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Suggest Ways To Wean Off Laxatives After Gastric Bypass Surgery
Question: Please help. I had a gastric bypass 5 years ago. Since then I have been on laxatives to ease my defecation. I have become dependent on them to have any movement at all....usually water. How do I taper off stimulant laxatives. I was told I would probably need a stool softener the rest of my life because of the part of the intestine removed. I am currently drinking between 80 to 100 oz per day.mostly Powerade then water. I have decreased my lax abuse from 20/day to 8/day and have added two doses of Miralax and 25g of fiber daily. Am I doing this correctly. My weight went up 16 lbs in one week when I stopped taking 20/day. Please advise.......thank you, XXXX.
Brief Answer:
Adjust foods/beverages/medications as per the need.
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query and an elucidate history.
Noted your history of gastric bypass and the resultant constipation related problems, the treatment taken, ER visits and your trials to reduce the dosages.
Please try to understand the patho-physiology how things work, I shall try to simplify as much as I can, feel free to ask if you need any clarification.
In Gastric bypass surgery the vagus nerve continuity is almost lost. This is the nerve responsible for motility of the bowel. Since there is discontinuity in nervous pathway, the local nervous plexuses take over to control the motility and hence the need for assisted evacuation.
I would suggest you the following and may work.
- Make a list of the foods and beverages that cause or increase constipation or make evacuation difficult.
Make a separate list of the foods, beverages or any other factor that helps to avoid constipation or helps in keeping the stool soft or helps in evacuation.
Adjust the food habits accordingly.
- Out of all the medicines you are taking the permutation and combination has strictly to be done by you as you alone can know which one is working the best and which does not.
- I am of the opinion that you may need laxatives for a longer time and hence it is better to accept the fact and go on adjusting the foods/beverages and medicines to your requirement.
I hope this answers your query, may be to an extent. Please feel free to ask further query if you need to or if you feel that there is a gap of communication.
Adjust foods/beverages/medications as per the need.
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query and an elucidate history.
Noted your history of gastric bypass and the resultant constipation related problems, the treatment taken, ER visits and your trials to reduce the dosages.
Please try to understand the patho-physiology how things work, I shall try to simplify as much as I can, feel free to ask if you need any clarification.
In Gastric bypass surgery the vagus nerve continuity is almost lost. This is the nerve responsible for motility of the bowel. Since there is discontinuity in nervous pathway, the local nervous plexuses take over to control the motility and hence the need for assisted evacuation.
I would suggest you the following and may work.
- Make a list of the foods and beverages that cause or increase constipation or make evacuation difficult.
Make a separate list of the foods, beverages or any other factor that helps to avoid constipation or helps in keeping the stool soft or helps in evacuation.
Adjust the food habits accordingly.
- Out of all the medicines you are taking the permutation and combination has strictly to be done by you as you alone can know which one is working the best and which does not.
- I am of the opinion that you may need laxatives for a longer time and hence it is better to accept the fact and go on adjusting the foods/beverages and medicines to your requirement.
I hope this answers your query, may be to an extent. Please feel free to ask further query if you need to or if you feel that there is a gap of communication.
Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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