Night time bathroom and liquid absorption

Distilled water isn’t ideal for drinking, IMO. It turns out that some salt and even sugar helps water absorption. If you read about Oral Rehydration Solution you can find recipes, or find premixed stuff. I also suspect that a modest dinner might also help with fluid absorption - you can tinker with things like fat content, fiber content, etc. Each of us is different, but neither the intestine nor the J-pouch are designed to work best with just liquid contents.

In paediatrics (my specialty) we have something that is described as "starvation stool".  That is when a child is given only a liquid diet during a GI illness and the diarrhea continues long after the illness should be finished.  The gut works best with solids as well as liquids in a balance.  By eating and drinking so minimally I might suggest you are not doing your body any favours.  It does take a great deal of time and experimentation to figure out what works best for you and your pouch.  Some nights I am up 2-3 times and others I sleep right through.  I eat three meals a day and try to drink at least a litre through the day.  My pouch works best when it is properly filled and has a chance to empty.

How long have you had your pouch?

25 years

Hi Brad,

I tend to agree with everyone here. Having said that, you have a pouch for 25 years, congrats for being a long timer! (Ideally I should be getting advice from you, as I am only a 1 year poucher).

i think everyone is different but I take Imodium 3 times daily (breakfast dinner and bedtime) to slow things down and limit liquid discharge. It’s always a work in progress.  I eat two big meals a day and try not to eat past 6 pm.

this generally gives me good results, but certain non GI meds cause liquid stools, so it’s an ongoing balancing act. I drink 64 ounces per day of Gatorade to keep me hydrated but I attest to the fact that if I just drink and not eat it would cause watery stool.

perhaps you can fill us in on some more details of your daily routine and then we can try to see if your experiences match some of ours and we can compare in greater detail our specific solutions.

You must be doing something right to have 25 years in and hardly posting here. Would love to hear more of your success story.

eric