Questions..

Sounds like SIBO. Cut out sugar and carbs and eat clean. Small course of antibiotics should help.

I sleep 8-10 hours and never empty at night.

Vanessayy: What do you eat at night and when do you eat? I would love not to get up once or twice every night!

Thanks

The only time I don't sleep through the night is if I eat early in the evening and don't empty before I go to bed and have a lot of gas moving around.

I usually eat around 10pm since I am a late night person, go to bed around midnight and get up around 9 am. Today I slept on and off until 2pm. I just roll on a different side and ignore my pouch unless I really have to go.

Tonight I ate hot wings and plantain chips.
Other night I had a banana and some goat yogurt with honey. I mean, it changes. Night before I had a chicken salad from Chipotle.

If I dreamed about hot wings and chips I would have to get up at least two times. Good for you!

How old is your pouch and how big is it? If you can hold it normally for 6-8 hours in the day you should be able to go the whole night.

37 years old. I used to have much more capacity and anytime my pouch gets close to full my brain wakes me to empty it. I might try keeping a tube in it for a few days and letting it get fuller than normal to see if I can expand it again.

Have you tried eliminating dairy from your diet and taking probiotics?

Pouches don't shrink dpol. So that shouldn't be your case. Maybe immodiun would help you.

Food is through me in 10 minutes give or take so once I empty before bed it is fairly good for the night,

Yes, unfortunately, they can shrink.
If for some reason you have to spend time on I.V. or on TPN and do not use your pouch or are on a very restrictive diet (I was on no carbs for over 20 yrs...so very low residue) then your pouch can shrink...I went down to 1/2 litre capacity...my best is over 1 litre (about a quart)...being on strait drain can do it too. You can re-stretch it by slowly increasing input or putting off intubating for 1/2-1 hr or more...but do it slowly.
Sharon

I am using a probiotic and it has helped smell and quality of output, not so watery. I think gas may be a problem and I think that as gas may go to the top of the pouch it can cause entry to become difficult very quickly. I still may try to expand pouch as skn69 discussed.

Thanks to all

Odd. All my surgeons have said once it is mature that is the size. Our stomachs don't shrink either (myth) so why would the pouch?

No Idea.
I was told that pouches stretch and can also shrink and that the fact that I was intubating too often (not allowing my pouch to fill to capacity) was causing it to shrink. When Dr C went in to fix it in 2007 it had shrunk to just under 2 pints when it was normally a quart or more when I was doing well. It happened often during the period when I had a 'broken' valve and couldn't allow my pouch to fill.
There is definitely some level of elasticity to our guts...I am just not sure to what extent they stretch and stay distended or can shrink back.
I wonder if it is like skin? It stretches and shrinks back but not always or totally and after a while the fibers can break and never come back.
It is an interesting question and it is probably different for each or us depending on our collagene level or hormones or age.
Anybody out there with the answers?
Sharon

dpol, I would definitely try cutting out sugar, carbs (especially gluten), and dairy. Also anything else you know that causes you to have gas.

Arlene, pouchitis will definitely make sleeping through the night impossible. As soon as you empty the pouch, it feels full again (although it's not). Flagyl worked for me but I HATE that stuff. More recently a naturopath put me on Mycostat instead and it worked too. With either one, within a day or two you'll begin to feel some relief.
Debbie

I cannot tell you all what a help it has been to be able to reach out to this site for help & advice. I feel so much better now. I tried advice from all and ended up Pepto in the am, VSL# 3 at night, bifidus mid day, less carbs, less yeast and less sugar.
I am able to go 5-6 hours during the day and sleep without emptying. Again thank you all, I reach out to this site to learn how others cope with issues relating to the K-pouch and am constantly amazed by this group's stamina and creativity in dealing with all issues that arise. After living with this since 1979 I am still learning.

DG78 - what was the dosage of the mycostat you took? Thinking of trying it, I am still having some issues. With meals? thanks for the help.

Sorry, I haven't been checking the site for awhile and just saw your message. I start with 3 capsules after meals twice a day, and then after a week cut back to 2 caps twice a day for 3 more weeks. Then 1 cap twice a day for another month or two. (My naturopath does things very cautiously). In the beginning the Mycostat would cause me to burp and had an odd smell, but either the burping went away or I got used to the smell, because it didn't seem so bad after awhile.

quote:

Mycostat

Never heard of it. What is the main purpose on taking it?

My naturopath had me take it when I felt like I was getting pouchitis. I buy Mycostat Complex Caps by Professional Formulas from the PureFormulas.com website. Their website says 'Nutritional Mycotoxin Formula - Mycostat Capsules are specially designed to assist the bowel control Intestinal yeast and Fungal overgrowth'.