severe fecal night time incontinence HELP!

Have you been evaluated for pouchitis? If that's the cause antibiotics would likely clear it up promptly.

No I have not received a diagnosis of pouchitis, I have no issues in the day, pain or discomfort, temperature - could it still be likely that I have it? Thank u for your quick response. drew

Agree - could be pouchitis. I recently went through yet another period of night-time incontinence, with no day-time issues. Was going on a trip and out of desperation, took augmentim 500 mg., 2/day for 10 days (tapered towards the end) and the incontinence has disappeared .... for now, anyhow.

Asked my local gastro and he agreed it was probably pouchitis. I'd recommend calling doc and ask for a short course of abx's.

Thank you so much for this advice .... I will get appointment with doc after the weekend and get me some .... Will report back when I have taken them and tell what happens. Cheers Drew

I'm from the uk so could u please advise me on what antibiotics to ask my doc to prescribe?. Many thanks

I do great on Augmentin and Cipro - but check out what Scott said about the Flagy. Flagyl doesn't like me, but it might, as Scott said, work better than Cipro - please report back after you've spoken to the doctor.

Hi guys after ur quick advice I went straight to the out if hours Doc and got some Metronidazole prescribed, the doc agreed with all ur words of wisdom So I've started taking them straight away (one pill three times a day) Tgank you all again! Lets see what happens and I shall report back Drew

Good luck! When an antibiotic works for pouchitis it seems to start working fairly quickly most of the time - perhaps a day or three. I hope you see prompt results. You may also want to consider a good probiotic to help prevent recurrences. I favor VSL #3 DS, if you can get insurance to cover it (the DS form requires a prescription).

Yep I got VSL3 on my prescription ... Here in the UK were very lucky and it comes free if charge as I get prescription paid by government. I hope for a better night sleep soon. Cheers Drew

So I'm three days into taking the flagyl and all my previous symptoms have gone! I'm quite amazed as I've been battling with my situation for months now .....I am experiencing some side effects of flagyl, like a consistent headache, night sweats and I seem to be low in energy. No nausea though, in fact it's nice to be able to eat again without worrying what will happen later on.

great news! based on your symptoms, i figured that's what it was. my pouch is always relatively calm during the day even during pouchitis bouts. bedtime issues are always the first sign that it's creeping back for me. flagyl does not agree with me so it is not my first choice of antibiotics. you could always try cipro next time (hopefully there isn't a next time though!). it has less side effects for most people.

I'm delighted that it's working for you! If the side effects are tolerable it might be simplest to soldier through a full course of Flagyl. If you get a recurrence at some point a different med might be a more pleasant experience for you.

I was so sad to read your initial post tonight but then was delighted to read about your success with Flagyl - minus the side effects. Yep, nighttime incontinence was always my first sign that pouchitis was flaring.

All antibiotics have side effects, but it sounds like you might want to do some experimenting since your side effects seem challenging. I primarily used Cipro, Flagyl, and Augmentin when I had pouchitis. Cipro worked for me but the other two were less effective. There's another antibiotic, Xifaxan, that was attractive to me because I think it is only absorbed in the intestines and does not go out into the rest of the system, but it wasn't enough for me. I think it was viewed as more of a maintenance drug, not for occasional blasts of antibiotics. I really wanted that one to work, but it didn't. Some people have had success with topical antibiotics used in enema form instead of needing to take a systemic drug. Others have used Pepto Bismol.

No matter which way you go with antibiotics, please do take probiotics and consider looking at your dietary choices, as well. There's no one cookie cutter way to eat with a j-pouch, so we all need to do some trial and error to find what works for our particular bodies. In general, though, I would start by limiting sugar intake and also stop eating early in the evening to help with sleep.

Glad you are getting more sleep and not waking up to a mess. Many of us have been there and it is such a nightmare!

Good luck!

Thank you every one for your word, thoughts and advice it's really made a difference! My headaches seem t have stopped so I will solider on with the rest of my flagyl course ... I'm in reflection annoyed that my specialist sent me on a goose chase for month with my symptoms and had me on high codine levels to help constipated me and even wanted me to go over to an anti-depresentfor it's constipatory effects! They did not think I had pouchitis as I was not showing ALL the signs I seems to have managed my health all the way through this and it had got hard! Thank u again .... Now I no what I'm looking for (if there is a) next time. The positive part of my recovery is that I'm setting up my own business in personal training (fitness) as I want to help others get back on their feet and in top health after a life change ... I've just set up my blog maybe some of u could check it out and give me feed back? Www.wrightechniquefitness.wordpress.com
Cheers Drew

Great to hear, Drew. Hopefully this course of abx's will do the job and you won't have these issues in the future. But if you do, there are plenty of other abx's out there that you can try, as noted above. Another one I'll throw out is tindamax, or "super flagyl" (as Dr. Shen called it).

Thank you I will keep that in mind for the future! I'm just so happy to be able to sleep and eat better