Softner vs Laxative before transplant?

[gbug12001]

I've read that I should start with the stool softner before the surgery.  Should I keep taking after transplant or switch to a laxative?  Also If I'm using these meds should I still eat prunes?  I guess what I want to know is there anyway I can over stimulate my bowels?

[jennybebopper]

Personally, I didn't like the idea of using medication more than necessary before or after surgery. Some centers make you do a bowel prep, which should clean you out VERY well. Mine didn't, but had me transition from  a regular breakfast to very light lunch to liquids in the afternoon to nothing the day before surgery.  It seemed to do the trick; I had some bowel issues post-op but they only lasted a couple days before nature took its course.

Keep in mind that all your body's processes have a purpose. I doubt if you can harm your bowels at all but it may be an uncomfortable path to take.  I suppose you risk losing excess fluid & electrolytes by moving things too quickly as well. In my opinion, using more natural routes (walking, good fluid & fiber intake, and prunes) would be a better alternative in the pre-op period. But that's what your transplant center is there for; see if they have any recommendations too.

[CK]

I was told no food after midnight and that's it, no bowel prep otherwise. I was out the day after surgery and hadn't had a bowel movement. They sent me home with Senna (laxative) and Colace (stool softener) with directions to take both, which, being the good little patient, I did. It took a couple of days, but that resulted in diarrhea, so yes, you can over stimulate your bowels. (They should have given me directions on how or when to take those two meds, together I think they made for a quick clean out!) After that I just took the stool softener for a few more days. I went back to regular bowel movements pretty quickly.

If you tend to be regular, I wouldn't do anything before surgery, and after, just a stool softener unless it goes on too many days, at which point you could use a laxative. Not everyone has bowel issues, so I wouldn't over treat it until you find out if you are one who will.

If you tend towards constipation, then maybe, but I would ask the people at the transplant center first.

[lawphi]

Eat healthy before surgery. It will clear your system faster.  I wish I had prunes prior and with my first meal after surgery.

Prunes seemed to ease my nausea from oral narcotics instantly.  I hate a lot of croissants.

Johns Hopkins had a 24 hour clear liquid policy.  You could eat any color and sorbet.  I think it drastically decreased my nausea.  I was sick twice, once after burping and the second when my sweet husband pushed my pain button........

[Fr Pat]

     Different hospitals (and different surgeons) have their own requirements about what to do (or not do) BEFORE surgery. So make sure that you get clear instructions about what YOUR hospital requires/recommends.
    best wishes,
   Fr. Pat

[cupid]

Before my surgery, I was instructed to start on one stool softener a day two days prior to the surgery. I also had to take the 'bowel prep' the night before. I continued the stool softener for five days after the surgery-two reasons 1) narcotics tend to constipate you 2) I cannot imagine having to push out a stool and contract my stomach muscles after having a kidney removed. You'll see what I mean-its hard enough to get out of bed using your stomach muscles!
I would agree with everone else-check with your transplant center and follow their recommendations
Good Luck!
Lauri

[smudge]

I wasn't given any advice on what to eat/drink pre-surgery but was sent home with enough senna and lactulose to keep my whole family 'going' for weeks.  Hardly used any of it but did drink a fair amount of prune juice.  I was quite uncomfortable on the second day post surgery which was the day I was discharged but didn't actually go properly until day 3.  And that was SUCH a relief I can tell you!

[Fr Pat]

     Some transplant hospitals (like mine) require that the donor fast fro a day before the surgery, and take a laxative that TOTALLY cleans out the system. Other hospitals don't require this. I suspect (I'm not a medical professional) that the total clean-out before the donation surgery MIGHT  help avoid post-op bowel problems? Since the anesthetic will put the guts to sleep for a couple of days afterwards, perhaps it may be better to nothing inside to start with. Otherwise the food eaten after donation will land on top of the stuff already inside and build up too much before elimination finally gets started again? Just my theory.
   Fr. Pat

[jatopa]

I agree with Fr Pat and the other posts who suggest asking your transplant center what their routine is.  However, I personally am a big fan of going into surgery with a clean colon.  The prep is miserable for a short time, but I believe the advantages make it well worth while.  One is less likely to have problems with constipation, bloating, GI discomfort, if the colon is empty to start with.  Also, in the event there is a bowel perforation during surgery...a potential but highly unlikely complication...there will be less of a chance of contamination with bowel contents.  The surgeons need to mobilize the bowel to get to the kidney.  It's probably easier to work with an empty colon than one packed like a sausage.  My center even had a 2 week ban on carbonation, to minimize distention of the colon. 
Colace after surgery was plenty to ease back into normalcy without pain or cramping. 
Good luck!

[Snoopy]

For what this is worth...
   Having been an avid LDO reader, I approached my surgery with lots of notes about what to expect, and how to make the process as smooth as possible.
   So, I arrived at the hospital with several packets of prunes, dried apricots, and lots of prune juice and apple sauce.
    In the end, it didn't matter, not at all--I had no particular issues in either direction.
    I think it's worth mentioning that you get kind of a composite view of what to expect, if you soak long enough in LDO.  In retrospect, I see that I had been expecting to experience everybody's side effects (nausea, constipation, terrible shoulder pain, etc.)...and ended up having almost none.  (There's one thing that few people on this list mentioned that both I and several others at my transplant center experienced--for a couple of days post-surgery, I couldn't straighten up at all, and resembled an ironing board with legs.  But I got over it soon enough.)  Actually, the one thing that really made my recovery harder was a very, very bad decision on one of my first nights home to see what it would be like to sleep on my "surgical" side.  I wish I'd been warned not to do that, it really set me back a bit, and I could easily have prevented that, had I but known.
  In any case, hope your own recovery goes very well.
      Be well, Snoopy