Hi,

I am writing on behalf of my gf. She has gone through j pouch surgery, it has been over 9 months.

She still goes for 8 to 9 bms. At least 2 times during night. She is really furstrated. I am not able to see the pain of her. After UC, we felt, surgery will fix the problems.

Is this normal? Can someone share experience?

Is there anyone on forum who is from South Asia, someone with asian diet - Srilanka / India and j puch experience?

Thanks

Can't help you on the asian diet.

But if she is only going 6 times during the day, that is really good. You have to remember how big the colon was, the pouch is quite a bit smaller, therefore must be emptied much more often.

Has she tried anything to slow down at night? I take one immodium and one lomitil before bed.

Good luck...

You could PM Atul - he's from India. I think there are a couple of other members from India as well.

kathy

I'm from Australia and I often eat Asian food, especially Japanese, Thai and Indian.

In my opinion, many Asian meals with rice are excellent for j-pouches and should help to slow things down. The key is to use rice with a fairly low GI (glycemic index). The best rice is basmati and koshihikari (sushi) rice - one of the worst is jasmine rice.

I use lots of Indian spices in my cooking (especially ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, black pepper, coriander, mint and parsley). All of these are anti-inflammatory and I tolerate them very well. I think they keep my pouch healthy and happy.

Finally, as Cataja has indicated, 8-9 times a day is fairly normal. If I eat rice for lunch and dinner, I have 4 BMs a day.

I don't eat much asian food but I can also agree that if your gf is only 9 months out of surgery I would say she is doing fairly well with the amounts of trips to the bathroom she is having.

If she is otherwise feeling well (no pain, cramps, nausea, etc) then just assure her that as time goes by things will probably slow down a bit.

As Cataja mentioned, she could try Immodium before bed or try adding some fiber into her diet to thicken things up and slow things down. Dont know if you can get Metamucil there or not but that is one option.

And as menioned by Nikki2, rice usually helps me as well.

Nikki - why is jasmine rice not good? (Of course, that's the kind I eat.....)

kathy

Me too - LOVE jasmine rice. I don't think it gives me the trots...haven't noticed. I haven't dared try my favourite: Thai sticky rice that you steam in a basket and eat with your fingers with barbecued chicken and things...anyone tried that? I was worried it'd clog!

Yeah! Have her take imodium. It works on me. If I take it I won't have a BM for 24 hours sometimes even longer. Tell her to pound on yogurt (organic) and sugarless twice/day. What brand? Straus...
7-8 BM's is a lot to me. But again it all depends on what you have. I have a colonic j-pouch because of a low lying tumor about 5cm from anal verge. My 1st couple weeks after surgery I was going 10-12 trips to the bathroom and now 3 not often, 2 is average and sometimes even once a day. If I've gone beyond 3 then I must have ate something that my digestive system didn't like. I take imodium. Also Oatmeal and banana helps bulk things up. Hope this helps.

I've said it before in other threads...I'm 8 years out and still go at LEAST 10 times a day. I think the trick is to not count. That's just how my life is and I accept it. I'm grateful I'm not in pain and I don't really notice that I go that often. I get up at least once a night and prefer to not take any medication. But if I'm going out on the lake for a day or hiking or something, I will take some immodium and hope I won't have to go.
Hopefully it will get better with time, if not, I hope your girl friend adjusts.

Kathy, I also love jasmine rice. However, because it has a very high GI (109), I don't think it's a good rice choice for people trying to reduce their number of BMs.

Foods with a low GI are digested and absorbed more slowly. Basmati rice has a GI of about 57. Also, pasta that takes longer to cook has a much lower GI than 'instant' 5-6 minute spaghetti.

Thanks Nikki - basmati it is then. That means I'll have to eat more Indian food, right? Gee, that will be a hardship .

kathy

I'm 10 months on and going 10-12 times a day, without immodium.
8 or 9 seems okay to me!
She's normal. The few people who only go 3 -ish times a day are a) rare and b) very fortunate

I recently had sticky rice as a side along with pad thai at my favorite Thai place. No problems. Noodles and rice...I'm not a carb addict!

Hi to everyone out there. My daughter has had takedown surgery and seems to be doing pretty well. I have used alot of your advice and it seems to be working well however, She is starting to have problems with gas and I wanted to know if it is ok to take things like Gas-X or Beano to help alleviate the gas. Please let me know.
Thanks so much
Candi

Candi, you may want to post a new topic since this one is older. As far as I know both are safe, but you'll probably have more success with Beano and other digestive enzymes to help keep the gas from forming.

Hope all goes well!
Lori