I am so constipated and sore ~ any suggestions?

I was doing great until Monday night when I started having acute abdominal pain out of nowhere arounf 8 pm. I sucked it up & finally had to go to the ER around 1:30 am. I felt worse than I did right after I woke up from surgery.

I had a cat scan which added insult to injury....it found a complex 1.7cm cyst inside my right ovary. It must had formed post-op, little devil! I have to now keep an eye on that. I also think that I have streched my stitches as little. I am so constipated, bearing down & straining to try to have a BM is really hurting me. I just don't know what to do! I am so sore inside.

I've got laxatives, stool softners, suppositories, metamucil wafers,Gas-X lots of water, even tried an enema today with no luck! It is such a miserable feeling!

Any suggestions?

Tallulah, you could try the Fleets oral saline solution, but at the laxative dose, not the bowel cleansing dose. Start with 1 TBS mixed in some juice or Sprite and you can take more if needed. My husband is a doctor, and he prescribes this for seriously constipated patients all the time. Good luck! I really feel for you.

tallulahbird

I'm so sorry you're experiencing this.

It's very important that you check with your own doctor about what's best for you to have to relieve the constipation. Only s/he knows your situation and what's best following major surgery.

Please don't struggle anymore as straining can cause damage so early post-op. Will you let us know what is said? Take care and I hope you find relief very soon.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I only have a couple of suggestions - first, I don't know if you are on narcotic pain meds, but if so....they are terribly constipating, so your doctor might change whatever pain meds youre on (??) and secondly, I am STILL taking colace six weeks out but my doctor said to change to Miralax instead. I have no idea what the difference is, but maybe you could mention it to your doctor?
I hope you feel MUCH better soon, its a miserable thing I know!

I'm so sorry my "date sister"! Please call your dr and see what they recommend for the constipation. Keep an eye on that cyst....hopefully it will go away on it's own soon! Keep us posted too please on how you are doing!

I would call your Dr or triage nurse to see what you can take. I also took milk of magnesa, drank prune & apple juice & ate foods high in fiber. That really seemed to do the trick. Hope you feel better I also had constipation problems. Avoid bananas they bind you up.

I did the prune and apple juice and that helped alot~~I try to eat prunes everyday do not over dose on them tho. Also I ate lots of fruit and took a stool softener for the first 3 weeks. I had my DH buy those Dole fruit cups kept them in my room and ate 2-3 a day.

I also think you need to relax~~relax no straining. Drink coffee or tea in the morning that works wonders for me also.

Of course make your dr aware of your problem and I do not think you can try too many things esp OTC drugs at once.

Hello, I am so sorry that you are feeling so sore ... definitely call your own doctor.

In the meantime, I combination of things help me:

-walking in circles around my home, and

-lots of time with a good book sitting in the toilet. Try to keep your back straight...but do not push, bear down or strain....gravity will work if you can start to relax.

-I took oral Colace in cranberry lemonade juice - and ate LOTS OF FIBER!!!!

-I also found that a car ride helped.... some of the bumps helped move it along. BUT GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DRIVE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING PROTECTING YOUR BELLY FROM THE SEATBEAT!

Hello!! I am so sorry to here that you are so sore. Please ask
your doctor on what to take. Please keep us posted.

Creshaunds

I took 1 tbsp. of castor oil yesterday morning at 7am, a suppository at 10am, and my bowels finally started working at about 12:20 pm. It had been 9 days post-op - ouch. Bring your splint pillow to the potty with you because you may have some hard-to-pass stools that require a little pushing. I didn't have mine and only had my nightgown to ball up and press on my incision. Good luck sweetie.