20+ BM daily help

Are you on a "gentle" diet in order to break in your newly functioning J-pouch?

Not experienced the butt burn yet as take down not been performed, however only last week I was experiencing serious skin buring and pain around my loop ileostomy Stoma.

Whether this was a figment of my imagination or not, but it appeared that after eating an apple the stomach acid output appeared to decrease.

As said, it could all be in the mind or a coincidence, but it appeared to help.

Not imagination. Apple pectin is known to thicken the stool. A very good soluble fiber!

Jan

yes I'm on a low fiber/low residue diet. I eat lots of chicken and potatoes. If you have had a take down, is this common to have so many BM's a day? What is the average heal time (normal amount of BM?) Any advice for the butt burn?

For B Burn I use equate diaper rash cream from Walmart. . Very thick.
Put it on EVERY TIME you have a bm.
Be very consistent with putting it on.
Clean up as good as you can and apply it every time no matter what.
It will not completely go away but I found out it helps a lot.
Hope you get better.
And you will. Just takes time.
I was where you are at not long ago and I am so much better now. I thought it would never end but it does get better.
Richard.

I had anywhere from 15-20 plus a day for the first few weeks, it was miserable. I'm 6 months out almost and I'm just recently down to the 'average' of maybe 6 times a day and once at night. I'm on cipro currently and it has made a world of difference, I had some problems that hopefully you will not have!
I strongly recommend a bidet, I broke down and ordered the coco bidet in May and it helped with the butt burn tremendously. Wish I would have ordered it much sooner. Until then, I was using baby wipes and drying with a soft washcloth or hair dryer (not convenient).
Katie

I experienced the same. When my Dr finally examined me 2 months post take down, it was determined to be pouchitis. 10 days on flagyl and the 1 Align probiotic a day and I have been pretty good ever since. I have about 4 BMs a day. Have your doctor examine you for pouchitis, because YES.... You can get it immediately post TD.

Thanks for the tips. I am currently using Desitin max.strength every time I have a BM and using cottonelle wipes. I take a sitz bath 3x a day as well. A few days ago I started using hydrocortisone cream 1% with the desitin and I have gotten some relief (some days better than others). I have an appt with Dr. on monday, tested for cdiff on friday will have results back on monday. Prior to first surgery in Jan. I had cdiff 3x within a 4month period, so I hope that is not what it is. I don't think so because it doesn't have the smell. My BM have decreased to 19 and 17 the past 2 days so I'm hoping I'm on the down swing and on the road to improvement. From what I have read on this site it seems many months for improvements. I was hoping to go back to work at the end of Aug. but as of today it is not looking very promising. I have been off work since last May (2013). So I was really looking forward to getting my life back and not being a prisoner to my home. I know I should not complain because there are people who have worst issues than this but I just get so frustrated because I feel I have lost 2 yrs of my life already and I'm so ready to get it back. Any suggestions for foods to eat. I'm getting tired of eating chicken and potatoes. Any suggestions for foods to eat for snack? My dr. said low fiber/low residue foods any suggestions? Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. It is much appreciated!

Some suggestions...

greek yogurt
peanut butter
bananas
white bread/toast
white rice
cream of rice
cream of wheat
oatmeal
turkey
scrambled eggs/omelette
any kind of cheese
pasta
bagels

I think you get the idea... it's a lot of white food... Pretty much all fruits and vegetables (aside from potatoes and bananas) have a tendency to increase frequency or increase acidity so with your current issues I would hold off on introducing those. Lots of people don't notice any change in acidity or frequency from certain fruits and vegetables but if I were in your shoes I wouldn't risk it now.

It definitely sounds like pouchitis, but it could be due to C. diff. I had C. diff pouchitis twice this winter and the symptoms were similarly miserable. I've been able to ward off a recurrence thus far with probiotics, knock wood. I hope you get some relief soon!

Certain wipes, especially the flushable kind, give me butt burn...

