Please help...post c section constipation hell

[amimollycoddling]

Please tell me how to empty my bowel, I am in panicked agony

Had c section on Monday.

Had a small motion on Wednesday and nothing since.

I take lactulose twice a day and have been eating plenty of fruit and veg, and keeping hydrated in an attempt to stop this happening.

I am completely clogged up. I am in agony. It feels like I am literally trying to shit a brick.

I just tried 2 suppositories, one after the other and it didn't do anything.

Please help

Movicol sachets, from a chemists, powder into drinks, softens what is inside you by getting it to absorb water and so easier to come out. Much less disgusting tasting than lactulose. Fybogel is ok for keeping things going before they get that bad, but if you are bad with it just fills you up behind what you are struggling to get out, if that makes sense, it adds more bulk that you might not need right now. Drink as much water as you can, drink coffee, fruit juice, eat loads of grapes and citrus fruit.

Movicol sachets. Just get it down you and wait for the inevitable.

Then take a pillow into the bog with you and push it/cuddle it into your abdomen (like you're in the brace position), which will help allay your fears about your c-section bursting open.

As you might have guessed... I've been in your position.

This thread is bringing back the absolute trauma of the post section poo.

My best friend came to see me in hospital 7 days after DC2, I was on all fours, naked and almost mooing in pain at trying to pass a poo like a Guinness pint glass. She said it would've been funny if I hadn't so clearly been in utter agony.

Saving all these many tips for my next section!

Oh my fucking god

That 2nd suppository worked

Jesus fucking Christ

I sobbed and sobbed

The relief

Thank you all, you got me through. Think I'll try just paracetamol and Ibuprofen and ditch the codeine stuff.

I have never felt agony like that in my life!!!

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

So pleased for you - I also remember the hell.

Also, for now and for ongoingly - drink a SHIT TON of water. The drier and harder the poo the more water you need to get it out of your body. At least that's what I found.

Phew! Poor you op.

Had my second c section 18 years ago after a long labour but remember it like yesterday, passed something the size of a cricket ball. Drinking loads of warm water, massaging my tummy clock wise yoga squats and em, rooting about a bit as described earlier all helped.

An entire punnet of grapes.

Oh I didn't read the update! You must be relieved! I remember it well, sending courage

Oh, lordy, you have my sympathy. I was on dihydracodeien following an operation twelve years ago. I still recall the horror of manual extraction. The sweat was rolling off me. When eventually came downstairs, daughter said I looked worse than I did after the ten hour operation that I needed the pain killers for.

Oh, I also remember the dry skin. I'm talking, skin layers peeling off me like a snake shedding its skin. If this happens to you, recommend Norweigion Formula for dry skin. It was the only thing that worked for me.

Those tablets must leach every bit of moisture out of your entire body.

You have my deepest sympathy

I had this with both of my c-sections. They don't tell you about the constipation drama in any of the baby books.

The first time I kept trying and trying, ate fruit, drank a ridiculous amount of water, peppermint tea and all natural remedies. In the end I had to use a suppository. Without being TMI it was rather scary when the suppository started to work (within 5 minutes), but you have no control over it. It looked like a brick in the toilet! I felt so, so much better after I'd gone though.

Good luck OP. I really recommend glycerin suppositories.

Fybogel sachets

Congratulations OP 🥳

I'm also wondering how to shift a massive poo. I don't exactly share your pain, so to speak, as I passed it at 7 am this morning but it still won't flush for some reason 😳

That's a first for me.

(I'm not a poo troll, honest.)

Glad you're moving again.
Keep on with the fybogel.
Feet up on a stool, no pin intended.
Search 'squatty potty' for the mechanics behind it.
It was dreadful.

Get drinking peppermint tea as well. I did it from before section and straight after. But kept it going, it helps with the pain and wind and constipation.

Glad you feel better!!

Oh I feel for you op. So pleased for you that you've managed to go!!
I get horrendous constipation when I'm pregnant and it is just awful. Bloody iron tablets don't help!
If you do end up the same again the vaginal splinting ( didn't know thats what it was called) definitely helps.
Also not the healthiest option but I picked up some sugar free sweets in Aldi the other day , after struggling for days, 4 sweets later the problem was solved! Christ knows what's in them

Omg sympathies OP! I had no idea this could be a problem pre birth. The horror of the post section poo, I was in the loo for about two hrs trying to go and getting dizzy. Finally I managed but there was so much I had to call DH to the door to give me some rubbery gloves and a couple of plastic bags. I told him never to ever mention it again on pain of death! After my second section I drank peppermint tea like a ninja and that seemed to help.

And this may make you chuckle www.theunmumsymum.co.uk/poogate.html?fbclid=IwAR2FeeUBJROYFoAfEfhA3m-yiE_QThtBHHg8Nqe3A2lWd9o5IRGF4vfY2k8

Lactulose - buy it at the chemist. I was prescribed it by the hospital after my c section in 2020 & I hadn't even taken codeine based medicine. Definitely get some.

Oh god the constipation was one of the worst parts of c section recovery for me!
Day 4 I felt and looked 9 months pregnant still with bloating. Peppermint tea/prune juice didn't touch the sides.
Day 5 I begged for something to help so had a suppository done by a midwife (I was still in hospital for something else). Didn't make much difference.
Day 6 I started having nightmares that I'd need to have some sort of surgery to removed my poo as I imagined the backlog must be so huge by then.😭 Started down Lactulose.
Day 8 sweet relief came at home. I remember cheering from the bathroom and shouting down to my husband 'It's happened...it's finally happend!' I've never felt so good.
I need to be more prepared this time...!

Woohoo!

Oh love! Well done!! God this has brought back hideous memories for me….!
Hurrah and well done again.

If you can cope with a goodie, have a read of this

www.google.com/amp/s/www.scarymommy.com/real-truth-pooping-c-section/%3famp=1

It took 6 days for me (I was otherwise totally back to normal) but that first poo was hard!!