Bathroom question

i had my DS ON 8/31 & had a bout of diarrhea a couple of days later. I took Imodium to control the diarrhea & I haven't had a BM since. Do I need to take something like Miralax since it's been 7 days? I am still on full liquids. Before surgery I had constipation often, sometimes so badly that it required a suppository. I don't want to have diarrhea but I don't want to get impacted either.

First off, to get things moving, you need to get plenty of water and fat.  If a doc or nutritionist said to eat low-fat, throw that advice out the window.  If you are taking any pain meds still, they also contribute to constipation.  In fact, I cannot take narcotics more than a day without constipation.  

Next - I want to make sure you understand the difference between loose stool and diarrhea.  With the DS, kiss the days of formed turds good bye.  Your stools will always have a loose consistency.  Mine are pudding-like, usually.  Contrast to what I define as diarrhea, which is also loose, but you're running to the toilet from fear of crapping your pants.  That is not normal.  Normal for most is a giant poop once or twice a day.  For many of us, this is first thing in the morning.

Thanks, Val. I finally had a poop this morning. Big difference in what I had right after surgery, 3 times changing underwear & showering.

Oh my - that's not normal either. If this continues, I'd start looking at what you're consuming.  Two triggers of this sort for me would be milk (but not all dairy) and artificial sweeteners.  Many of us are very sensitive to those at first.  These days, onions are the devil to me, but not much else.  That's bad enough - because I just love onions.

It was milk.  After surgery, I also broke out in hives from the Whey protein shakes.  I've had to change my protein products. 

Try whey protein Isolate.  I can't use straight whey either, because I'm lactose intolerant. My surgeon recommended it in the hospital, and sure enough, the bathroom issue stopped.

The isolate also affects the milk when it's mixed,in a shake, so I can drink regular whole milk with a long splash of heavy cream.

Thanks. I will

Most of the lactose is processed out of Whey Protein Isolate, and that's what made the difference for me.

I use Now Sports unflavored Whey Protein Isolate. It also comes in Chocolate Vanilla and Strawberry.You can buy it in containers of 2.5 and 5 pounds, up to a 10# bag at luckyvitamin.com.  Don't forget to search eBay and Amazon as well, for vitamins. 

You just made me smile, very witty response....

BTW my  previous "witty" comment was meant for Valerie G's initial response... A little humor can go a long way when dealing with such scary and potentially embarrassing topics....