Boat,
Sorry I posted and ran, but life is busy now!! LOL
I couldn't take miralax before my colectomy; it bloated me and made me run to the bathroom constantly with just drips of liquid coming out at a time. Never helped me at all. I was amazed that it really helped after surgery. I was desperate and decided to try it and thankfully it's been a miracle drug.
One other thing that helped was prune juice....it just didn't seem to totally clean me out the way miralax does though.
I take it 2x a day....as soon as I wake up in the morning I take a dose (17 grams), and then I go several times in the next hour and a half or so, and then I take it again after dinner. Sometimes I go several times after dinner, but if we're out and I take it late at night, then I just go much more in the morning.
One other thing I do, but is really crazy....I take a lomotil during the day if I'm at work if I want to eat during the day. If I don't take one, I'll go little bits all day, or I'll feel like I have to go and can't. I think my small intestine is also a little slow, but my biggest thing is that the stool gets to the rectum and without the push of miralax just sits there. Basically the miralax keeps things going, but when it's not convenient to run to the bathroom I take a lomotil to hold things for a few hours. Crazy, but it's what works for me. Not perfect by any means, but manageable.
We were on a cruise a couple weeks ago, and I have to admit, cruising isn't what it used to be. I can't eat all meals without being very uncomfortable. Things just don't go through me the way they should. I usually eat a small breakfast and then not again until dinner if we're in a port. On the ship I ate a small lunch a few times, but I never felt great after eating that much. A couple days I had to give myself an enema in the afternoon after lunch.
Like I said, not perfect, but on normal days when not on vacation, travelling, etc. it's manageable.
Good luck, and I hope things get better soon!!
Hugs,
Janie
Post Edited (Janiepain) : 4/4/2011 7:32:21 PM (GMT-6)