I am 3 years post k pouch formation from 15 years of UC. A year ago I was diagnosed with severe iron deficiency anemia and have to take iron infusions once/month just to keep my hemoglobin levels high enough to not need blood transfusions. So the doc told me that even if I took a whole bottle of iron pills a day, it would do me no good. So the newest event is that whole pills (medications) are coming out of my pouch. They plug my catheter and hurt like hell coming out of my valve and ostomy site. But they are WHOLE. Not digested at all. I've also been losing weight no matter what I eat. I'm assuming they're going to try some kind of intravenous replacements, but I was wondering if anyone else has this issue and what they did to treat it?? Thanks in advance!
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Hi Holly,
I remeber taking those pills!
Had them shipped here at great expense only to discover that they go in and come out in the same condition.
I finally got prescribed iron shots that I took weekly...(they actually tatoo the butt so be careful)...it lasted about a year or 2 until I could get my levels up but in the end I started taking everything in liquid, gelcap or chewable form...works much better for us. Our transit time is often too quick and thus some things just do not digest, especially if they are coated so you need to either crush them (I bought a cheap pill cutter/crusher and it works wonders on a lot of pills) or peel them (pull the coating off) or open them up into a glass of liquid.
You can also take blackstrap molassases (sp?) which is reputed to have a very high iron content.
If you are also losing weight at an alarming speed then maybe you have a low grade form of pouchitis or something similar that has your body ejecting things too quickly.
Try going onto a high grade probiotic for a while and see if that doesn't slow things down a bit...it could help you.
And please avoid taking those pills whole...they can hurt your valve coming out...not a good thing.
Sharon
Thanks for the advice! I have quit taking the pills whole...but am still getting old ones out periodically. I am not losing weight too quickly, I just think I'm not absorbing anything from my food intake at all. The iron infusions help with the anemia, just have to get to a level where we can start maintenance treatments. I won't know what to do if my hemoglobin gets back to double digits. I just didn't know if anyone had tried taking multivitamin intravenous therapy (which I can do while I get my iron infusions). It seems to be my last option. I have switched to liquid meds where I can and gel caps everywhere else. My only problem is that I am a night shift RN and have to take ambien to help me sleep during the days and they taste horrible crushed. So I've been cutting them up into about 4 small pieces and that seems to work. At least I get enough effect that I can sleep and the pieces that come out aren't big enough to occlude the catheter completely. ��
My best friend has an animal hospital and they tell all their patients to give pill to their dogs in peanut butter...same suggestion here too..Crush and take mixed into a tsp of peanut butter (or nutella...pick your poison)...
Sharon