I think a properly hydrated J-poucher should have perfectly normal urine lab results. It’s true that it’s easier for a J-poucher to become dehydrated or to lose electrolytes, but these conditions will do just as much damage to a J-poucher as anyone else, and we need to prevent them.

@Scott F posted:

I think a properly hydrated J-poucher should have perfectly normal urine lab results. It’s true that it’s easier for a J-poucher to become dehydrated or to lose electrolytes, but these conditions will do just as much damage to a J-poucher as anyone else, and we need to prevent them.

Thanks, Scott.

I just realised that the doctor prescribed a medication at the same time that causes diarrhoea, so now I don’t know what to think. Even in a “normal” person, it seems like this medication side effect could disrupt a sodium urine test.

Would the electrolytes lost due to diarrhoea, including sodium, be through the bowel?

(That’s probably obvious, but I’m feeling a bit brain fogged at the moment.)

I prefer to avoid the word “diarrhea” for J-pouchers, because I think it’s ambiguous, ranging from perfectly appropriate soft stools to catastrophic fluid loss. In any case, the “normal” way diarrhea lowers electrolytes in folks with colons is by running fluid too rapidly past a very large membrane (the colon). This won’t work exactly the same with a J-pouch, but the key factors (liquid stool and rapid transit time) will still operate to some degree.

The simple point is that we need to stay hydrated, and when things get rough we may need to replace electrolytes.

Yes, it’s hard to describe to a doctor what normal j-pouch BMs are like.

We need our own scale!