I’ve been dealing with symptoms of “Butt burn” for just over a year now. (Urgency, frequency, burning during and after emptying pouch). Symptoms seem to worsen in the early afternoon and subside by the evening. I had an IPAA in 2009 and have been relatively good, since. A couple cases of pouchitis, and twice-yearly blockages.
I went on a heavy dose of Probiotics (Visbiome) in December 2019 to treat my symptoms, and over the course of 3 months, weaned from 4 to 1 sachet per day. They seemed to really help, and I was in decent shape for many months. (Albeit, not my regular self). In the last few weeks, my symptoms have started to return. I’ve had two pouchoscopys...one in Dec, one last week, which both indicated no signs of disease whatsoever.
I brought up the possibility of bile acid diarrhea, and was prescribed Cholestyramine which I’ve been taking for 5 days. I feel no positive change. How long does it take to work? If this doesn’t solve my problem I truly don’t know what options are left for me.
side note: my symptoms started in the final month of my pregnancy. I am still nursing 2x/day. I was diagnosed with obstetric cholestasis at around the same time my symptoms presented. I sense they’re linked but I’m not sure.