if i remember correctly, beth156 has had her pouch for 15 years...that's a LONG time!!! we are nowhere near that. i am sure things will change quite a bit in that time. we are all different though. there are days where having a j-pouch reminds me of colitis (without the blood, pain), but mostly because of the frequency. also i still have a bit of urgency and yes, lots of burn. i'm not sure about helping the gas, because there was SO MUCH GAS for me right after takedown that really time just helped to ease it. maybe smaller meals, chewing food well, pepto/gas-x, oh...taking LOTS of walks helped me with the gas pains. i took Cipro for a few weeks that helped settle things down. maybe yogurt/probiotics might help, or they could help later. i took almost 3 sitz baths a day in the first couple months. spent long nights in the bathroom. went through Calmoseptine like it was goin' outta style! did all kinds of tricks and tips for my arse that seemed to offer temporary relief. got a bidet, sprayed my butt in the shower, rubbed oil on it, soaked it in yogurt, sat in baths, called upon the j-pouch genies.... i felt like my butt was a kitchen / baking project! i still use calmoseptine, but take less baths now.
now in month 3-4, i feel much better energy-wise, so it is easier to handle these issues. when you have surgery recently, and are still recovering / exhausted / in pain, then dealing with the j-pouch adaptation and quirks on top of that are enough to make you batty! it was really hard, but i tried to get my mind off my pouch (ok actually that was impossible), but i tried to get fresh air and other distractions, like TV. Looking back, I should have done more of that, as my friends had suggested, but i was miserable and did not see the point. now i see how those things would probably have helped, because whether i liked it or not, i was simply going to have to wait a bit longer for my body to adjust. so instead of keeping a little busier with other distractions, i lay in bed and cursed my pouch!!! i don't think that helped my recovery much. be sure to take lots of walks and hang in there! this surgery was so complex and bigger than open-heart surgery, so i guess we need to be very patient. even at 4 months out, i have to remind myself that it has NOT even been 1 year yet, so hopefully still more improvements to come! i also had complications early on (like stricture), so i followed up with my doctors almost weekly. hope you feel better soon!