Cholestyramine for BAM

Perhaps you have chronic pouchitis - certainly the urgency and frequency are classic symptoms. Have you tried Cipro or Flagyl?

Hi Scott. I had a colonoscopy last week and in November, which of both showed a perfectly clean and healthy pouch. My symptoms are also quite different from when I’ve had pouchitis  in the past. I had urgency and frequency, but no burning like I do now. I’ve also had this before, but it always resolved in its own after a few days. 

To anyone that might be reading this in the future...I just wanted to give an update. 
The day after I started this thread, I bumped my Cholestyramine dose from 8 to 12 grams a day. 12 was the initial recommendation by my doctor. He suggested that I taper down if I can tolerate it. I took it upon myself to start at a lower dose. I was on that dose for a week. Now that I’ve been on 12g for just over a week.....Urgency, gone. Burning, gone. Frequency, gone. Consistency, firmer. This is the best I’ve felt in years. I’m not exactly sure if the meds just needed a week to kick in, Or if 12g is the therepeutic threshold needed to see results. 

my only question now, is...why now? Why, after 10+ years of having a pouch have I suddenly developed bile acid diarrhea? It’s been a year of trying to solve this. The only two links I can think of are: nursing hormones, and obstetric cholestasis. If anyone has insight, I would appreciated it. Hopefully by the time this thread gets revisited, I will have an answer. I will update, if I do. 

Hi there!

back with a final update. I realize I may be talking to myself...but if this helps one person, it’s worth it. 

after a few weeks of playing around with the medication, I realized that it was not my answer. The day I started the “appropriate dose“ of medication, I also stopped eating eggs. I have been eating eggs every single day for many years. When I stated nursing, my appetite went through the roof, and i was doubling my consumption in the morning...hence my afternoon symptoms which presented while I was eliminating breakfast. I may have developed an intolerance at some point over the years, which was exacerbated by the increased consumption. I have been off eggs for a few weeks now, and am no longer taking the cholestyramine and I feel fantastic.

i refused to consider eggs for so long because I didn’t have the same degree of symptoms every single day, yet I ate eggs every day. I am now learning that the degree of cookedness and the freshness of the eggs may be responsible for that. (I was addicted to a soft scramble). I can eat baked goods with eggs in it....but for now...breakfast eggs are a no-go.
Anyway, mystery solved. 

thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. 

Matcha, you’re definitely not talking to yourself. I’m very glad that you worked out the food intolerance that was causing your problem.

As Scott said, you are not talking to yourself. Many of us lurk, read, learn and occasionally post. Glad you found solutions.

Thanks guys!! It’s been a journey with a positive ending. To think it was so simple. All that anxiety, frustration and helplessness. Not to mention the actual symptoms. I’m trying to listen to my body a lot more. Turns out I can add cherries to that list of bad foods, too. The more you learn!