@Robbiusd posted:Hi everyone
my first post as I’m only 5 weeks post takedown with my new j-pouch. It’s been a terrible recovery so far unfortunately leaving me to question why I didn’t just stick with the ileostomy however, here we are….
So basically, I’m in constant pain and urgency at the back end. It almost always feels like I need to go to the toilet and that my ‘exit’ it very swollen however when I get to the toilet very little happens other than it feeling like it’s turned itself inside out. I’ve read a lot about pouchitis and it sounds similar but my doctor is clueless as j-pouch’s are not particularly common and my surgeon is impossible to get hold of to ask (UK-NHS 👎🏻) could it be that or is this just a normal part of recovery? I’ve heard this is supposed to be the easiest stage to recover from but this is the third for me and mentally the most difficult recovery!
any advice is helpful
Do you have a stoma care nurse? You might be able to have a phone consultation with one at the hospital where you had your surgery done. And if you are in the UK and haven’t already joined, the Red Lion support group can be helpful:
You could try introducing smooth psyllium husk taken with minimal water just before meals. Try at first with a half teaspoon. It forms a soft gel that can cushion BMs and make them more like porridge.
I hope this doesn’t sound discouraging, but I seem to remember reaching a milestone at three months after my last op. Up until then, things were pretty sore and miserable.