Is this normal?

Early on in your post, you mentioned that your surgeon is perplexed. Enough said, you need to go seek another opinion. You should not be in pain and having the symptoms that you are 3 months out from surgery. In the least, you doc should be able to put into context your symptoms. Have they changed over the past 1-2 months, gotten worse or better?

We had a similar experience with our surgeon. He was one of the most well known guys in town with a tremendous amount of experience with J-pouches. My wife was miserable with similar symptoms and our surgeon kept telling us that the pouch was fine.

He was wrong. Please go find another trusted opinion. Find someone who see's pouches frequently and if you can, get to a center of excellence, namely, Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. Guaranteed, you will not leave with a feeling that your doc is perplexed.

Dan

The "contractions" are a normal part of the healing process, but they can also be caused by pouchitis or cuffitis. So can the urgency and incontinence. Has your doctor evaluated you for those things?

Hi,

I'm also at three months post take down, and sometimes have the feelings you describe. I go 4-8 times a day, and sometimes a little more if I forget my Citrucel or eat something my body disagrees with. The more bulking foods I eat, the better I do, since the looser the stool, the more the urgency. If I take it too far though, I can get too firm and aggravate hemherroids I've developed.

I still have some pain, but this is mostly related to hemherroids. I do have urgency sometimes, but it's almost always related to excess gas (and the hemherroids make it worse). I've found I can pass gas laying on my side, and even sitting down, but the fuller the pouch, the bigger the risk.

My surgeon is very well regarded, and he says what I'm feeling is normal for this stage. He's very confident things will continue to get much better over the coming months.

One thing that has helped me, but still passes through me quickly, is eating yogurt every day. It seems to be calming things down.

This may all sound good and upbeat, but I can assure you, I still have many difficult moments. I agree with everyone about getting checked out, but I suspect you (we) still have a road ahead. I am certainly not used to taking so long to heal. It can be incredibly frustrating! Good luck and let us know what you find out!

I had all exactly the same symptoms for about 6 months after takedown. They slowly diminished, so don't lose hope; it really does just take some people longer. Having said this, it wouldn't hurt to be checked out for pouchitis (etc.) as others have suggested. About time for a post-op scope anyway, I would think.

Gin

Most of my urgency is related to gas too, it's really hard to hold it. Everything gets worse as the day goes on.
I do feel as though every week is a little better, but if still have these frustrations. My surgeon hasn't mentioned testing for pouchitis or cuffitis. I'm supposed to have my 6 month scope in July, but he wants to do it sooner if I don't improve soon.
Some days are pretty good, some days aren't. I can't seem to tie it to anything I eat.
Katie