Post Surgery Constipation

[peculiarparrots]

Apologies in advance, awful thread topic I know but I’m desperate!

I had my gallbladder out on Monday, no bowel movement since and I’m so uncomfortable. Have tried OTC senna, dulcoease, dulcolax and I’ve got some Ispaghula Husk Orange Drink Sachets being delivered from Amazon any moment now. I’m in so much pain and trying to go to the loo makes me feel faint, feverish and nauseous. I have been taking oramorph which I imagine hasn’t been helping so stopped that yesterday.

Has anyone got any tips or suggestions because I could cry right now. I can’t strain much with having abdominal surgery but can feel it there just can’t pass it (sorry TMI!)

Are you allowed to have coffee? If not are you up and walking? If you can walk as much as you can it will help.

if not you can also try lying down on your back and hugging your knees to your tummy with your arms round them and then rotating your knees from side to side. So knees to the left as close to the ground as you can comfortably get. Breath in and out and hold. Then back to knees on tummy, breath in and out and the to the right. Repeat as much as you can until you are bored. Thé go for a little walk. Ans then you can give your stomach a little clockwise massage.
Going up and down stairs for as long as you can bare can also help if you feel up to it.

Good luck. It is miserable but it will pass. But move as much as you.

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/yoga-for-constipation#supine-twist

this is probably a better explanation!

Try a glycerol suppository- you can buy them from any pharmacy. this should help.
the oramorph will be adding to the constipation but it’s important to make sure your pain is managed- you should feel better when your bowels move x

Oromotph completely bunged me up after surgery so I stopped taking it and normal service resumed the following day. Nothing else helped, sorry.

I had the same after surgery, was the worse pain of the whole procedure!!

The one that worked for me is movacol sachets. Also drink lots of warm drinks, eat fruit and walk for at least 15 minutes a few times a day. I hope you feel better soon!!

If you put your thumb in your vagina, can you feel stool in your rectum or is it higher up? Because if you can feel it, you can press on the posterior vaginal wall to manipulate it out. The rest tends to follow!

Sounds like a weird question, but are you farting at all? If you’re not and you’re constipated, nauseous etc, that can be a sign of a post op complication called ileus, which can be quite serious. If you are farting then it’s more likely to “just” be constipation, which is miserable enough! For constipation I would second the advice to try and drink some coffee, gentle exercise (just walking around your house can help get your bowels moving again) and every laxative you can your hands on! Glycerin suppositories are good. However if you’re worried it might be ileus then I’d suggest getting back in touch with the surgical team.

Get some Kayam tablets from Amazon , they are like Senna on steroids ! Normal senna doesn’t work for me but one of these and I’m galloping to the loo .

Are you still on painkillers? Any opiate based meds eg codeine can cause constipation. If so, I would start to ease off them. Good luck, been there myself, much sympathy!

Surprised you haven't been prescribed a laxatives if you are on opiates. You could call the surgery nurse specialist at the hospital for advice. Failing that call the ward you were discharged from but as its the weekend, I would call 111 for advice as you are post surgery.

Are you drinking lots of water OP? I would mix a teaspoon of chia seeds into a yoghurt and hopefully the chia seeds will work their magic. Good luck xx

I’ve spoken to 111 and they’ve given me laxido sachets- apparently they’re stronger and also bought glycerin suppositories…just tried one about 45 mins ago but still can’t pass what’s blocked but have passed some watery stools and I’m so sore and uncomfortable 😞 I’ll try chia seeds and yoghurt. Have stopped the oramoprh but paracetamol isn’t touching the post op pain so now double pain..,what a nightmare

This is why I now drink black coffee - desperation after C-section and drank so much I now like it 🫣😂

You sound like you’re really uncomfortable. I don’t usually comment on posts like this as a lot of the advice isn’t ideal. I have a lot of fibre in my diet as I have slow digestion including chia seeds which help. I’ve been following some gut health accounts (including the Zoe app Dr) on IG and have taken their advice and eat kiwi fruit with the skin on. It really helps with digestion and constipation.

Bless you OP. I had my gallbladder out yesterday morning. I was given codeine and lactulose. I'm managing on just paracetamol as and when though.
I am taking the lactulose though because I don't want to have to strain when the time comes! I am walking upstairs each time I need the toilet to try and get things moving. I have passed wind so I'm hopeful it won't be long! I could do with my tummy being less rock hard!

I had my gallbladder out a year ago, and I remember this well. I was given Laxido but can't remember it being effective.

I think the problem is that they pump your abdomen with CO2 so that they can see what they are doing. This is not in your digestive tract, so you can't actually fart or burp it out. It just takes time to dissipate. I think I was uncomfortable for about a week or two.

thanks for all the ideas everyone. Still nothing…have ordered microlax enemas off Amazon so I think that’s my last chance saloon (on top of the 8 laxido sachets!), they should be arriving this afternoon

also tried chia seeds/yoghurt and a black coffee for breakfast

wish I’d never had the gallbladder surgery at this point

Keep going with the chia seeds -a 5mg teaspoon 3 times a day. Good luck OP. It’s horrendous x

Suppositories are your friend at this stage as you have the Rock of Gibralter that needs shifting. I use Fleet Suppositories - just google.

They are particularly good as ordinary glycerine suppositories are all flippy floppy and a job to get in - a bit like trying to feed a runner bean in! Fleet are small solid cones that have a slightly pointed top (as befits the orifice) and do not flop about.

But you can just get ordinary ones for now from the chemist.

The reason that suppositories are best at this stage is because you need to avoid too much straining and the supps will help that.

Once the rock has been rolled away you need to "keep the traffic friendly" by taking regular laxido (or its equivalent) until the bowel has fully got over the oromorph and you are back in a normal routine.

I think you're overthinking this tbh. Give your body a day or two to get the morphine out of your system. It takes 3 or 4 days to get back to regularity after the gallbladder op and process.

Try taking 6 sachets of movicol over about three hours. And also take two/three dulcoease every four hours. That did it for me! But you might get a bit of a Jackson Pollock. So be near a bathroom.

I take opiate pain relief so sometimes it gets a bit blocked up.

Lactolose works in this house. Watermelon has also worked a treat too - lots of fibre and water in it. Painkillers are awful for causing this problem. Hope things get sorted soon.

The position you sit on the loo can have FAR more of an effect than what you are eating. Lifting your legs on bricks, large tins or a squatty potty opens the sphincter and makes it so much easier.

the majority of the carbon dioxide is released through the laparoscopy ports before closing the abdomen - they don't just leave it there. The small pockets of gas left inside are removed from the body largely by being exhaled, with a bit being farted out.

Prune juice is good. Sainsburies littleones prune purae. As much fluid as you can mannage. Would be causious adding more fibre.