 BMs that day. Since I am still on iron supplement I am still using generic colace at least once a day, sometimes twice, but things are working properly now. I also take benefiber 2 times per day.

Hi, I had DaVincin hysterectomy 12-14; all is well; doc sent me home with prescrip for 2 tabs Senna at bedtime; it was 4 days before BM; I continue to take it & get relief; in 2 days nurse told me to start taking non-prescrip Senna "S" (must be "S")

I also ate prunes to help. I found the colace was to strong for me so I took pedia-lax for the first few weeks. Since you cleaned out your whole system it can take up to 6 or 7 days. I wish you the best.

I pooped!!!!! This morning I drank two cups of coffee. Around lunch I made the warm prune juice/apple juice cocktail and drank maybe 1/2 cup. I did a search on this site and found that part of the problem is the nerves in your intestines are confused. They cannot coordinate relaxing the opening and pushing it through the intestines at the same time. So, and I totally realize this is TMI, but I took some toilet paper and gently massaged the area back there to help relax and poof - like magic it came. No pain at all! This feels like such an accomplishment! LOL Thanks for all the support.

The warmed up prune juice worked for me too. My nurse told me to follow it with something warm like tea. I had to do this a few times over the last month (along with taking stool softeners).

I understand your joy at having a BM! I was especially paranoid because my 'roommate' in the hospital was there for an impaction following bladder surgery.

So...you may have to do this more than once...but it always worked for me and it's better than taking laxatives. Things finally are back to normal and I'm 5 weeks out.

Good luck!