Question:
Question about BM and cramps- sorry!

Without getting too graphic, I wanted to ask if any others had a similar issue. I'm 9 months post-op from LAP RNY. Everytime I have to go to the bathroom, right before I get severe cramps, so bad I cannot even talk or move for the moment. It almost feels as if I can feel my bowels passing through my intestine. It eases up after a few minutes, and then I have a BM, which usually hurts. Sorry to be gross, but it's also very very big, which surprises me b/c it was never like this pre-op and I eat alot less. Has this happened to anyone? Anything to help this problem? It's kind of embarassing, so I really appreciate your reading this and comments!    — Lezlie Y. (posted on March 1, 2003)

March 1, 2003
I have had severe cramping also...The Dr. said to buy a stool softener with the ingredient "colase".
   — april-michele D.

March 2, 2003
Yes Lezlie, I have had the same problems. Not so much the bad cramping as always the large stool -- it's a killer. What we need is more fiber and more water. The Colace and Peri-Colace are stool softeners. Actually, Colace is stool softener only and Peri-Colace is laxative with stool softener. The softener draws water into the stool in order to make it pass easier. I have learned that post-op we need to supplement our fiber and really, really be vigilante about the water intake. I am now using Benefiber, I add 1/4 cup of Grape Nuts to my yogurt, eat an apple or a pear each day, sometimes popcorn, sometimes whole wheat crackers. Plus I try to get more like 80-85 ounces of water instead of just 64. For those times when I still get sluggish (which isn't so often now), I will use a glycerine suppository. They are better than using laxatives. But yet you can also become dependent on the suppositories as well. Just a matter of using them if things are really packed in. What I did was use the Colace for 2 weeks at the same time I gradually added the Benefiber to my diet. That helped things start to move. And yes, we do produce a lot of waste for not eating much. As I read someone else post one time, "I eat like a bird and poop like a bear." Never be embarrassed to ask us anything! :) - Anna LAP RNY 7/3/02 -113lbs.
   — Anna L.

March 2, 2003
Anna (see below) pretty much covered it, and very well I might add. But I just wanted to also add, don't be embarrassed to ask any question on here, especially of this genre. Most of us have some alteration of bathroom habits after surgery...it's just par for the course (unfortunately)! It's kind of shocking in the beginning to see how things have changed in this area...but you do get used to it in time. Also, the severe cramps with BMs, for me anyway, got less and less as I went along, and things are almost back to normal now (not quite, and I don't think they'll ever be). I guess we can't expect things to be as they were before when we've had our innard sugically rearranged...sigh. Hugs, Joy
   — [Deactivated Member]