Hi, Sara Marie, I was out of pocket yesterday, but I really wanted to get back with you. I have never had a bowel obstruction because of food. I did have a long piece of scar tissue that “broke loose “ and wrapped around part of my intestines; it tied my guts up like a ribbon. It was extremely painful, so I can certainly appreciate folks who have to deal with obstructions. Thankfully, it was a fairly simple surgery to clip and remove it. That was years ago, within the first year of my surgery back in 1989.
The ice water is very important because it helps to keep the psyllium lumpy and dry, which is what you want. I stress the Original Formula KONSYL because I have found it works best over other brands. KONSYL have a “new and improved version” that does not work as well. I’ve tried the other popular brands, and they are too smooth. You want as “dry as an organic sponge” as you can get for the JPouch so that it will absorb the watery stools. That is also why cooked white rice (not brown rice) works best. I’ve even chewed up dry Minute Rice (about 3 or 4 tablespoons) to get an organic “sponge” into my JPouch quickly . I eat breakfast fairly quickly within taking the mixture. Again, don’t drink much. If I really need to have a fairly good “bathroom free” day for a few hours, I might eat toasted cheese or white rice with cheese. This would constipate an elephant, but works for my JPOUCH. Another thing, even though I’ve read that several small meals throughout the day might be best, I have definitely found this not to be true for me. All that does is keep the JPouch turned on and running all day long ( putting me constantly in the bathroom). I taught school for years and had to keep myself and JPouch on a doable schedule.
I do try to hydrate and eat more healthily at night. I can’t take a lot of supplements without giving my JPouch fits, but I am able to take a Silver Centrum for Adults. I’ve taken that since my early 30’s. It seems to have what I need. The women’s version does not help me as much. For some reason , just the Silver Adults helps me best with fatigue and depression issues.
I would not be afraid to take more psyllium. In fact, you might might try doubling it by taking it twice within about 15 minutes. I guess that could be a problem if bowel obstructions are a problem, but even then, I would think drinking more water would flush out psyllium.
I have tried taking the psyllium in capsule form since that would enable getting it more directly into the JPouch with less amount of water. However, it seems to take about 20 capsules to work, and I still don’t think it’s as good.
Some good snacks to help with energy are dry bananas chips, almonds, and dark chocolate. I really can’t eat most nuts ( just three or four are usually ok) However, I have found almonds to be alright and can eat more of those. I can eat almond butter better than peanut butter.
I know this much about my JPouch: My doctors were not very knowledgeable about the practical ways of dealing with it. I learned most of these things by trial and error. What worked for me might not work for you.
