Me again! Thought I'd repeat this thread here as not many replies on the general thread, and I'm worried. My niece had her TD a month ago. She eats nothing after 5pm but, as soon as she lays in bed, she has to go to the loo. She goes, gets back in bed, has to go again. Each time she passes solids/liquids.

This continues all night and she's getting very little sleep.

Will this get any better? She's tried sleeping sitting up, but still no joy.

Also, during the day, the pressure to go is there all the time. She doesn't give in to it but it's wearing her out keeping her buttocks clenched!

Will this get better?

Thanks in advance.

Hey Puddy, I responded to part of this question in the general discussion area.
As for the constant pressure, I had this for a good 4-6 wks after my takedown. It basically felt like I had a big rock in my bum, and it hurt more as the day went on and also hurt more as my bathroom trips increased. For me, the pain just started getting less and less and time went on. Perhaps because she is going to the bathroom so frequently this is increasing the discomfort. Even now, if I go more than normal I notice more discomfort 'down there'. Does she take warm baths? I found that helped me a lot, I sometimes had them twice a day.

We are all different and different things work for different people. To be honest, stopping eating and drinking early in the evening just made my belly grumble and in no way improved my output at night. So, I eat when I am hungry and sometimes it is just before bed. Early in my recovery period, I found that lying in certain positions stimulated things and I wound up going more. For the life of me I can't remember if it was on my back or my side. So, I guess it does get better, because I can't remember the details.

Jan

Thanks. I suppose she's got to give it a few weeks longer before she panics.

She has told me tonight that she's found her own position to get rid of gas and it's helped a lot. She has to bend over till her head is almost touching her knees (in case anyone else wants to try it).

Puddy,
This is very early yet. Give it some time and things should improve.
Make sure to check out our Dietary guides

Hey Puddy,

Like the others have said, it's still early- we all have our own timeline... Although that's no comfort to your sleepy niece . I found that lying on my left side made me feel like i had to go to the restroom more than when i was on my right side or back. Has she tried eating thickening foods with her dinner (apple, bananas, oatmeal, etc)? Like Jan said, not eating never made a difference for me, in fact i think it made it worse for me because i was hungry by bedtime and also i wasnt getting anything to thicken things up so everything was watery and looser. Is she taking lomotil or immodium before bed? If not then she should ask her doctor about it, it will help. As far as the pressure goes, it should ease up as time goes on. Holding in the stool for a while can be good for the pouch bc it helps it expand, but since shes holding it to the point that her butt is hurting then she should probably just give in and go (maybe this is one reason for some pressure?). In any case I hope she is feeling ok and getting better by the day, I hope she finds something to help her get more sleep!!!

I am only 3 months post TD and for a while imodium an dlomotil worked well for me. Especially the gelcaps because they work faster. I guess I am still too new to not have food issues before bed because eating before bedtime bothers me. I have incontinence and I find that it is worse if I eat before bed.

Puddy,

Glad to hear my "position #2" also works for your niece:

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9151071921/m/2291...061078072#1061078072

That's a good sign, since that can dramatically cut down on the number
of trips she has to make to the loo, and that should help decrease the
irritation from going so often. All of her symptoms should
hopefully get better fairly quickly.

For me, lying face down works even better. It is important not
to strain very hard to pas anything, since that can get you
all irritated and swollen (and even ulcerated), which makes it
even harder and makes the urges more frequent.

I would suggest a diet with lots of liquids, such as chicken-rice soup,
and plain yogurt, bananas, and orange juice (mixed together). For me
it is more difficult to evacuate or pass gas when the stool is too thick.
Also consider taking probiotics, and try cutting back on or eliminating
any anti-diarrheal medications.