Cycle of chronic constipation/dumping post Nissen

I'm almost 2 months post Nissen (surgery Dec 10). Heartburn is gone, which is wonderful. But ever since surgery, my bowels haven't been the same. I am constipated. My stomach gets distended, I gain a couple of pounds and I suffer cramps and foul gas. This will last usually around a week. Then I'll have a day or two where the cramps get more severe. It end with my body suddenly needing to dump. And I will have to stay close to the bathroom. I usually end up dropping the pound that have built up from the dumping.

I eat decently and am active, try to keep my fluids up as well, though i know i could imrove that. Anyone experience something similar? Did you find anything that helped? I take Miralax daily, doesn't seem to help other than to give me more gas.

Hi Lovie,
Sorry to hear you're having some bowel issues since your surgery. I don't think that it's uncommon to have some dumping episodes. The constipation is a puzzle, though. Do you take something to stop the diarrhea? That could cause the fluctuation between extremes.

I do have some episodes of dumping...actually I call my situation a "potpourri of poo", since I run the gambit. Every texture possible! I find that I have the dumping occur when I've eaten something that irritates my wrap or stomach.

Since it's only intermittent, I just deal with it, and really don't worry about it. It's just one of those little quirks that I have as a trade off from my pre-surgery issues, which were much worse.

Have you discussed it with a GI doc?
I hope you feel better soon.
Denise

I don't take anything to stop the diarrhea. I don't try to stop it because those bouts of diarrhea that come every 7-10 days are the only bowel movements I ever have. I take miralax daily, but it isn't regulating me. I plan on calling my GI tomorrow and asking their advise. I'll let you know what I hear.

Lovie, this sounds exactly like me, except that it progressed to chronic diarrhea; this went on for 2 1/2 years. The GI's (multiple) said fiber, diet, miralax...then we progressed to flagyl one week a month for x months. Finally, this past December, my family doc said, enough, this looks and sounds like C. Diff, he put me on vancomycin for 14 days and I'm a new woman.

I swear, 2 1/2 years while the specialists screwed around, I developed malapsorbtion, and chronic reinfection which caused chronic UTI's and kidney stones.

I probably developed it from the original surgery and it has been a miserable 2 1/2 years. Mind you, the one GI did biopsies that said otherwise, but my family doc disregarded and treated me for it and it worked.

2 1/2 years...sheeesh!

Janice

Great to read you have an appointment so quickly.  I hope you get some answers.

Kindly,

Kitt

Hey all, saw my GI doc yesterday. He said thaofficer were a couple of possibilities- my body could be out of whack from abdominal surgery and needed to relearn to have proper bowel function. It could also be that my vagus nerve was irritated or stretched during surgery. He said that injury to that nerve can cause constipation. If that is the case, it could take 6 months or more to fully heal.

No matter the cause, my course of action is to up my Miralax intake to 2-3 doses a day for a while and try and get my body back on a schedule. He suggested that I set aside a specific time each day to devote to trying to go. That the body is very habitual and if I can get myself going at a consistent time each day, that my body will start counting on it and setting itself to go then.

He told me to not worry doubt taking laxatives that much. There used to be a belief that laxatives would lead to a dependence on them and keep your body from being able to go one it's own. He told me they have since found almost the opposite to be true- that if used to establish and maintain consistency, your body will catch on start doing it by itself.

So I have a game plan. In the meantime, I haven't really gone in over a week and and in a lot of discomfort. I may need to get something heavy duty to clear out and once I am emptied, continue the regimen the doc suggested to try and keep from getting this backed up again.

Thanks all!

Try Milk of Magnesium or magnesium citriate they are the "Big Guns" you'll find relief very quickly.