passing gas with a j pouch

passing gas without soiling oneself if one has a j-pouch is a fine art. I can only pass gas if I am on the can or if I lay on my back, I am now 9 years post j-pouch.

You may want to search for other threads on this website for this problem.

I have learned to "burp" my j-pouch when I have a BM, also I go prior to planned events where I know I won't be able to get to the can

Good luck as you sort out the fine details of living with a j-pouch.

From my standpoint, I will take my j-pouch over what I dealt with when I had my colon and ulcerative colitis

Mostly when I'm laying down and maybe sometimes when I'm sitting. Never standing up. I have learned to tell if I can "trust" it or not.

I do not trust it standing up, on my left side, right side, or stomach seem to be my best places...how does one "burp" the pouch? that sounds interesting..

I'm interested in the j pouch "burping" as well... How does one accomplish this?

I can't do it any position yet (besides on the toilet)... I have occasionally been "lucky" in passing gas while lying down, but been unlucky equally often and can't discern between the two yet.

Liz, I just realized you had your takedown the day before mine... How are doing at the 3 week mark?

Ha I think we all would love to know the secret to "burping" our pouches. I was not warned but did a lot of research and watch videos before hand and found out that it became an imposibility to a lot of people. There are people that I've read have not been able to pass gas that have had their pouches for a decade unless they are sitting on the toilet. I could see how that would be frustrating as would result in many more bathroom trips for me. I took a chance when I had my takedown it was basically playing a game of russion roulette. Sometimes I'd win and others oops you get the point. I figured id have to give it a try at least. I found that I can pass gas the best laying on my right side and on my back but better on my right side. Unfortunately for my wife I sleep on the right side of the bed so if she sees me switching positions she knows what's coming ha ha. I have not tried standing up because it just seems like gravity takes over at that point. I have made the accomplishment of being able to pee standing up though which I am proud of. Just imagine a 30 year old man coming out of the bathroom telling all their friends and family members how excited they were to be able to pee standing up. Yes I got some weird looks to say the least and then still in my utter excitement let my Facebook world know also. Yes again I got some crazy comments back. If I were you I would feel blessed to be able to pass gas in any position even if it took standing on your head because some of us don't have the privilege. I guess its the way your pouch is created. We are all different. Good Luck and welcome to the club.

Some of the ladies here tease about getting excited over peeing standing up. I don't think there's any territory marking involved - it's just a shorthand for "peeing without pooping," at least when I say it. It represents a few good things bundled together: 1) I'm well hydrated, 2) I can independently squeeze my bladder with no loss of control around back, 3) My pooping frequency must be reasonable, even if I'm not counting.

No way I'm farting except when sitting on the toilet, though. Once in a great while it happens when I'm half asleep and I feel like I really got away with something.

Hi Manny, I am doing well. I have 6-8 BMs per day with not much urgency. Last night I only woke up once for a BM, that is my personal best, typically I wake up 2-3 times. I had some small nighttime leakage and one large accident in my sleep around the 1 week mark but that seems to have resolved, touchwood. I will admit I have expanded my diet a LOT -- been going out to restaurants, eating veggies, fried and spicy foods, even some rough stuff like seeds in jam -- so I'm inclined to blame any small problems on that instead of my pouch I ate a spinach pie and let's just say I saw the spinach on its way out... several times... in a short span of time.

My biggest problem is with "rectal spasms" and pressure, particularly when standing and particularly after meals and at night. My GI gave me Levsin SL to try to help with the spasms -- just took my first dose tonight so we'll see how that goes.

All in all I am pretty pleased. I sometimes have urgency, perhaps from trying to hold it too long to train my pouch, but I am able to be out and about, ride on the subway, go to restaurants, etc. I am still pretty fatigued at the end of the day but plan to return to work next week (3.5 weeks out).

Hope you're doing well too!

Pluot you sound like your doing great, at the 3 week mark i was at my wits end, for me it took 1 month and half to actually feel like things were good

Pluot,

I'm so glad to hear your doing so well... I've been slowly seeing progress on a weekly basis... Lucky for me the j pouch spasms went away after the first week.. however now I'm dealing with the minor inconvenience of small nightime incontinence, which I hope will resolve itself in the near future but other then that.. I'm happy as can be...

Dgtracy,

I believe most peoples swelling and temporary issues go away at the 6 week mark, at least that's what I've been reading... I hope this is the case because I can't see feeling like this for 1 yr+

Manny,

My surgeon never told me either or warned me that I should not fart unless I am on the toilet. My next visit to the surgeon I told my doctor that and he said that you will never be able to pass again without making a mess of yourself so you have to do it on the toilet.

I had my 3-step procedure having 90% of my coln removed in Sept, 1993 and the J Pouch created in Jan, 1994 and the final procedure was in April, 1994.

I never pass gas unless I am on the toilet and normally do not pee standing up either just to be safe.

Even after I have a BM and I think everything is out, when I attempt to lay on my right side to go to sleep, it stirs my stomach and then my belly makes those gas noises so I have to get up, go back to the toilet and pass gas. Even then, very little poop will still come out. I have more sucess passing gas if I lean way over, get some toilet paper, hold it about 3 inches or so away from my bottom and then pass gas (I don't want to get the toilet so dirty). The problem with leaning over is because I strain some in doing so, I deveoped 2 inguineal hearnias (one on the left side - the size of a grapefruit, and the other one, the size of an apple on the right side. My surgeon who took care of my hernias told me than that probably casued it.

Did anyone ever get instructions how to "burp" their pouches yet. I've been waiting unless I missed something.

I would assume burping is pushing on your abdomen a bit? I have a BCIR and for me to pass some gas out of my tube I move my pouch left to right to get the air out. Almost like a deep massage. I stand up to pee and poop if I have a gogirl or pmate ;-)