Skip to main content

11 replies

Menopause and pouch problems

L LisaTMember
Problems with my pouch, stricutures,chronic inflammation started when I began peri menopause ans continue into post menopause. Anyone have anything to add? Any research out there? I just wonder because i've read about women who have either remission or flare up of pouch issue during menopause. Any thoughts?
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

L liz11Member
interesting lisa. I just had my extremely problematic and dysfunctional jpouch excised. Pretty sure I'm in perimenopause and I've been diagnosed with adenomyosis. Seems as its messed up the small intestine so much with such massive bloating that it actually caused partial blockages in addition to massive pain. I was virtually bedridden and unable to eat for 2 weeks. Trying to get a doctor to put this all together is a nightmare. Every doc blames the other doc and no one is able to help.
HEre's a link to one research paper. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9746678
samantha1803samantha1803Member
This menopause/pouch dilemma is just that, a real dilemma. As liz says it's hard to get the gyny doc together with the GI. I am actually awaiting a hysterectomy due to heavy periods, fiboids blocking my pouch and on and on. To get the 2 depts. together is a mission. They both need to do the surgery together so I sit and wait and suffer...

I kind of always had a touchy pouch and also had UC since age 8 so I have had trouble all my life. However this menopause thing is a different, bigger, scarier animal. I have talked to other pouchers and they have gotten relief from hysterectomy, not to say that you should do that but some suggest going on the pill do regulate hormones and lessen pouch problems during peri and menopause.

What are you having trouble with?

PS. You are SO not alone on this one!
L liz11Member
so samantha what have you done to try to get these docs to work together? I have 4 docs involved now. - colorectal surgeon, GI, gyneco, and urogynecologist (as seems the jpouch excision surgery tilted everything around and that is causing gyn problems which my gyn said I needed a urogyn for).. and no one is doing anything. How the heck do you get these docs to do something?
nikikinikikiMember
Wow, thank you, thank you, thank all of you, for posting..

I have wondered for years if there was a relationship between my menstrual cycle and the function of my pouch. Now that it seems I'm in perimenopause I've wondered even more. Thanks for bringing it up, and thanks so much Liz for that link and bringing up adenomyosis. I've just gone through what seems to be another massive dip in my hormones and all of a sudden having more problems with my pouch than I've known in the past, again feeling as if there was a relationship.

Please share if any of you come up with more information, and I'll do the same...

Good luck ladies!
samantha1803samantha1803Member
I would just like to emphasize how much hormones and pouch issues are related. I have been in touch with another poucher who had a hysterectomy for endometreosis and her pouch has dramatically settled down. I am due to have a hysterectomy sometime in the near future and hoping it will be the same for me. I have always have felt a connection with a funky pouch during my period. Funny enough I don't recall that problem when I had UC but I was a lot younger then. Perhaps the connection IS menopause or perimenopause. Yes, if ladies out there find anything that we can do to make our lives easier and for those of you who don't need a hysterectomy.

I did start taking wild yam root this past week. It is a supplement for menopause symptoms. No results yet but will keep you posted. The reviews on the site I ordered them from were really positive. Other menopause supplements I have tried were very acidic and gave me butt burn so I had to discontinue as soon as I started.
skn69skn69Member
Hi Ladies,
Yup, you are all right....hormones control all bodily functions especially anything to do with your digestive system...from start to finish.
Most non-pouchers get diareaha, vomitting, swelling, cravings, hot or cold feet, headaches, mood swings and a lot more including the taste of food changing in their mouths etc when in PMS or during their periods..so why wouldn't we???? Except with a shorter and modified system we get it in spades...biology dictates that your body must 'eliminate' build up in your intestines during your periods so yup...you get more liquidy stools too..Menopause just multiplys things by 100!
I found that my muscles thinned a bit when menopause started and I had abdominal problems holding my pouch up (hernias) as well as all the rest.
I took a soya/wild yam mix for the hot flashes and it seemed to help the rest too...it is not a cure but it does help.
My gyn does not believe in hormone replacement therapy unless things are severe but it can really help pouchers to control miserable pouch syndrome, fibroms etc..She suggests only using natural and not synthestic hormones though.
Dietary changes help a lot too (less sugar, fats and more protiens) and so does exercise, long walks or yoga...
Sharon
SM Sara MarieMember

This is an excellent discussion and I'm sure people have updates since 2012 or new people have things to add, so I wanted to bring it back.  I have also noticed a correlation between menstrual activity and bad butt symptoms (more gas, more trips to the bathroom, sore butt, bloating) even when I have a ghost period, which is what I call it when I get the PMS but no blood.  I just started to count sore butt as a PMS symptom, and so I treat it with PMS herbs and it helps a lot.

I'm also thinking about coming off HRT to see if that helps.  I got on HRT after I noticed perimenopause symptoms a few years after cancer treatment (chemo only).  It's been about 10 years and I don't know if the added progesterone/estrogen is triggering butt trouble.  I feel like my system has evened out a lot.  I started taking some phytoestrogens from soy on the days I don't take the hormones, as I'm alternating HRT days instead of taking them every day.

I'd love to hear especially from anyone who has come off HRT.  How did it affect the pouch?  I'm extremely curious.

Last edited by Sara Marie
A AllisonMember

My pouch has been going crazy in the last year during perimenopause.  I'm getting a lot of bloat and not going to the bathroom as much as I used to during the day, but going all night.  I go to bed looking pregnant then wake up after several trips to the bathroom looking normal again.  

Anyone have any tips? Does it settle down once you're in menopause?

SM Sara MarieMember

I didn't end up coming off HRT but I did reduce my estrogen and progesterone dose and this helped me in the reduction and frequency of PMS symptoms that include lower back pain and butthole irritation (especially hemorrhoids).

I wonder if you're having an increased sensitivity to foods or a reduction in your production of digestive enzymes?  I have been experimenting with those lately and they have helped reduce bloat and I feel like I'm getting more nutrition/energy from my food.  That paired with psyllium husk powder before/during meals seems to regulate the guts much better than before.  But I don't know if that's what will work for you!  I also don't eat a lot of irritating things like wheat and dairy.  I have little bits but generally I avoid them.  Oh yeah, and I love peppers but I don't have them often because they are very gassy.  Onions and garlic used to be gassy but now are ok with enzymes.  I don't know of a supplemental enzyme for digesting peppers or I'd be trying that for sure!

Add Reply

Views: 1,782
Post
Copyright © 2025 The J-Pouch Group. All rights reserved.

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×