question for post op ladies

Hello ladies, I have a question that i hope someone out there could help me with. Prior to my Hysterectomy I was having major problems with my bowels. They did every test possible and found nothing wrong. Dr concluded thst the problem was my uterus (possible adenomyosis). I watched my diet and did everything I could to help my bowels work properly, to no avail.

I have since had my hysterectomy and am wondering were there any ladies out there that found after their hsyter that their bowels function properly now? I am just scared that I will be forever dealing with bowel issues. I have such anxiety about it and it has made it so difficult even to drive anywhere. I know that I am in recovery and need to give it time to get everything working again, but scared!

Hello,

I had lavh on January 9th and I'm having bowel problems. I've been to the doctor today and he told me it is normal after the surgery.

I had bowel problems before, but kind of hormonal. Mostly, I go every morning. Now, I've been twice in a week.

I had bowel issues prior to the surgery (even had a colonoscopy to rule out colon cancer). My Gyn reported that my uterus was fused to my bowel. When I asked her if that could have been causing the bowel problems, she said no. However, here I am 2 weeks post-op and all my bowel issues seem to be gone (knock on wood).

js257,

Prior to my surgery I had BM every few days due to the weight of my fibroids pressing against my bladder and colon. I was also constipated a lot and it was especially abnormal around my cycle.

Now that I've had the surgery, I've notice a huge difference. I go a least 1-2 daily and it's doesn't hurt to go, in fact it's a lot looser. At first, I was concerned about this but the Doctor told me today, that it's normal, I'm just not use to it having regular bowel movements.

My mom is in her 70's and every conversation eventually gets around to her concern over bms. I don't know if that is why I seem to be obsessing about that too, but then, look at all the commercials we have lately about 'regularity'. Everyone is concerned about it but nobody can define it, since what is normal for my body may be very different than what is normal for you.

I was fretting about my digestion befor the surgery and almost delayed it because I was wondering how many of my symptoms would go away naturally after the hysterectomy and how many may be tied to separate issues with my gall bladder, intestines, liver, etc.

Bottom line is that during recovery I've had a couple of panicky situations that were remedied with good old Milk of Magnesia. I don't feel that anything is life-threatening, but I agree that I can get all anxious about back-to-work, travel etc because of digestive 'issues'. I don't expect them to be cured by the hysterectomy, but I feel confident that I can address them later, after I'm further along in my recovery.

Oh, I mentioned gall bladder. Turns out I have a small gallstone which may be responsible for some of my issues. But gallstones and gyn issues are common in females my age (mid-50's) so it isn't so much that they are related to each other - both are more related to my age than anything else. I suspect digestive issues in general are probably normal for me at this stage of my life, too.

That doesn't mean I will ignore them. But I will try not to be overly worried about them either. Focus on your primary health issue for now, and trust that as you progress, you'll be able to address the other issues at the right time, too. Good luck and keep us posted!

It may totally depend on what caused the problems. I have serious issues before and they are still there. I have to be on a regimen which includes fiber supplements, watching my diet, and taking my medicines. I was also very hard to diagnose and figure it out. I just kept pushing and now am doing much better. My endo certainly didn't help because it was all over my bowel and bladder.

thank you ladies for all the responses. I am feeling better about the issue. Consipation was not so much my problem as diaherra (sorry TMI) or going 4 times a day etc. I am just focused on recovery and pray that after all the hard work i have put in to my health, that it was just a side effect of my large swollen uterus!

I am so glad to be able to come here and ask these questions and that i have all these fabulous ladies to help!!!