Take it slow. I received a very structured diet which built from liquids to baby food and very soft solids to harder solids over the space of weeks. Use common sense and ease yourself back in to a normal diet slowly.

I know it's hard to eat when you're not hungry but try to a little more than that. Try something that appeals to you. When I got home from my takedown surgery I would have a scrambled egg and some toast with a bit of peanut butter for breakfast. Then lunch some soup and/or a half a sandwich. And for dinner I would have some grilled chicken and mashed potato or rice. That lasted about a week and then out of the blue my appetite came back and I was starving! From that point on I was eating anything and everything. It's normal right now not to be very hungry. Your appetite will be back soon. Congrats on making it thru all the surgeries!

You have to eat protein in the post-operative period so that your body can heal from surgery. Bread and broth is not enough. Scrambled eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and soft fish or chicken are good options. It's normal to have a loss of appetite after surgery but you won't heal properly if you don't take in some protein.

I had little guidance nor the interwebz in 1991 with my takedown.

They gave me two trays of soft foods, said eat some "thickening" foods like pretzels or potatoes. If needed, and too loose, take Immodium and/or Metamucil if necessary (I never ever needed them; made things too thick).

I just pretty much returned to a regular diet in a week, with a tweak here and there (took awhile to tolerate spicy foods (burned), but otherwise, that was that.


It's trial and error person to person, IMHO. Good to know some tricks of the trade, but don't adsume you'll have issues just because some people here do. I didn't for years and years, and ate EVERYTHING without issue.

Like Liz recommended, protein, protein, and more protein. It will help you heal. It sounds like you are staying hydrated with gaterade but if you switch over to something else make sure you are getting enough salt in your diet to help with your hydration.

I remember after my take-down I felt like I hit a wall and had no energy at about the 6 week mark. Someone pointed out to me that I wasn't taking in enough calories. I increased my caloric intake and my energy gradually returned.

Gatorade has loads and loads of sugar, and sugar is an appetite suppressant (not to mention dangerous for metabolic function when consumed at high levels), so maybe cut back and replace with other foods?

I was completely lost in the diet department after take-down. I finally found a nutritionist familiar with J-pouches and she suggested a Low-FODMAP diet, which was a saving grace. Not that all my challenges magically went away, but they eased up. The diet gave me the tools and guidance I desperately needed - knowing what to avoid and why (rather than guessing in the dark) and knowing what to eat with recipes to help me along. For example, I had been drinking whole milk after take down do get protein and calories, but it was making me MISERABLE and I didn't know it, even though I kept detailed food logs.

Other things that helped during those difficult days:
- small doses of Pepto Bismo helped calm things down in side and thicken my stool a bit. One to one-and a half pill a day, taking small bites out of it.
- Juicing a bit so I felt I was getting some nutrients, but tiny sips - no big cups.
- using a portable bidet to rinse (rather than wipe) after BMs, purchase from Amazon

I'd also advise watching your Iron and B12 counts when you get bloodwork. Mine dropped dramatically, esp Iron, but you should avoid taking oral Iron if you are low bc it irritates the digestive track, which is the last thing you need. I get IV infusions.

Good luck!

Thank you all so much for the guidance!
Since my bowers were relatively calm, I didn't know if that's a good thing, or due to not enough food intake, the meds, or something scary. So I was content not to eat much just in case.
But you definitely got me eating as much protein as I can now; I want to heal up right!

When things still seemed a little too calm, I drank a glass of Apple juice (just in case there was a block) and ended up going to the bathroom many times and with less control.
:-/. Again, I don't know if it's how my bowels are waking or if it was the drink or what.

So today I will just use common sense a bit more instead of over-worrying. The FODmap is a nice guideline to start with!

Apple juice can increase movements.

This early on, things will be more up and down, for sure, but things will change over the next year.

Go through everyone's tips and see what works for you. It's a lot of trial and error, in the beginning especially.