Hi everyone - I am new here...and very uninformed, so bear with me! lol
My husband has the jpouch. He's 30 now, and had the surgery when he was 21 before I met him. When I first started to date him, he was on muscle relaxers, pain medicine, anxiety medicine, and probably others I don't even know or remember. Long story short, he was on A LOT of medicine. He has horrible arthritis, mainly in his knees, and has always taken pain meds for that, however, it was always a goal of his to get off of them.
About a year into our relationship, he did prolotherapy (spelling?) for his knees. Very costly, but it worked wonders for him. Fast forward to today, he's off ALL of his pain medicine, and the only prescriptions he now has are a muscle relaxer (low dose, when he needs it) and a low dose anxiety med. He always says "this is the healthiest I've been" and I'm very proud of him. After being somewhat dependent on these drugs, I know it is liberating for him to no longer need them.
A few months ago, he was having a lot of stomach issues, mainly at night. He was losing sleep from having to use the bathroom constantly. After getting an upper endoscopy, we found he just had some signs of inflammation, in which the doctor prescribed flagyl. Flagyl helped a lot, but as soon as he ran out of it, his issues came back. He was given another round, and the same happened. After trying to get more of it, his gastro doc told him "I really don't like prescribing flagyl long term. I will give you more, but only take it when you absolutely need it." He wanted him to also try this probiotic, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I have read many mix reviews on flagyl...some here say they've been on it 20+ years with no issues, and others swear they've developed problems. My husband did experience joint numbness, which I read can be a side effect.
I guess my question is, are there any other options for him other than the antibiotics and probiotics? He doesn't necessarily have pouchitis, but I'm guessing he does have an overgrowth of bacteria causing him these issues. Are there foods he should be avoiding (he's a huge carb eater, and is pretty stubborn when it comes to food...he eats whatever he wants, and in very large quantities.) Not sure if there's a site that offers diet guidelines for someone like him, but I am willing to try since I cook the food!
And...on a completely unrelated topic....I'd like to hear from a few men on here...we will be trying to conceive and I'm worried for whatever reason, we will have trouble. Does this surgery effect a man's fertility in any way? I'm hoping to hear some success stories from a few dad's on here! I guess it's just something I've always worried about...and now that we are actually discussing when we want to try, it's been weighing on my mind.
Thanks for all the help!