I doubt this is an R/V fistula. Usually, the telltale signs are vaginal gas and recurrent bacterial vaginal infections.

Jan

Thanks so much for your reply jan, could the bubbles I feel be gas? And the burning sensation could that be signs of an infection?

Sally xxxx

I can not pass gas unless I'm on a toilet....or I will have a mess. You learn to eat foods that work with your system. Gassy foods are a nightmare. When I eat raw apple or other rough vegetables foods, I will have pressure at the rectom/vagina, too. It's almost like a tooth ache pain.  It's typically what I eat that causes that pressure. .... Also, I'm 8 yrs post menopause, induced by surgery when i was 38. Because of that, my vaginal walls became paper thin last year. I was leaking all the time and cried that I wanted another alternative. Many of your symptoms  It seemed as though feces was leaking from the vagina, but, Thankfully, after a check up from my OBG , we realized it wasn't vaginal. The vaginal and rectal walls are close as are the openings... Poo was literally leaking from one into the other...gross! I started a treatment of premerin cream (estrogen) and those walls all plumped back up. The leaking stopped and now along with the cream, I keagal as well. Both are super important in my life. I had vaginal irritation because feces doesn't belong in the vagina. Hope this helps a little. It's a journey...a.poopy, awful journey at times, but better than lying in a hospital fighting for my life

Hope this helps,.Blessings - Michelle

By vaginal gas, I mean passing gas via the vagina. Pretty unmistakable. Your symptoms just don't sound like a fistula to me. Time will tell, but R/V fistula is rare and cuffitis/pouchitis is common.

Jan

Oh. I don't have vaginal fistulas. My comment was to share my experiences and how it was treated. Maybe I misunderstood the post. Oops.

Thanks Michelle- did you mean that the feaces were just going from the anus into the vagina just normally, but there was no fistula? I'm thinking perhaps this is what's happening with me 

thanks jan- I'm not getting gas from the front then I think I am getting the feeling of air bubbles coming out of the vagina sort of travelling up and out I can feel it, is that a sign? I am definently going to ask my surgeon next Monday about pouchitis and cuffitis the urgency is so unbearable I'm going to the loo about 15times in 24 hours, it had gone down to about 10.

sally xxxxx

YEs, that's exactly what I'm saying. My sphincter was getting lazy for a bit (needed to keegal) and my vaginal walls were too thin and it was slipping from the rectum into the vagina. Not to be disgusting but it was bad... The premerin cream (estrogen) plumps and with the Keegals and cream, it did the trick for me. All your symptoms sound familiar to me.
The rectal/vaginal pressure is when I eat raw apples, carrots, celery, or any roughage that doesn't break down well. The first time I noticed was right after my take down. I thought I'd chewed the apple so well and found I actually had to bare down to get it out. It was frightening and painful. The pressure felt like an aching tooth from the rectum all the way to the front.
Most people use the bathroom frequently until they figure out what they can and can't eat. The pouch has to be stretched. Eat too much and you go to the bathroom, eat too little and you have water leaking and need to go to the bathroom. Potatoes, oatmeal, squash, rice, banana, ..those things will help you with going too much. It will slow you down but again, you have to find what works for you. Some people like to stay loose and empty all at once, others like a different consistency. It's all about lifestyle and how your pouch works for you.
One thing no one ever told me but I read somewhere in this group was to avoid NSAIDS and yogurt...especially right after surgery....they can wreak havoc and give us pouchitis...Which I've had bouts of but thankfully not many. Stick to acetaminophen and avoid yogurt for now.  I hope this helps some.

Hi there. I realize I'm a little late coming in on this. Re your 1 and 3 above, I absolutely recall those symptoms after surgery but they dissipated after awhile - four to six months for things to really change so in many ways I think they are just normal adjustment issues.  However, having said that, I did continue to have air in the vagina which occurred when the pouch was full or when I was emptying. Also, there was ongoing burning in the vagina. I was diagnosed with a bartholin cyst which was eventually removed but after that surgery it became evident to me that the symptoms had not improved and the bartholin was likely because of a fistula (as were two UTIs). A year later I finally have MRI confirmation of a narrow but long tract from the suture line to the vagina. I will be having surgery (flap advancement) in the next few months. I have to say that I was pretty sure it was a fistula three months out of the surgery but it has taken a very long time to get the proper diagnosis. I would suggest that you keep monitoring the symptoms and, if they don't improve, I wouldn't let it go (unless it really doesn't bother at all you I guess). I find that now I have almost constant discharge into my vagina. Oddly, it's not really stool. Seems like mucous but stings and burns and intimacy is impossible. It's much worse when the stool is loose and when the pouch is full. I am hoping that maybe by now, as this is a few months after your post, that things have improved and your symptoms were indeed just adjustment. Cheers. 

Hi, I'm also late on this thread but came across it and wondering if the issue outlined above (fecal matter passing through to the vagina) is happening in my case? Over the last few months I've noticed an odour (that could almost be fecal matter) emitting from the wrong end! There are no other symptoms, no itching, burning or odd discharge. I have spotting in between periods...but that's something I've experienced for a while now so not unusual for me. 

My pouch is 25 years old so wondering if this is a sign of deteoriation or if it's not related at all? It's all quite embarrassing. I have an appointment with my family GP but just wondered if anyone has experienced this and it was a leakage from the pouch?

Hi after reading these post I'm also extremely worried I've had my pouch 5 years now and I'm suffering from cuffitis but I also have a lot of vaginal gas and what I assumed discharge but kept thinking it was  feces and thought I was going mad as this can't be right ! Is it ?? 

Can anyone help? I had my takedown surgery 2 weeks ago, I feel well, I can walk, eat reasonably and the only pain I get is butt burn and the occasional spasm. However, just now I held in the urge to open my bowels on the second time trying to hold it in a litlle came out onto the pad I was wearing but at the front (vagina). I'm lead to believe this little bit has come out of my vagina. Is this due to a fistula? Something else? Or is it because I didn't open my bowels when I needed to and held it in instead??