I won't bother continuing that soliloquy but I do have an interesting question for those who've had a stricture.

I've noticed I don't eat as often and aren't as hungry. I am also very afraid to eat because the food might get trapped for a long while. How has a stricture affected your appetite? any ideas would be appreciated.

Blowe..
Sorry no one has given you an answer yet..

I have had repeated strictures...but it has never affected my appetite..

As for your fear of eating because your food might get trapped for a long time...I never had that happen..it seems the stricture would have to be pretty bad in that case..
If you are having trouble with your output being too thick,try drinking some white grape juice..that will keep things 'thinned' and flowing'..
Maybe a call to your surgeon would be a good idea...
Hope you are feeling better soon!
Char....

Hi Blowe - I just recently lost my j-pouch after 17 years due to FOUR strictures. I'll tell you what, those things are a real nusiance. Are you aware that your doc can go in there (like a colonospocy sp?) and use a balloon type device to stretch out the stricture to release that tight spot? I had that done several times and it worked really well, until other strictures developed. Please don't use me as a standard though because I suffered with really bad pouchitis for the 17 yrs I had the j-pouch.

I found that my appetite was definitely reduced when I had strictures. I had a real battle with that because I have always been very underweight so not eating was a bad deal for me. Could be partially you don't want to eat 'cause you have the stricture. Try eating soft stuff like mashed potatoes. Stay away from pasta! I discovered that if I went to softer, gentler foods when I had a stricture, the pouch worked better. Don't stop eating though, that can really cause problems.

Ask your doc if the balloon technique would work in your case and then you can eat like you used to. Good luck with that. Man, I hate strictures!! Hang in there.

cmkbirdlady
aka

Thanks for the advice!

Could you give me an example of some soft foods that have worked for you? I looked up a soft food diet and pasta was included :S

You can lose your pouch due to strictures? I had no idea! Were these strictures all in one area? or were they located in multiple areas? I am having a ton of stricture problems and haven't been dilated in the OR yet. My surgeon is away and my GI has been doing finger dilations. They help but I quickly become strictured again

Yup, my pouch eventually got to the point where there were two strictures in the pouch, one right at the point where pouch meets small intestines and one somewhere near the end of the pouch where it met up with the rectum. It was a goner. I really tried for so many years to keep the pouch. I had pain whenever I ate and it got to the point where I could hardly eat anything. I actually got done to 98 lbs and I've over five feet tall. I'm glad to be able to eat anything I want now and not be in constant pain and misery.

The balloon technique works well because the finger technique can't reach up very far. Also, I had to be heavily sedated in order for the doctors to do a scope. My husband always was by my side when the doctors would do the scope to look up into my pouch. I think he saw the inside as much as the docs.

Are you plagued by chronic pouchitis also? Remicade works real well for chronic pouchitis. Before mine got really bad, the docs would treat the pouchitis with Flagyl and Cipro.

As far as soft foods, I would stick to things like white rice, pears, canned peaches, toast, chicken (just with salt/pepper on the grill on pan fried), risotto, potatoes either mashed or baked. Be sure to send a message to Jan Dollar and ask her for links and previous discussions on diet. Stay away from corn and beans. Corn is just not digestible and beans are too gassy. Hamburger was also a really killer.

Basically try to give your pouch a rest while keeping up your nutrient level so you don't lose too much energy or too much weight. And drink lots of water. I think people tend to forget about the importance of lots of water when you are dealing with a chronic intestinal delemia.

Good luck and get well. Take care of your pouch the best you can because it really sucks to lose it. I'm having a heck of a time adjusting to the ileostomy. Sure wish the pouch would've held out.

Hang in there and keep us posted on your progress.

cmkbirdlady