Diarrhea, constipation, and nothing in between

Sorry in advance for the poop talk! I started having issues with constipation right after surgery, often to the point of pain and bleeding. I added fiber to my morning protein shakes and started taking milk of magnesia occasionally. The problem I have now is that it's always one extreme or the other -- either nothing is moving, or it's trying to move all day, most often in a liquid capacity. I've tried to titrate the dose of MoM, but 1.5 TBSP causes diarrhea while 1 doesn't do anything (and enough of it sticks to the measuring cup that it's hard to be any more precise than that). I've thought of trying Miralax, but my only experiences in the past were having to take a whole bottle for capsule endoscopies, so I kind of associate it with being *completely* cleaned out. I also tried regular laxatives which caused really bad cramping and didn't move anything anyway. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I take Miralax daily.  More of less depends on my daily BM.  I don't skip a day. 

I also make sure I take enough magnesium at night to balance my calcium. 

Too much fiber constpate me. If I get too much (for me) fiber I have to increase my Miralx the next day and limit fiber for 1-3 days.  '

Increasing fiber while you constipated my be the wrong thing...

I have a capful of Miralax mixed into my coffee every morning. I started that in February after a verrrrrry painful episode of impaction ( but no full on blockage). I did the whole bottle of Miralax thing to help get things started. 'Twas NOT fun. 

The only times I've gotten miserable again is when I skip the Miralax for a few days. I dont take any fiber supplements, but do try to eat fiber in my diet. I don't always do great with it, but Miralax keeps things going smoothly. And by things...yeah, I mean poop...lol. 

Things are...um...the way they should be...not too hard, not too soft. As long as you don't down a whole bottle, the Miralax shouldn't make things runny. ( And again things = poop. ) 

I take magnesium daily and have done for many years ...

I take a dose of Benefiber morning and evening and 1000 mg of Magnesuim daily,  It works for me.

Benefiber in SF Greek Yogurt does it for me.  MoM is too harsh.

Question does anyone else get extremely smelly gas when taking the Miralax? I have had this issue every time I take it to the point I don't want to be around anyone when taking it.  And also does it matter which magnesium we take?

Thanks,

Tammy

Hi Tammy,

I am still pre-surgery so unfortunately I don't have any advice for you. I just wanted to say that love your sunset profile picture. I wish I could see full size.

As long as things move daily - no problem... But if things get backed up ...and I try to move things...smell can be bad. 

Thanks guys, I'll try adding Miralax to my morning protein shake along with the fiber, and possibly eliminating (hahaha) the fiber altogether.