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Hi ladies,

I've posted about this before on the general forum and/or the Pouchitis forum, but it probably makes more sense here.

I had my colectomy last November, with take-down in February 2015. I was doing *great* for the first stretch, and then began having upsets in the 10 days or so before my period last July. It didn't become a regular, like-clockwork problem until November. It seems I get either pouchitis or a manageable obstruction within the 10-day window every month.

I've been lucky enough to ride out most of these hiccups, but I did decide to try Cipro twice. The first time I had immediate side-effects that wore of pretty quickly, but the second time they came on late and stuck around for a while. They included (but weren't limited to) muscle pains/spasms, totally spacing out in the middle of conversations, and crying like a baby for an entire day the day after my final dose. I really don't want to take it again.

Last month I made it without any upsets, and I thought I was in the clear this month, but my period started yesterday and I've been a dry-heaving mess since. My back is killing me, I felt myself almost leak in the night last night, and was up to poop every 2 hours or so. I have no appetite and I'm still belching/gagging even though the BMs have slowed down (and the last one I had was even my definition of "normal" instead of watery). I want to say things are improving, but who knows if it'll last.

I know it's not uncommon for women with IBD and j-pouches to suffer more during menstruation, and I'm wondering what the rest of you do if you fall into this unfortunate category? Are you able to regularly ride it out, or do you have to go on antibiotics whenever this happens? I try to adjust my diet and habits around my period, but I'm admittedly not doing a great job of it (coffee gets me every. damn. time.) 

Thanks,

Janine

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I, too, have noticed a definite increase in pouchitis symptoms, pain, spasms, frequency, and general malaise before & during my menstrual cycle.  It happens even when I am already on antibiotics for chronic pouchitis. The pain & spasms become so painful (probably intensified by a mucosal prolapse of jpouch)  I often resort to pain meds. I noticed this monthly pattern for over 15 years, even before my jpouch when my UC was misbehaving. My male doctors have always said there is no connection, but female doctors & nurses quite agree with me.

I have the same problem. My pouch is only a year old and I am hoping it will work itself out over the years. Even though with UC, I would always flare around my period so I began skipping my period with birth control pills until I wanted to try for a baby.

Now that I am off birth control, during the few days leading up to my period (& ovulation actually) when I began to flare I will take a high dose of Flagyl (1000mg) at night and see how I feel the next day. If still bad, I will take 500mg Flagyl the next night. You could try the Flaguyl instead of Cipro, or try skipping your period all together with birth control. My Gyno said I only needed to have 1 period per year, even though I never went that long without one. I would only skip 3-4 months and then suffer through one.

I am past that now but when I did have my periods it felt like my uterus was going to fall out. It felt so heavy...baseball bat to the kidneys feeling too...

Yes, it got worse with my pouch...no, time did not make it any easier...but modern medicine did. I got different treatments that helped... at one point they put me on progesterone to stop my period for 3 years. 

The pill helped a lot too.

Talk to your gyn and see if they have something that can help you.

Sharon 

I also found that menstrual cups reduced my cramping and pouch problems. Its interesting how that works. I would recommend looking into birth control that reduces cramping and bleeding. I also know that the really potent anti-inflammatories were a HUGE help if you don't want to go the birth control route. They have some pretty serious side-effects if you take them long term but you might only need them 2-3 days a month. I just happened to stumble on this when I was taking celebrex for tendonitis. It completely stopped all of my cramping and pouch problems. It turned out that if I took it about 2 days before I started my period and the first day of my period I had zero cramping or diarrhea. 

So happy to of found this thread, even if it has been a few years. I also get very bad pain during ovulation and my period. for about 3 or 4 days during Ovulation and the run up to my period i have such bad bowels, butt burn and bathroom visits that i end up on the floor after trying to breath through the pain till it passes. I have found rectogesic really helps during those times, along with hot water bottles, paracetamol and a bit of self care

There was a part of me that doubted it was due to periods but finding this thread has made me feel less alone.



Thank you

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