Hi peoples, i'm new to the forum and in the short time whizzing through old discussions i've picked up quite a bit, but i don't know if this "carageenan" has attacked anyone but myself.

i have a pouch and keep things in order with asa5 and vsl#3 and a strict diet. however 2 days ago i had one spoon of cottage cheese and i'm assuming its the carageenan in it that created a nuclear reaction within a well maintained environment.

basically i was in urgency every 20 minutes with little response to the vsl. so i said enough's enough and stopped all solids. went to my herbal shop and purchased triphala, and slippery elm (an old recipe from an old friend)mixed them together and drank four cups today as well as staying on the asa5 and the vsl that i eat with yoghurt(plain).

anyway things are in control, but i'm not sure i'm ready to reintroduce solids back into the equation, reason being is that besides the urgency i had like a ring of fire on that sphincter muscle that does the pushing and it would kind of throb after going to the loo.

now i read about "cuffitis" and i know i have pouchitis but this is nothing like the pouchitis i'm used to or anything else i've experienced. i have had alergic reactions to alot of foods and have cut the majority out of my diet, but i never reacted like this before.

does this sound like cuffitis to anyone out there?
any help would be much appreciated.

right now i feel if i keep to my liquid diet of herbal tea, asa5 vsl and yoghurt i'll survive, i think i need 2 more days of this, has anyone gone liquid without an iv for 3 days, is that possible?

what about enemas, which one should i be thinking of using?

adios my fellow friends

crazy how one small taste of cheese could create such a snowball effect. carageenan is actually :evil red seaweed.

I can't help with all of your questions, but I can tell you that I've gone two, possibly three (I don't recall) days without food. It was not a digestive related issue but a facial pain/jaw pain related issue that KO'd my ability to ingest anything other than liquid for a period of time. Abstinence from solids for that period of time did not cause me any problems.

I've had problems with carrageenan too, however the effects on my system are somewhat different than yours. My carrageenan related issues are noticed shortly after consumption, but I, thankfully, haven't noticed any problems related to elimination.

Yes, your symptoms could be cuffitis related. Particularly if you note any blood.

However, there is also the possibility your sphincter was throbbing and painful due to the fact that you went so many times. I have that problem occasionally, and my surgeon attributes it to simple anal irritation rather than cuffitis (she has not seen evidence of cuffitis).

I would not be as suspicious of carageenan as I would be of some bad bacteria that was in that cottage cheese. It is not impossible that it was spoiled in some fashion and you upset the floral balance in the process - leading to your multiple bathroom trips. I have also seen that happen when there is a stomach bug going around.

Steve