When you eat something that disagrees with your pouch, does it make your pouch ache or cause pain? It seems like if I eat something "bad" it causing my pouch to ache the next day. It feels like the same aching I get with pouchitis, but I haven't been having any pouchitis symptoms at all. The aching goes away usually within a day and I'm fine again. thanks for any responses.

No - food doesn't cause pouchitis. (At least that's what I've read here.)

kathy

I know it doesn't cause pouchitis, but is it possible for something you eat that is not good for the pouch to mimic the symptoms; like aching in the pouch.

Oh, sorry - I didn't understand your question. Since I've never had pouchitis I don't know. But I suspect that something you eat can feel like that. So I guess that means yes.

kathy

I'm starting a food journal, which I have never done before. I used to be able to tell if I was having a flare or not. Now I'm not sure. I can go a week without any symptoms and then all of a sudden I'm aching for 1-2 days, then that stops and I'm fine for a while again. It seems like pouchitis/cuffitis morphs into something different as time passes. So frustrating!

Chal,
It is not just what you eat but the order in which you eat it that can often have an influence on both digestion and gas...I know that over eating carbs can really make my pouch feel 'heavy' and gassy...it feels 'happy' when I stick to fish and chicken and small quantities of easy to digest veggies...peas, beans and gassy foods can cause me to cramp and ache for days...Although I rarely get pouchitis but a double cheese pizza will make me feel like I have it for 3 days...
Keep that food journal going for at least a month and try to vary the order of what you eat and the time of day that you eat it...don't forget to mark the fluids that you drink as well as the alcohol.
Sharon

Thanks Sharon. Just knowing someone else has experienced the same thing, helps. I avoid all foods known to cause gas and any veggies that I do eat, I cook them to death. I never eat raw veggies. However, I have recently started trying some things that I have avoided for years. So hopefully keeping the food journal will help me narrow that down. I just read something online the other day that said spending too much time in the sun and trigger pouchitis. If that's true, I'm in trouble. I will mow grass or whatever even if it's 100 degrees outside. As long as I feel ok, I can stay out for hours (i do drink lots of water). I'm going to try to start taking frequent breaks and see how it goes. Thanks again. Frances (Chal)

Frances,
I never heard about the sun, but maybe it is realated to dehydration...you really do need to drink more when in the sun...the dehydration can be sneaky and sever with us...and that can wreak havoc with our pouches...if you are interested in reading something about food and food combining..try the bood 'fit for life'...it may be out of print..I read it in 91 but the principals are very basic and true for most people...it is not what you eat but when and in what combinations...it saved me a lot of pain and discomfort over the years and has allowed me to eat a much larger variety of foods than I previously could...
Sharon

Thanks -- I'll see if I can find it.

I avoid some foods that for me, give me a lot of problems eliminating them, which is also very very painful.
Mainly vegetables and fruit. They give me a lot of pain and problems.

I am also thinking of doing a food journal like chal. On 3 separate nights in the past week, I woke up in the middle of the night with severe and explosive gas pain. On each occasion, I took Pepto Bismol chewables, and things calmed down within an hour after chewing the PB tablets. But this kind of gas pain and the subsequent release of gas through farting is very unusual for me, and I am assuming it is due to something I am eating. I have basically narrowed the list of possible culprits down to the following, (1) eating too much watermelon on each of the said nights, (2) too much fiber (taking BeneFiber during the day and Metamucil wafers at night), (3) too much dairy, (4) too much snacking before bedtime.

As my sister in law says..if you put it in your mouth, it will cause gas!
The big culprits are usually milk products, beans, beer, carbonated drinks and fruit during/after a meal...mixes with the carbs and ferments...and bam! Gas!
Artichokes, leeks and asperagus also cause gas...so does fish...so maybe sister in law was right
Keep the journal going but also write down the order that you eat the foods in and the time of day and what you drank with it..
It is always different for everyone.
Sharon

when we eat, what we eat and in how much all do play an important role in pouchitis, or how well we feel, due to some foods take longer to digest, clog up the system, going to bed on a full stomach or eating foods full of sugar, allergies or too much of one food, too much fiber, not enough fiber, wrong combination of foods, the wrong fiber,, too much acidic foods, too much dairy, processed foods, chemicals in our food, the detergent we use, the soap we use, the stress we have -all effect our pouch.

Some foods help with inflamation, some foods make it worse.
or Not having enough fluids, before a meal, or during the entire day.

Everyone's body is different and has it's own needs. When you have a pouch food leaves our bodies all differently. SO my advise is= If you eat foods that are hard to digest or sleep on a full stomach, your not giving your body time to heal or digest it's energy. That's why excercise is so important too!