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I've had my j-pouch for 8 years now with no issues to speak of, other than surgery 2 years ago for adhesions; however, in the last several months I have been experiencing severe amounts of gas. It seems like no matter what I eat I have gas pain within 15 minutes. The gurgling is embarrassingly loud and sounds like a tub draining over and over. I can feel it way down in the rectal area, rather than more of a stomach gurgling, if this makes sense. I'm not able to pass gas freely and haven't been able to since surgery.

My bathroom trips have increased dramatically but I usually only pass a small amount of stool and a large amount of gas, and it's ridiculously loud. Sometimes I wake up at night just filled with gas. I work for a small office so using the restroom at work is out of the question. I hold it in all morning, leave at lunch, and then hold it all afternoon, hoping no one asks me about the loud gas gurgling noises. I've started socially isolating myself because I'm too scared to go to the bathroom at someone else's house or in public. My bowel movements have become humiliatingly loud.

I completely cut out all alcohol, carbonated drinks, and dairy a full month ago and was very discouraged to find that this didn't decrease my gas at all. I've been keeping a food diary and can see changes in my stool consistency depending on what I eat, but nothing seems to affect the gas. been I've been too scared to try any over-the-counter gas remedies because the warning labels all say not to use them if you have Crohn's or Colitis.

I know I need to see a doctor but I'm terrified. I'm worried that there's either a kink or small adhesion, or some kind of hole somewhere. My other worry is that this is a normal aging with a j-pouch issue (I'm 28), and won't get better. I was just hoping there would be someone who has had a similar experience or has an idea of what might be going on here.


Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer some advice or suggestions! This is so hard to talk about, even online.
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Gas-X and Beano are both totally OK for use by IBDers and j-pouchers. Start there.

A huge increase in gas that isn't relieved by diet... I might suspect something like small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). That's typically treated with Xifaxan or another antibiotic, and sometimes requires a very low carb diet as well (to "starve" the bacteria).

Either way I think you need to visit your GI. This isn't something you have to suffer through.

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