Has anybody had a bad flare of pouchitis, UC or Crohn's after childbirth? I have a j-pouch, and ever since I had my son in April I have had terrible pain and inflammation, and I am planning to get a temporary ileostomy next week because I just can't take it anymore. I am on Entocort and Morphine. My gastro thinks its not pouchitis but "backwash ileitus", where the UC is still left in the rectum and causes inflammation in the rest of the pouch. My last scope showed terrible pouch inflammation but not rectal so I can't figure out how he came to that conclusion. Has anyone on here had similar issues or at least a flare after pregnancy?

I had been totally healthy and off meds for 4 years when I got pregnant, and felt great until about 34 weeks, and when my daughter was 3 months old I was having my colon removed. My flare started at the very end of my pregnancy but got much worse about 6 weeks after delivery. The immune system does weird things in pregnancy, and it can quiet things down for some people, but then after childbirth it can come roaring back to life in a bad way. That seems to be what happened to me.

I can't speak to the pouchitis vs. ileitis, or to the likelihood of pouchitis flares after childbirth, but I can sympathize with the flare after childbirth experience. Sorry you are having so much trouble, hope things get better soon!

Autoimmune diseases frequently spiral after childbirth due to the fluctuations in hormones. I have ankylosing spondylitis and uveitis (often found in people with UC) that were in remission prior to my becoming pregnant, in addition to my j-pouch. My eye doctor, and rheumatologist both cautioned me that a flare was likely after my son was born, so I was watched very closely and when trouble started to brew, we addressed things quickly.

Many women here with j-pouches ended up with them due to post-childbirth flares that came on fast and furious.

Do you really still have your rectum or rather a rectal cuff? Most j-pouchers have their rectums removed except for the rectal cuff and others have a mucosectomy where the rectum is stripped. Can you clarify if you still indeed have it? If so, it doesn't surprise me that there are problems because UC would probably develop there.

Best wishes and good luck in returning to good health.

I have what my surgeon calls a "rectal stump," which is just a small part of my rectum left at the bottom of my pouch to connect it. I am not sure if this is the same thing as a rectal cuff or not. All I know is that ever since about 2 weeks after delievery I have had terrible pain and inflammation in my pouch area, along with joint pain and a low grade fever in the 99.4 range. The entocort has helped with the joint pain and some of the pouch inflammation, but I am taking the maximum dose that I can, and when it starts to wear off the pain and inflammation comes back. I am pale and having trouble taking care of my son, so I think I will go for a temporary ileostomy until things calm down and my body recovers. I'm so exhausted, and I think this would give me a chance to get well and enjoy my baby. Do you think having surgery is too drastic? I just want to feel better without being on so many meds longterm. This feels like UC and I don't EVER want to go back there again!