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Reply to "Imodium"

Hello, SK.

What is your diet like?  When you left hospital after reversal, did they give you a list of foods to eat and what to avoid in the first few months?  I was around 8 times a day for the first three weeks, then developed pouchitis which pushed it to 12 + times per day. Only then did I start taking Imodium because I didn't know I had pouchitis. I was given Cipro by my doctor which helped the pouchitis immediately, by the third dose, and cut the frequency and thickened everything.

I found that eating white rice or pasta or noodles with protein helped to thicken too. I avoided tomato sauce and citrus because of the acid burn, but now I can eat both with no problems. I avoided foods that are insoluble fiber, ie., hard vegetables, corn, mushrooms, leafy greens, salads, lettuce, nuts, seeds because it either caused frequency or caused stoppage, followed by bum fire. Now I can eat everything, so it might just take your pouch time to adjust. Ate lots of sunny-side-up eggs or scrambled eggs, toast with almond butter, which helped slow things down and provided much needed protein to heal the tissue damage of surgery. Try a soluable food such as zucchini, but don't eat the skin; peel it, and eat only the cooked flesh for now.  Zucchini will give you a soft soluable fiber and can help thicken things. Later on you can reintroduce insoluable fiber. You are probably still swollen inside and your new j pouch does not like having any type of stool (loose or firm) against it so it's working overtime to expel it. Your pouch is still learning how to be a colon. It spent your whole life being a small intestine, just quietly absorbing nutrients and suddenly it's expected to be a colon. Take Imodium if you absolutely need it, but try whole foods to help your new pouch adjust, chew all foods thoroughly, try lots of fresh fish, baked chicken, tofu, to help your output. Try to space your three meals -- and maybe two snacks -- evenly throughout the day so that your body doesn't go into starvation mode if you stop eating by the afternoon. Give your pouch time to recover and learn how to work. Best wishes.

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