timing of problem foods/drinks

I think this would vary considerably from person to person, and probably depending on the food (and what other foods were eaten with it, etc). When I had my ileostomy, I pegged my transit time down to about 4 hours, but that isn't really an indicator for problem foods. Right now, not too many specific foods bother me, but if I drink coffee, I'm having liquid BMs as soon as 20 minutes later. I do find other foods increase my frequency, such as yams/sweet potatoes and baked beans, and the effect lasts for as long as 24 hours after I've eaten the food. Other annoyances, like raw green peppers, which cause gas, might start bothering me within an hour or two after eating it. Basically, it's all over the map.

If you are really trying to peg this down, as was suggested to me by my dietician, you should keep a food diary. Keep a list of what foods you eat, how much, and when you eat them, as well as any symptoms you might have (for instance gas, frequency, cramping, diarrhea, butt burn, etc). It's then easier to trace back to a possible problem food, although you may have to chart this for a month or two before you notice any real pattern, especially if you are early out from your takedown. It's not a quick fix.

Also, keep in mind that just because a food has bothered you in the months following your takedown, doesn't mean that it will continue to be a problem. You can reintroduce "suspect" foods again after a few months, perhaps when you start to fall into better rhythm with the pouch. Often you'll find that something that bothered you in the weeks after takedown doesn't bother you as much, if at all anymore.

Beans- usually within 45 minutes. Sometimes I think I just have to look at them to cause problems.

Broccoli - anywhere from an hour or two until the next day. They give me gas something fierce.

I don't drink any alcohol. If I did, I'd be more concerned about dehydration than anything else.

If a food does cause me problems, usually a heavy cheese dish will bind stuff up and slow things down.

The other thing I should mention about a food diary is that it may in fact help you identify some foods that improve your frequency/output. For example, oatmeal slows me way down and is a good food for me to eat if things are a little irritating. It calms my whole system.

good info, thanks. i wish i could have that fast of transit time, or i could drink something that would clear me out that quick! i legitimately have pinned my transit time to be 12 to 16 hours. no joke. yet i am still going, because it is pushing out the previous days output.

this is hard stuff...grrr.....

oh PS have you found that things that didnt bother you with the ostomy, bother you now? i feel like (WISH) if it didnt bother me with the ostomy it shouldnt now!! whats the big difference?!?! the last foot is so radically different than the rest?!?!

Actually, my transit time was about 4 hours with the ostomy. It varies quite a bit now, depending what I eat. Honestly, I've eaten corn and peas before, which haven't come out until a day or two later, though I don't feel blocked and I'm having other BMs in the interim. I'm not sure where the stuff hides.

In response to your second question, yes indeed! You may find you can eat more with the pouch, once you've adjusted. I can eat a lot more now with the pouch than I could with the ostomy, though a lot of my food restrictions with the ostomy were due to fear of blockages rather than specific food intolerances. I had several blockages, two full (requiring treatment) and a few partial that I was able to manage on my own (though one, I was just getting ready to go to the hospital when I passed on its own. I think it was all the rushing around trying to pack a bag *LOL*). Thankfully, I have not had an obstruction with the j-pouch. I've got a little bunged up but nothing serious.

Anyway, I highly recommend the food diary. You don't even have to be too meticulous about it, but even keeping a general record of what you've eaten and if you have any symptoms can be very helpful, since we are all highly individual and foods that bother one person may not bother another.

I've tried alcohol several times and it tastes differently. I've made bloody Mary's with vodka thinking the V-8 juice I used would offset the dehydration of the alcohol. I've been on pain medication off and on so have not been able to drink much anyway.

As for food it is amazing to me how some foods, like little shreds of lettuce on a taco will go ahead of the rest of the food and shoot out in 15 minutes and the rest of the taco is digested in 4 hours. Same with some other foods too. I quit trying to eat broccoli as it smells horrible,comes out undigested is gassy and doesn't taste the same either.

I always need to use the loo after the dinner meal but others don't. Spooky has good advice about a food diary, sounds boring but helps.

Try a 'colored' food like beets. That is a good indicator of transit time for me. When my mouth sees the beets advancing I swear it's out the other end before they even hit the chompers. And it's so easy to tell transit time with beets because the first time you try them you pass out because you swear you've just hemorrhaged every drop of blood in your body. After you wake up from passing out you'll then remember that you had beets and you're perfectly fine. But the color in the toilet is absolutely awesome!

kathy

haha i shall try this maybe.....

as far as ostomy vs pouch, im finding that its the opposite at this point in time...i could tolerate MORE foods with the ostomy.ugh..

hmm so i wonder if its possible that the alcohol was even the cause, or if it was, if its possible for it to have bothered me for two days after the fact...

interesting adn frustrating stuff here.

Kathy I need to thank you for the beet post. I get fooled every time! I don't eat them too often but I swear I start crying every time i see the toilet that color. I sure this is the big one!

Thanks for the laugh, I really needed that.

I was stubborn from the start and decided I wasn't going to cut anything form my diet, and so suffered through sometimes weeks of gas or pain from lettuce of broccoli or something, and now, 17 years later, I can have anything I want. It wasn't always easy, but it's been fine.

Some people find they can't tolerate things they once could, and trying to work through it is harder than giving it up, and some aren't going to be able to. If this is your first time trying alcohol, try a smaller amount and work up to a full drink. I don't know how alcohol would have affected me soon after my surgeries since I was 14 and, well, yeah, no chance of more than an occasional sip of wine, but I had my days of clubbing and lots of drinking and was just fine. The one thing I had to watch for was getting dehydrated easier than my friends, which happens anyway, but alcohol makes that easier. In fact, it's dehydration that's to blame for hang-overs.

thanks for the response.

im not sure if it was the alcohol, because i tried again and didnt have the same problems...

crazy stuff here, this j pouch is!!!!