I wanted to start taking fish oil after my jpouch redo to help with any future inflammation. Do you think its ok to start taking it this soon? My bowels are still not working great. Eating is difficult and the stool is a reminiscent flaky, watery green like my ileo when it wasn't working.
(sorry for the gross description)
I'm so anxious to get my body on the right track. Especially since my surgeon is convinced I developed Crohns because my pouch was still inflamed at takedown. He shot it with cortisone and wants to start treatment 6 weeks after the takedown. -- another issue I"m not happy or convinced about. Why start treatment for something not bothering me? or that we're even sure about?

I would wait a bit. I now take fish oil and I often the outside sheel of the liquid cap in the toilet bowl. Considering that your bowels are still not "normal", that could cause a blockage, etc. If there is a fish oil that is not a liquid gel and is a regular tablet, go for it!

Or just eat Salmon!

Wendy, If you want to take the fish oil I would suggest just squeezing it over some food and ingesting it that way instead of taking it in the capsule. I agree with Keith that if your bowels aren't fully working then you don't want to be throwing pills in there. I'm not sure what it would taste like but perhaps just squeeze it out of the capsule onto a little piece of mashed potato and eat it that way.

Wendy, you can do as Pixie suggests or you could just purchase fish oil in it's liquid form (no capsule or tablet). This is what I take every day. It has a nice lemon flavor so it's not icky. Good luck.

I am not sure if it is too early or not, maybe talk it over with your Doctor, although I really can not see any harm in it, I also take fish oil, what I do is soften and break them in my mouth and discard the gell wrapping, Good Luck Den

Personally, I also see no problem in you taking it. It is felt that fish oil can be beneficial to the gut mucosa, so why not? If you find it causes GI upset, then you'll know to back off for a while. But, you are just as likely to see no change or an improvement. Ideally, you want the fish oil to be exposed to the small bowel, so it is better if the capsule remains mostly intact through the stomach. At least that is the theory behind its use in Crohn's.

Of course, I was more of an experimenter and less shy about trying new things with my new pouch.

Jan

Lucky, which brand do you use?

Shelby, I use the Carlson's Very Finest Fish Oil Lemon Flavor (Carlson's Fish Oil). However, I believe that there are many brands available in un-encapsulated liquid form. I use fish oil to help suppress/moderate inflammation associated with my Ankylosing Spondylitis, therefore I take quite a bit of it each day. I got tired of swallowing all of those gel caps and switched to this for ease of use. The absolute cost (e.g. a bottle of this vs. a bottle of gel caps) is more expensive. I'm not sure about the cost per dose as I've never bothered to calculate that. The only drawback, although minor, is that the liquid must be refrigerated after the bottle is opened.