How long should I keep up the stool softeners post surgery?

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How long should I keep up the stool softeners post surgery?

Postby Kat » 20 Jul 2012, 00:10

Am four weeks post op today and had my follow up doctor's appointment yesterday. The doctor said it all looked nicely healed. He was surprised the dissolvable stitches were still in place and was going to take to them with a blade but then he just tugged them and they came out. He had a look around and said the fissure and the surgical wound both looked well healed but that I should keep up with the Benefiber and Coloxyl (stool softener) a little longer to give it a chance to become throughly healed. When I asked him how long specifically, he told me I should keep them up for the next couple of months at least. He then said that he thought this was required as in two weeks I will be moving across the other side of the world to live. He said moving and doing the 24 hour long haul flight will mess up a persons bowels anyway so with my problems I should be extra cautious about ensuring I do all the right things during this period.
I did also mention to him that i felt like there was something else going on a bit further inside, as on the days when the bm is a little firmer I can feel something be irritated as the bm passes. He stuck a prothescope in and had a feel around but said there was nothing to be seen or felt. I asked if it could be a hemorrhoid as he removed three small hemorrhoids back in March while doing a colonoscopy and he said maybe, but he'd be surprised if i had another one again so soon. Anyway fingers crossed that's just my imagination. I guess I won't really be able to tell while I am keeping up the stool softeners.
So while I am not quite in a position to say I am fully recovered I am feeling like there's now a light at the end of the tunnel.
Can others who have had the surgery tell me how long they have kept up the stool softeners etc following surgery? The best time to take the stool softeners seems to be just before I go to bed. Tho that means when I wake up in morning I have a tummy ache until i go and have my bm. But some days I get a second tummy ache late morning or early afternoon and have to do a bm pretty darn quickly and with little notice which worries me a little should i one day get caught out not near a loo....
Last edited by Kat on 20 Jul 2012, 00:11, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Typo in the title
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Re: How long should I keep up the stool softeners post surgery?

Postby andyk123 » 24 Jul 2012, 17:08

unfortunately i cant speak from experience as i am behind you on progress (12 days post op)
i have seen some people on this website say they took movical for over a year.. i wouldnt worry too much about taking it long term. I think the best thing to do would be to take it for another 2 months like your doctor suggested, and then taper off slowly, (3 quarters of a dose for a week, half a dose for a week, etc)
thats what i plan to do, and then once im off stool softners i will drink one glass of prune juice before bed. if you have never tried prune juice i would recommend it, as it is pretty much a laxative itself but i presume is better for you as its natural.
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Re: How long should I keep up the stool softeners post surgery?

Postby Kat » 25 Jul 2012, 02:52

I haven't tried prune juice yet. Will have to give that a go. Actually I only saw Movicol in the chemist for the first time today. Looked like it was imported from the UK.
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