I have found that although it doesn't hurt the pouch it does hurt/develop the abs...last year I had a nasty bronchitis that lasted nearly two months and my tummy was killing me...I felt like I was coughing my lungs up each time...but by the time that it was over I had the abs of an athlete...just beware of the antibiotics on your pouch...you might need to be on brewer's yeast and/or probiotics to combat the nasty effects and avoid bacterial overgrowth.
Hope that it is over soon.
Sharon

Thank you Sharon for your prompt reply. Nice to know that coughing has the positive of strengthening the abs!! Will see my GP tomorrow. I am not on antibiotics yet as I know they are not too good for us.
Happy New Year! Patrizia

I am a little late in replying here but I agree that coughing can't hurt your J-Pouch but I do find that I feel it more in my stomach now then when I had a colon. Sometimes I curl my legs up or sit up to cough or sneeze because it just feels like I'm stressing the area. every so often a big sneeze will hurt. Still, I've never damaged my pouch. I 2nd the advice about making sure you up your probiotics if you're on antibiotics. Always good to keep the good bacteria in check. Hope you're feeling better soon!

What is the point of taking probiotics while at the same time taking antibiotics. Isn't that like telling someone to go outside and get their hands nice and dirty so that they can come inside and wash them?

Probiotics replenish the beneficial bacteria killed by the antibiotic. I suspect probiotics are even more valuable when on antibiotics than when not on them.

If I'm taking Cipro twice a day, the drug is virtually always with me. When would any probiotic have time to manifest a colony of consequence?

There's no harm in doing the experiment, to see if the probiotic is conferring any benefit. I suspect it does, but I haven't tested it rigorously. The Cipro is continously in your blood, at fluctuating levels, but not continuously in your gut.