I realize that things will never be like they were before I was diagnosed with UC, but I had my reconnect surgery in November and still not doing well. I still feel like I am back at the beginning of the disease having flare ups? Does anyone know how long it will be before I am not racing to the bathroom 15 to 20 times a day?

Hey Kas - try not going at every first urge. You may be able to "train" your pouch and anal area to be less sensitive to pressure. When I first had takedown - I waited to weeks, then started trying to 'hold on' as long as I could between bathroom visits. I kind of made a game out of it by seeing if I could go longer and longer. Doing this helped desensitize to the unfamiliar urges of the j-pouch and I believe helped me a lot cause now I can go 12 hours without using a bathroom if I really want to.

Kas,
Check your diet. Start with "safe" foods like mashed potatoes and rice then slowly add other foods one at a time. If you need to keep a diary of what you eat and what you feel about 4 hours later. I did that and found a lot of what I was eating was keeping me in the bathroom more than I really needed to be. Good luck and I hope you find what works for you.

Hi Kas
I had my takedown on 6th November but for me things have settled down to 6-8 trips a day and sleeping through the night. I do tend to sit there for say 10 min at a time sometimes to make sure i empty properly. I had been straining too much in the last month or so and had gotten a small bit of inner pouch mucosa to protrude a little so for me as of now straining is off . I was advised to eat more fruit and veg to make it easier to emty. This may not apply to you.
I wonder what you eat to make it so urgent .Do you still have wattery output?..have you considered possibility that you may have pouchitis?

I had the one-step J-Pouch surgery at the end of June, 2006. I think I started off going to the bathroom around 12-15 times per day. This gradually decreased over the next two months to 6-8 times per day. At this point, I go around 4 times per day.

I don’t recall working to delay going to the bathroom. Each day I did take a walk, which I gradually increased. I feel that this low-impact exercise helped my body to recuperate faster and to learn how to deal with its new plumbing.

It does take a good year to heal and get to "normal"