Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago, I went in for a dilation procedure to resolve what my G/I doc thought was an anal stricture causing my several months constipation and straining to produce a bowel movement. I hadn't changed anything in my diet or exercise, but my G/I system was not working the same as it always had. I have had plenty of problems with diarrhea, but never sustained constipation. You gave me great advice on what to expect at the dilation procedure and encouraged me to opt for the sedation, which I did. After the scope, my G/I doc told me she found no stricture at all - not at the anal end or the anastomosis site - so no dilation was done. She said everything looked "fine". I asked her if she knew what else could cause constipation and she replied she didn't know, but would "ask around". She suggested that maybe a lab test called a defecography might be instructive, but she wasn't sure that would work for a person with a jpouch and would get back to me. That was 3 weeks ago, and I haven't heard from her. I haven't contacted her because a) I don't know what to ask that I haven't asked already and b) I don't think she has a lot of experience with jpouches.
To get by these days, I am drinking a lot more water, soup, broth, herbal tea, and relying on Miralax, senna, ducolax, enemas, suppositories, and even the occasional half bottle of magnesium citrate to really clear it all out.
Any ideas? Suggestions? I thank you mightily in advance for your help. If I have some ideas as to what could cause chronic constipation in a person with a jpouch, that would be a good step toward being to better address it.
P.S. I am 70, otherwise in pretty darn good health, walk 3 to 5 miles a day, do not have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. In 2008, I had a colectomy due to non-genetic but extensive polyposis. Unfortunately, the colectomy knotted up due to scar tissue adhesions. 5 weeks after the colectomy and 4 weeks of TPN via a PICC line, I went in for exploratory surgery and woke up to the surprise of a j-pouch and what the surgeon described as "about 6 inches of colon remnants" :-)