The behavior of your ostomy doesn’t predict the behavior of a J-pouch very well. A J-pouch is most likely to require 4-6 bathroom visits daily; folks who struggled with UC mostly notice (happily) that there is no urgency to those visits, which is typically a huge improvement. People with permanent ostomies tend to be about as satisfied as those with J-pouches, but it’s important to remember that both groups are self-selected. Folks who would find an ostomy unbearable (or even just unpleasant) for the long term are more likely to choose J-pouches, and folks for whom the extra surgeries and complexities of a J-pouch are very off-putting will tend to choose a permanent ostomy. 

I’m sorry that Imodium isn’t proving helpful (for whatever problem you’re trying to solve). I don’t know what you mean by diarrhea, since everyone uses the word differently, so it’s best to be more specific about what you’re trying to change. With an ostomy you might be hoping to reduce liquid/water, solid matter, or gas, and different approaches would work best for each of these.

Good luck!

I would assume that you probably have a temporary ileostomy which is located higher up on the small intestine than either the permanent ileostomy or the J pouch.  Since there is a shorter part of intestine to absorb fluids, the output is more liquid.  Although there is no way of predicting what your bathroom frequency or liquidity of stool will be with a J pouch, most people have satisfactory results with it.  If you choose not to go with a J pouch, there are two alternatives to an ileostomy that do not require an external bag:  the K pouch and the closely related BCIR.  You may want to research them on the internet. If you are concerned about the response that you are getting from your current doctor, I would suggest that you get a second opinion.

Well put Scott. 

I had a bag for 13 years, by choice, as I was afraid of the issues with a J pouch. For me, it was fine, it let me eat and drink everything apart from popcorn. I emptied , as you say 4-6 times a day, emptied lots more with alcohol and fried food.

i eventually got it reversed and had a temp ostomy that produced so much more, it was not as comfortable.

Having a J pouch for me has its ups and downs but I am delighted I did it, I have my issues with it but I am learning.  I am in the minority as most people live with the J pouch with no issues a all.

i wish you luck and if you have any questions you can message me.

Thank you all, I'm hopefully going to see about planning a surg for a jpouch in June. (Or May, but prefer June)