"Holding It In" - 2 Weeks After Surgery

Yes, it can get uncomfortable, especially in the beginning. I find it best to give it as little power over me as possible. 

In my experience the 'surging' is now part of day to day life in afraid, however it should get less painful and once your butt heals any leakage should stop.

I am 8 months out now, I get the surging which starts after 2 or 3 hours. Like you say it passes fairly quickly but it is uncomfortable.  I can defer bathroom visits for pretty much as long as required, but the surging gets more and more frequent and painful until I visit the bathroom.  I don't think I'd like to do anything that's involves crouching while the surges are strong.  If I hills the surges for too long then I start to gurgle and even 'howl' (I mean my pouch does), then when I get to the bathroom I don't empty properly.  A couple of people have mentioned this 'backing up' on this forum.

I can say you definitely feel urgency more of you have a sore butt.  Look after the skin with a barrier cream like sudocrem a before bathroom visits and maybe something like calmoseptine to soothe and protect after.

As for early on experiences, yeah it's normal for everything to hurt lol. Bear in mind your using muscles in a new way, and muscles that haven't been used for a while.  Be patient and understanding with yourself, go slow, eat slow and well, drink plenty.  Personally I avoided too many drugs early on, I wanted my body to find it's own rhythm without fibre or loperomide, however there is probably no science in that, just something I tried.

Your ability to cope with foods will improve as will the acidity of your stool (meaning less butt care is required over time).

Is this "surging" due to gas? Or is it the J Pouch still adapting to its new use? I wonder if I eat smaller portions will it decrease the discomfort.

Perfectly normal.  I found that holding it in uncomfortable but pays off in the end.  Almost 10 mos. out and now down to 3-4 times a day average, notice the uncomfortable feeling less frequently as the pouch adapts.  Waiting to go really helps expand the pouch.

I'm eight months out and doing very well. In the beginning, right after reconnection, I was in pretty rough shape. I didn't try to hold it for long. Just long enough to get to the bathroom. I think that in the beginning weeks, you should do whatever makes you feel less uncomfortable. But that's just me. As time went on, I was holding it longer just because I was busy or out of the house. It gradually got easier. Now it's very easy to wait for a while if I need to.

Sunflower it's interesting your 8 months out too. What is your diet like?

  Like I say I can hold pretty much as long as I like, but I'm only truly comfortable for like 2 hours, then I start to rumble, then I start to 'surge' getting more and more uncomfortable until I visit the bathroom!   I do find the cramping isn't for nothing though!  My pouch is 310ml capacity and I usually void about that.. IE the pouch was genuinely full and not cramping for no reason.

I guess that could be because my diet has no restriction and I try to eat healthy (fruit and veg, corn on cob, mushrooms, beans and lentils).  If I eat less healthy I have less cramps and less volume!  I think I would benefit from low residue diet maybe, perhaps something for me to try when I travel etc

I am hoping that the discomfort will reduce over time though

Wow. You just named most of the foods I avoid! I don't eat anything that I has a husk -- like corn, lentils, beans -- and I avoid mushrooms since I've heard they are difficult to digest. I also avoid spinach, kale, eggplant, tomato skins and anything with seeds. And, sadly, I avoid nuts. That's the only thing that I really miss. 

I also avoid caffeine and sugar, but I've lately been able to tolerate them a little more.

My doctor said that the caffeine and sugar wouldn't harm me, but it will make me run to the bathroom more. Indeed, that's the case!

I eat Metamucil wafers religiously - one packet a day. That helps with the urgency and frequency. I can definitely see a difference if I miss a day.

To the original poster - I think that in the beginning everything felt odd and I was uncomfortable in a variety of ways. Butt burn, tailbone pain, scar pain, gas. But it all gradually got better and now I can barely remember what it was like to be uncomfortable in those ways. 

Don't expect too much and know that over time it will get much, much better!

For me it only recently started to get better and it's almost been 6 months for me. I think it just takes time to get to this point. I can't have much fiber otherwise I have accidents and I'm lactose intolerant too. I can have a small amount of fiber and milk or milk products. I can eat veggies, most fruits, soda, juice, and even spicy foods. Though of course I get butt burn if I eat acidic foods but I already had to give up a lot of foods. Though I found out I can have skim milk and low fat or fat free foods (such as low fat or fat free sour cream). One thing I found that my body has no problems with is eggs. Eggs make my poop hardly acidic at all and don't make me have to poop so soon. I can even have alcohol though it gives me diarrhea. I don't even take immodium as much as before. I am usually able to hold it for a while too unless I have fiber or milk/ milk products. Then I have to rush to the bathroom. I hardly have as much butt burn as I used to but I keep getting anal fissures. 

Hi All,

New member today, I had my reversal on May 15 and head is still spinning.  Lots of questions and hopefully some great answers.  How long till it starts to feel somewhat normal? I go at least 10 times per day or more and I seem to have to strain a lot to get it out, is that normal.  I am trying to keep my diet pretty bland but have noticed the burn when i have had acidic foods.  Drink gatorade daily as it was necessary with my bag because of dehydration problems.  Just looking for helpful hints.  I am still wearing the disposable diapers daily just in case, i have yet to have an accident but i guess it is like a security blanket for the time being.  One thing that i have noticed that is different from other posts is that i have a hard time peeing while sitting down and almost always have to pee standing.  Thanks in advance for any advice and I look forward to going through this journey with your support.

Wrenski in Florida

I had my reversal on May 12th, so we're about on the same schedule. I have about 8-10 BM's per day, depending on what, and how much I eat. Based on what everyone says on here, really pay attention to what you eat, keep it bland and slowly add one thing at a time so you can truly tell if it bothers you or not. My major issue at the moment is butt burn and anal fissures. There were some good recommendations under the "Butt Burn" topic on the message board. I'm sort of experimenting with multiple things at this point. 

Thanks for the reply, I have been using A&D ointment, used it on my kids and now on me. Seems to help a little. I have been trying to watch the diet and eat smaller several times per day and just trying not to eat that late. Good luck and we can track our progress together, I had my surgeries at Cleveland Clinic in Weston, FL. Dr. Juan Nogerous was my surgeon and would recommend him anytime.

Also if you are worried about frequency, ask your doctor if he's ok with you taking Imodium (or maybe he can prescribe you Lomotil). That seems to help alleviate the frequency in the short term while your J-Pouch adapts to its new use.

Wrenski, I'd recommend that you not strain hard to empty your pouch. Straining can cause a number of problems. Good luck!

Scott, what problems can straining cause? 

The most serious problem associated with straining is probably pouch prolapse. Hemorrhoids are also commonly associated with straining.