It been 4 months since my takedown. Since then I have expierenced fecal incontinence at night and have been forced to wear Depends. Nothing has improved in 4 months. Before bed I take 2 immodium, 2 lomtiol and 1 ml of opium of tincture. At 4:00am I wake and take another 1 ml of opium. Sometimes I make it through the night without incident or I have a dribble of liquid in the diaper. Other times I have accidents and if I wasn't wearing a diaper I would soil the bed. I tried biofeedback, however, I only went once because it was so extremely painful that I cried the entire time. My surgeon suggested that I try InterStim (a pacemaker like devise for the sacral nerve). I am ready to try the InterStim, but I do not know if I am being premature. Should I give it more time before I trudge ahead? Any advice would be appreicated.

Just a thought here. You must be a very sound sleeper! I always manage to wake up because I am aware of a change of pressure in my pouch area and it means head to the toilet. So.....if I weren't receiving those signals due to being in a deep sleep, I'd try setting my alarm about three times throughout the night. Get up and use the toilet almost forcing yourself to have a B.M. Coughing hard while on the toilet may help. Start with 3 times and then see if you can wake up twice to accomplish the same thing. Finally, try one time and see if that works. I'd set the alarm for the same times every night just to train your body to be expecting needing to awaken at those times. I know this sounds "trying". For me, it would be less "trying" than soiling myself every night.

Have you tried Metamucil? It makes the stool less watery and might help you.

It is possible that muscle exercises might also be beneficial.

Good luck!

Solomin

I have a couple ideas for you.

I make my big meal of the day a 12 noon lunch. I eat heartily I also, have a good breakfast. I might do a boost or a snack around 3 o clock and then that's it. If I need it I will have some chicken soup and saltines for dinner.

This way I have all my big business done by early eve. Sometimes I will drink some grape juice around 5pm or 6pm to move things out of me.

Then take some Gas-x, probiotic etc. and lomotil (Actually lomotil throughout day works well for me) during the eve.

You shouldn't have much to come out at night. Maybe one or two trips tops? and hopefully you can catch them before they become accidents.

Hope one of these ideas might help? or give you additional ideas of your own to try??....

good luck jennifer hope you start doing better -Mike

I agree with adding large amounts of metamucil to what you are already taking, and not just at night, but throughout the day. I take 8 matamucil capsules, immodium, and a codeine (used to use the opium) 4 times/day. And don't take the capsules with a glass of water as directed-just enough sips to get them down. Take these meds before a meal, and then eat/drink as normal.

I am not sure why the biofeedback hurt? It shouldn't be painful. Yes, you have to have a "butt plug" (for lack of a better term) inserted intot he anus during the session, but it shouldn't hurt. HOwever, when you have a lot of leakage and accidents, the skin and tissues get very irritated down there, and when they are irritated, they don't work nearly as well, so it is a horrible, negative loop you get trapped in. I know, as I have been there.

I had nighttime leaks and occasional accidents when I first got my pouch, and saw improvement in my control over the first 3 or more years of having it. I think you need more testing to determine the cause of the leakage/accidents. If your spincters were damaged during the procedure, then the Interstim might help, but if your spincters are intact and fully functioning (and there are various tests they can do to determine this) it would seem the cause might be something else. It could be pouchitis. My classic sign of pouchitis was always nightime leakage and accidents.

Because years after getting my pouch, I had another procedure where my spincters were damaged (they have been surgically repaired and are now "intact" without defect, but the muscle tone is very, very low), I am functionally incontinent and I am going down the Interstim path myself. FOr the past 10 years, I have managed fairly well by bulking my stols as much as possible, and tucking a piece of a cotton ball into my rectum to catch leaks before my skin gets so damaged, kicking off the worse cycle I de3scribe above. However, I have been told that to get insurance coverage for the Interstim, I have to complete a second round of biofeedback to show that the more conservative treatments have failed, plus get several tests that will ensure that the cause of my incontinence is likely to be helped by the stimulator.

I wish you the best-I have been in your shoes and it is a frustrating experience.