Bowel prep vs. No bowel prep. - To do or not?

I am a pre-op sister who has been trying to gather as much info. as possible before my surgery. I have gathered that the worst 2 things about it are the anxiety of waiting :confuse: and the GAS! My question is this - Of all you post op ladies I would be interested to know how many were ordered a pre op bowel prep and how many were not. What reasons were you given for the prep? My doctor has not said either way. I am wondering if it makes a difference at all in the amount of gas pains and bm problems people experience after surgery. I can build a case for both in my mind. I am thinking if you did a bowel prep before surgery you may have less gas and pains because there is nothing there to move. On the other hand if you do not you could have other problems - like if your bowels take time to wake up I would think what was left before surgery would cause alot of pain when your bowels did start working to get rid of it. I would be interested to hear from any post op ladies who had both and see if your experiences were different and if it makes a difference either way.

I didn't have a bowel prep. I did have some sort of tummy bug 2 days prior to surgery, and that cleaned me out. I only ate 1 meal prior to surgery because of it, and ohhhhh my did I have BM and gas problems. All I can say is get some Gax X and maybe a laxative or stool softner before surgery, so you have it before you get home and don't need to shop for it, or wait for somebody else to get it! I think would start on the stool softner a day or two before surgery. This is from somebody that never had a problem with my digestive track other than the tummy bug.

I had a SAH last week and did not have a bowel prep ordered. I ate very lightly the day before surgery(nerves helped). My gas pain started two days after the operation. I ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days due to nausea. Parts of my gut were still not working. I did not feel normal in that department until Tuesday(my surgery was Wed 5).

That was my experience-I do not know if a bowel prep would of lessened the discomfort.

Take care. Lisa

My Dr. told me to use a regular Fleet enema. It's not bad. It just cleans out the lower part of your colon.
Thank goodness, I didn't have to drink that awful stuff like my husband did when he had a colonscopy. He said that was worse than the actual procedure.
I would do what my Dr. asked. Good Luck!

That was one of my questions to my Doc's at my pre-op visit. I had read about it here. Mine said, no bowel prep. I didn't ask why.

I think gas is common after surgery. And some of us have it worse than others. This might also be something you ask your doctors about. I didn't suffer with it too bad, but my doctors did say that walking and drinking fluids and just generally getting things to move would help. I didn't have a BM until like day 6. And then only with the use of lots of stool softeners and plenty of water. But I didn't feel much like eating either. I've also seen alot of "sisters" post that Gas-x did wonders for them.

My best to you as you prepare.
Blessings,
Theresa

I did not have bowel prep and I did not have abnormal problems with gas. There was some but not as bad as expected. IT took me several days to have BM but some of that is from the pain pills I'm taking. Drinking lots of water and walking is the key.

I did not have a bowel prep. I had a little problem with gas but nothing like I have heard some ladies on hear describe. I am 11 days post-op and did not have a BM until 3 days ago. I don't know if bowel prep makes a difference in that case or not. However, with the birth of each of my children I did a bowel prep and went at least a week before having a BM even then.

I didn’t have a bowel prep either. My doctor said she didn’t prescribe it because she doesn’t like to stimulate the colon and have inflammation to it. As for the gas.. There is plenty of that but for me it was a different kind of gas, like letting the air out of a balloon intermittently. I got up and walked a little and that seemed to help. Good luck to you!! You’re going to do just fine!!