Cottonelle wipes are still made from paper and will irritate your bottom. Try switching to baby wipes. I get Pampers sensitive on Amazon for about $19 for a qty of apprx 850 or so (I also have a two year old so I buy in bulk!)
Since I installed the bidet, I no longer really even need the wipes. Love the bidet!
Katie

Pluto,
Are you sure about cheese/dairy/eggs? I love dairy.... but it increases my frequency and gives me gas. Personally, I would reduce the dairy if I were going 20x a day

Couple recommendations for surviving the hell:

- portable bidet: I've used this for a year at home. I use it every time except on rare occasions (see below).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- Balneol: For when you're not at home, you don't want to carry around the portable bidet, this cream is a lifesaver. Put some on some toilet paper before wiping and it completely protects from the abrasive paper. Sometimes I use this at home too when my bottom is so sore that even the pressure of the water from the bidet is too much. http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- Calmoseptine: After going, I apply with a q-tip. It helps sooth just a bit but no silver bullet.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- Low-Fodmap Diet: When I switched to this diet I noticed a market improvement. I could stand living again, but again, not a silver bullet. I never would have thought to eliminate milk but it seemed to help quite a bit in the early days. Eliminating gluten, garlic and onion I think also helped a lot. I still follow this diet generally.

- Pepto Bismo: This seems to calm things down and help me quite a bit, particularly calm down my pouch. In the beginning it seemed like a wonder drug. No doctor prescribed it - I picked up the tip from this forum. Now I take about 1 pill a day broken up into 4 tiny pieces and taken with meals and at bedtime. Seems to be helpful. If I take too much it can constipate me, which only makes BB worse!

- Dealing with gas: I realized over time that a lot of the times when I feel urgency it is gas putting pressure on my rectum. I often am not able to release gas standing upright. If I lay down on my stomach and press in on my stomach with my fingers, I can relieve the gas. Doing this seems to help me go less, which helps avoid more pain in the bathroom caused by BB.

Hope some of this helps. It's very hard what you're going through and hard for anyone who is not in our situation to understand, even doctors. You're not alone.

thank you everyone for all the great tips. I did switch to baby wipes and have noticed a difference. Thank you for the tip! My dr did prescribe 2 creams. One is lidocaine and the other is a compound mixture cream, both have made the BB managable. My BM's are slowly decreasing this past week 14-18 much improvement from 24+BM. I'm two weeks out from take down. For those of you who have had the take down, when can I expect the BM's do decrease and get to the 5-10 BM a day? My BM's have thickened up have been like oatmeal/pudding so that is also an improvement from water/liquid with no form. It is still frustrating but trying to find the positive. My dr also prescribe cholestyramine I think this has made a difference in thickening my stool. I'm drinking it 2x a day and taking imoduim 2x a day. I am still having issues with having to go immediately and sometimes not making it to the bathroom, has anyone else experienced this? I do the Kegel (sp?) excersises but somedays it happens so quickly, that in its self is frustrating and embarrasing. I have also noticed that when I stand up I feel I have to go immediately, has anyone experienced this? Thank again everyone for the words of encouragement and advice/tips. I do appreciate it. I don't have anyone to talk to in my area because I don't know of anyone who has had this done. I talk to my family but they just don't get it.

I still sometimes feel like I have to go immediately after standing up.
Until I started the cipro, I was having accidents. That was a long darn time of crapping myself. At first it was daily, several times a day, then slowed down to several times a week. I must have had pouchitis from the beginning. I'm still on cipro and no longer have accidents, just some leakage.
Katie

everything you describe is totally normal...i was told 6 months should get you to where you are good..in my case they said a year,then it went to 2 years and so on..but i fall into the 10 percent of patients who develop chronic pouchitis..and i still have issue of having to go after i stand up from time to time..

but most likely yours will just keep improving and before you know it you will hardly know you have a pouch...thats what they tell me!!!!