Had takedown a week ago, want to make sure I'm on a normal track!

All sounds normal to me. Sounds like you are adjusting well. (10x a day is great this early on) Congrats on your final step! This is a great forum for any future questions. Enjoy pooping again!

Absolutely normal. These things will subside over time. Don't be to hard on yourself or get to worked up about things youre body has just endured a major surgery and needs time to adjust. Being patient and staying positive is what will help you through. It's a long recovery process. I am 8 months post takedown and still adjusting. It is much more of a mental test than anything so stay strong. We are all here for support. Good Luck!

Thanks guys. Just had a few days of the horrid butt burn - trying to remember that it's a process and it takes time, but after how painful that was, I'm quite exhausted. I do feel like my sphincter muscles are getting better, though; at least there's that!

One word for butt burn: Calmoseptine! Get some if you don't have any. It works great. I always have a tube handy and I'm three years post takedown. Thanksgiving goodies that I don't normally eat left me with some pretty bad butt burn this week!

Is there any major difference between Calmoseptine and Cavilon? I've been using the Cavilon they gave me at the hospital and it works fairly well; I also find wipes with dimethicone in them help a lot vs regular baby wipes or toilet paper. Any other tricks (besides a bidet, at least for a few weeks)?

Calmoseptine irritated me. I used ProShield Plus. It is something you have to order online, but the hospital gave it to me originally. The company also makes an incontinence spray that I like when the bidet doesn't clean completely or when I am out of town.

To be honest, until I got the bidet, I was constantly jumping in the shower. That was the only thing that took the unbearable burning away.

Cavilon is a barrier wipe often used for peristomal skin. Some people have posted in the past about using it for perianal skin but it has always struck me as being too thin/not water resistant enough.

Be careful with dimethicone. It is VERY good at sealing in moisture, which means it can also be very good at breeding a fungal infection around the anus unless you are very thorough about drying before applying the cream.

I'm one of the people who finds Calmoseptine irritating -- it contains menthol which is cooling and pleasant for most, but for me it's more of a burning sensation. In fact I think most of the "butt burn" I experienced early on was actually caused by Calmoseptine Oh well, live and learn. For me the best barrier cream was plain A&D ointment.

Absent a bidet I think the best thing you can do is hop in the shower or use a squeeze bottle to squirt water around the area and get it as clean as possible. Wiping with baby wipes, damped TP, etc is better than wiping with dry TP, but it's still abrasive to the skin that is already taking a beating from the newly acidic output. Rinsing with pure water, either in the shower or with a squirt bottle (or ideally with a bidet), patting dry with soft TP, and then applying barrier cream is the best.

Everything else you described sounds normal to me. It does get better!

I needed something milder than Calmoseptine, and I find the smell of A&D unpleasant. Plain zinc oxide worked just fine for me, and I also used the more exotic Ferguson Formula, which is like a very mild Calmoseptine, but not as plain as zinc oxide. FWIW, I haven't used any of this for about seven years or so, and I'm just now shopping for my first bidet. It really does get better!