Does the constipation ever end?

I am having such a time with constipation. I have used Milk of Mag from the beginning but I think I am starting to react to it. I get a reddish bumpy patch across my chest after I use it. I did try Metamucil but it jsut seamed to cause more cramps and a fuller felling. I finally had to have my husband help me with an enma. (He was really happy about having to help!) Any suggestions and when can I expect it to stop? I drink plenty of fluids and walk everyday. I am two days away from being 3 weeks post-op.

[quote=ST&Grunner]I am having such a time with constipation. I have used Milk of Mag from the beginning but I think I am starting to react to it. I get a reddish bumpy patch across my chest after I use it. I did try Metamucil but it jsut seamed to cause more cramps and a fuller felling. I finally had to have my husband help me with an enma. (He was really happy about having to help!) Any suggestions and when can I expect it to stop? I drink plenty of fluids and walk everyday. I am two days away from being 3 weeks post-op.

It should be easing up very very soon. Try using a stool softner or mild laxative. It worked for me! Good luck and hang in there.

Constipation was a killer at first, but at the three week point when I was off all meds including Advil (ibuprofen will constipate you too), it improved greatly. This what I did in the meantime: as much water as I could drink, lots of grapes (this helps me), 2 Fiber Choice tablets a day, Kondremul in the morning, one Colace in the afternoon, and Peri-Colace at bedtime (2-4 according to what the BM(s) that day was like). All this was with my Dr.'s OK. With this regimen, I kept moving. Also, chewing gum helps me a lot, it stimulates the movement of your bowels. I preferred Trident bubble gum.

Lots of liquids is not necessarily the key. Lots of WATER is.....8 GLASSES (8oz) The body does not use colored water in it's processing. It wants clear fresh water. No crystal light in that water. The commerical is WRONG Pop, tea and coffee deplete you of your body's water. If you drink these you need to make up for the difference and drink even more than 8 glasses of water per day. Medimucil is giving you cramps becasue that's what fiber does if you don't drink enough water. It's called peristalsis. The colon contracts back and forth (squeezes and releases) when it gets fiber in there to move the sludge (my word for excretement) out of your colon. If you are cramping with medimucil you have compacted your colon and it's having trouble squeezinig it down.
Plain yogurt, medicumicl daily ( I only need one glass) bran for breakfast, good juices like pineapple, apple, cranberry and fruit like apples or applesauce daily will get you cleaned out and regular. Taking stool softeners doesn't teach your intestines how to live the new life. All it does is make your body reliant of chemicals to empty you. If you follow a good regime of diet along with the walking your body will learn this and eventually you won't need to focus on it so much.
Oh yes...I also stared a glass of low sodium VG daily. I love it....3 servings of your daily (5) requirements of veggies.
Hope this helps some....