Hey Lauren. It's nice to see you on the forums again. Do you need to take iron supplements?

How is your digestion with raw foods?  Do you do anything to help with the gas and frequency produced by raw veggies that inhibits absorption?

@Kangaroo posted:

Hey Lauren. It's nice to see you on the forums again. Do you need to take iron supplements?

Hey Kangaroo!!! You too

Yeah I need to take Iron Supplements. I take a 325mg pill of Iron every so often when I remember. I especially take them when I am on my period, I have heavy periods.

@Sara Marie posted:

How is your digestion with raw foods?  Do you do anything to help with the gas and frequency produced by raw veggies that inhibits absorption?

Its great!!! I always get extra vegetables on my sandwich when I go to Subway, the vegetables come out the same way they look most of the time lol. It comes out gentle and smooth. I love how it smells like honey mustard when it comes out too lol.

As for frequency and gas, I do not do anything special, I just let everything happen naturally.

When I eat a lot of veggies they shoot right out of me and it's neither gentle nor smooth, especially the undigested stuff that looks the same leaving as it did upon entry, basically.  How do you slow that stuff down to get the gentle and smooth effect?

@Sara Marie posted:

When I eat a lot of veggies they shoot right out of me and it's neither gentle nor smooth, especially the undigested stuff that looks the same leaving as it did upon entry, basically.  How do you slow that stuff down to get the gentle and smooth effect?

Honestly, everything is natural with me, I do not do anything special, literally. I wish I could tell you something that I do but I do not do anything, I let everything stay natural with my body.

Maybe you could try Metamucil powder? About 9 years ago, I did take loperamide and that helped tremendously! I have not taken it in about 9 years though.

I do use psyllium powder these days, and it slows things down (usually) to a much better rate and consistency.  I have tried gas X but it felt gross so I stopped after once or twice.  I do not use immodium or any of that stuff because it seems like too extreme an approach, and those things are supposed to be for short term use.  My problem is that my small intestine is behaving like a small intestine, and when I ask it to act like a colon it gets irritated.  It doesn't like to hold waste.  Some people seem to be able to coerce their small intestine, at least the part that's been made into a "pouch", into behaving in a more colon-like way without being irritated by doing something that it isn't designed to do.  I want to know how to do that.  I have tried a vegetarian diet before, but that was before I used psyllium.  Now I'm a gluten free, dairy free vegetarian, except I eat fish and fowl. What's the name for that?  Ha ha!  I'm not completely nightshade-free, but I do notice that they cause irritation and gas, so I try to keep that to a minimum.  Oh and when my gut seems irritated and inflamed, I have noticed that oregano oil helps reduce that.  I have not used antibiotics so far.  I have had the pouch since 2004.

Sara,

I could describe my experiences almost identical to yours.

I would like to know the secret also. It’s pretty sad to know that after all this investment, my issues I had prior still remain.

As a lifelong IBS sufferer, it’s now IPS.

I now realize that the source for all of my issues originated in the small intestine.  And those issues remain today.  

@New577 posted:

Sara,

I could describe my experiences almost identical to yours.

I would like to know the secret also. It’s pretty sad to know that after all this investment, my issues I had prior still remain.

As a lifelong IBS sufferer, it’s now IPS.

I now realize that the source for all of my issues originated in the small intestine.  And those issues remain today.  

I got a blood test this spring to see if there were antibodies for Crohn's or UC, and did not have a sufficient number to constitute a "condition."  I used to have UC, reportedly, starting in 1988.  I actually didn't have too much trouble with it after I learned how to manage it, though it was terrible at first. In general, apart from a few early flare-ups of UC, my guts functioned pretty normally with few dietary restrictions.  The pouch was installed in 2004 due to colon cancer.  There was one tumor near the anus that was causing some constipation-like feelings for a little while before I got the diagnosis.  I hadn't had a UC flare-up since maybe 1995 or 1996, and that didn't go on too long.

I too had UC under control with a flareup now and then.

I had extensive high grade dysplasia in my rectum.

I still question why they left me with a cuff.

@Sara Marie posted:

I do use psyllium powder these days, and it slows things down (usually) to a much better rate and consistency.  I have tried gas X but it felt gross so I stopped after once or twice.  I do not use immodium or any of that stuff because it seems like too extreme an approach, and those things are supposed to be for short term use.  My problem is that my small intestine is behaving like a small intestine, and when I ask it to act like a colon it gets irritated.  It doesn't like to hold waste.  Some people seem to be able to coerce their small intestine, at least the part that's been made into a "pouch", into behaving in a more colon-like way without being irritated by doing something that it isn't designed to do.  I want to know how to do that.  I have tried a vegetarian diet before, but that was before I used psyllium.  Now I'm a gluten free, dairy free vegetarian, except I eat fish and fowl. What's the name for that?  Ha ha!  I'm not completely nightshade-free, but I do notice that they cause irritation and gas, so I try to keep that to a minimum.  Oh and when my gut seems irritated and inflamed, I have noticed that oregano oil helps reduce that.  I have not used antibiotics so far.  I have had the pouch since 2004.

Dang, I am sorry you are going through this, I hope things get better.

Pescatarians eat seafood but not land animals, since you eat fish and fowl that is not a pescatarian, I am not sure there is a term for what you are but I could be wrong.

Just found it!!! you are a Pollo-Pescetarian diet

And wow! You have had your pouch for almost 20 years!!! Do you want to celebrate???

@New577 posted:

I too had UC under control with a flareup now and then.

I had extensive high grade dysplasia in my rectum.

I still question why they left me with a cuff.

Rectal cuff gives us better control to hold our poop. I think its dumb they left a rectal cuff but that is how they do it unfortunately.

Lauren, you are 100% correct.

My GI reminds me every time I see him that the benefits of a cuff outweighs the risks.

So, now I live with chronic colitis of the cuff and daily Canasa for the rest of my life to prevent….

inflammation…dysplasia….cancer

Back to where I started from…..

Sometimes, I feel like a hamster on a wheel ☹️