Hello everyone! My name is Theresa and I’m brand spankin new to the site as of about an hour ago! I was doing some research on a few things and came across the forums, which were VERY helpful in my quest for answers on a few things.

Here is a little background on me –

I’m 25 years old and I live in sunny South Florida about 12 minutes northwest of Fort Lauderdale (I actually work in Lauderdale). For the last 3 years I’ve worked as a surgical tech/ certified first assistant for a plastic surgeon in his operating room. Now I am currently back in school for my masters in human services/mental health.
I was diagnosed with UC at the young age of about 9. After a long, disastrous battle with steroids, remissions, and flare ups and endless hospital visits the doctors decided it was time for surgery! In Feb of 98 I had the colectomy at age 14. At that time I was given an ileostomy.

Life was interesting to say the least, but I was disease free and doing really well. After some time, finally in 2000 the doctors did the J pouch surgery and left my stoma site. Then later in 2000 I had the reanastamosis, or “pull through” as they called it. I never had any complications, I was only hospitalized once for a stricture for a few days.
So here I am now March of 2008 and I finally want some answers on things lol. I guess I was in denial, basically it if aint broke don’t fix it type of mentality. After about 10 years I’ve just gotten sick of a few things that go on and came in search of answers. I’ve done an awful lot of reading on here thus far and came to the conclusion there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum I never knew existed.

Ok, OK, enough about me! Down to the nitty gritty here with a few questions I have, basically wondering if I’m alone in a few things.

1. Spasms? That oh so familiar urge telling you time to go to the bathroom, but if for some reason you can’t get there right away these waves come of almost pressure. My mom claims it sounds like a contraction. Anyone else experience this? If so, how do you deal with them? Since I work in the operating room and I can’t just break from surgery they get rough on me and somewhat painful. I;ve learned not to eat breakfast lol. But that usually doesn’t help! Any suggestions or familiarity?

2. I am a 12 – 20 times a day girl. It’s never been more or less, always stayed the same amount. I’ve read a lot about the Metamucil wafers, Imodium, and various other things everyone has discussed and decided I’m going to try it. Any suggestions on that? Amount per day? Best ones to take alone OR together?
That’s about it for now , This is all long enough as it is, but I since I’m new I wanted everyone to get my background.
Thanks for taking the time to read my life story here lol, and thank you in advance to anyone that has any suggestions, or even questions if you feel you need to get to know me and my situation better. I’m very open!

Xoxoxoxox
Theresa

Welcome to our site. I am suprised you go that often. That is about as bad as UC. I have heard you can get your pouch stretched to hold more. I hope you find this site helpful.

The nitty gritty-what do you eat and drink?Also, I sent you a PM.

I think wafers work much better for me. I eat 1 package (2 wafers) in the morning and take 3 loperamide/immodium. Since you're on the research trail, maybe you should try one thing at a time so you can tell if it's working or not. I also find that rice works better than pasta for thickening things up.

Some people have found that Metamucil actually causes gas. And it might cause gas for you in the beginning. But I'd say give it a chance. Other things that people have said help them are probiotics.

Regarding not eating on surgical days - that sometimes has the opposite effect because you're still creating bile and that stuff is slippery and burny.

After all this time, I think you can start working on fewer bowel movements per day. I didn't start Metamucil wafers until my pouch was probably around 10 years old. It made a HUGE difference.

Welcome to the site!

kathy

Until today I thought everything going on was NORMAL!!!!!!

I SEE IT IS NOT! I was googling live and active cultures and there were a few posts on this site about them, and that's how I came across the group.

I think you are very right, after 10 years it's time to get a little more normalized! I'm excited to start things and see what happens. I wish i was a 4 or 5 times a day girl, sheesh. It would change my LIFE!

Do try some of the suggestions here they may help you reduce your frequency and BB. In terms of frequency, 15-20 a day may just be the way that you are. I have about 12-15 a day and I wouldn't know if I didn't count. It frustrated me at first but then I got used to it. Some days are more and some days are less but that's my average. I take 2 lomotil 3 times a day. I eat lots of veggies and whole foods which may contribute to my frequency but I'd rather be able to eat my veggies than not. Luckily I don't suffer from BB at lot but when I do Calmoseptine is great - but I do understand your desire to ditch creams altogether. I hope you find some answers that help you. Bear in mind that the solutions that people have found are not a one size fits all concept - you'll probably have to play around with amounts and dosages to find something that works for you. Just remember to start with a small amount (mentamucil wafers or powder, lomotil, immodium...) and increase until you find your comfort zone. Seems like you have agreat attitude and that will certainly help. Good luck!

Suzanne

Hi, Theresa and welcome to the board. Although I currently live in the Washington, DC area, I was born and raised in So Fla & still come down a few times a year for various UM sporting events. Go Canes!!

Now, to answer your questions, there are several things that you can take to reduce the number of daily BMs, but as Kathy suggested, I would try one at a time so you can get an idea of what works best for you. I think that the first thing that you should try are the Metasmucil wafers. That seems to help a great many people - myself included. I think that you may be pleasantly surprised at how quickly it can make a difference.

Scott

Hi Theresa and welcome!

I don't have any advise on cutting down on how many times a day you go. I don't take any fiber or immodium, and I probably go about 8 times a day, maily just when I have to pee.

As far as the spasms go, I find that sitting my butt in a very hot bathtub seems to settle them down. There is also a drug called bentyl that works, but they can make you a bit drowsy. Also, skipping breakfast isn't the best way to go for spasms, I find that if I've gone too long with out eating, my pouch decides that it's time for work and starts trying to empty the already empty trash can. The acidy bile that comes out is quite painfull.

Good Luck!
Joyc

Believe me if I eat before an 8 hour case it's 4985345 worse than if I don't lol. Mainly because the urge comes much quicker in the day. Then that urge turns to pain. I've done my best to tailor my surgery days to my belly. It's only on long cases.

Thank you for all the advice. I know that different things work for different people, but I just wanted to hear what exactly worked best, basically the things commonly used by everyone. It'll be a week or so of experimenting and learning with the different things suggested.

From what I've gathered immodium and the metamucil wafers seem to be a crowd fave.

I currently do not have insurance. It was taken away when I turned 25 because i was on my moms. I'm working with a company now that *may* accept someone as high risk as myself. I dont get ins. at my job so I have to go for an individual plan. Till that's all set no doctor vists or unneeded rx's for me!

I just don't get doctors who don't provide health insurance. There's something basically not right about that. Our tennant is a nurse and works in a doctor's office. She also has no insurance. To me it's like working for a car manufacturer and having to supply one's own tools.

kathy