Hello J-pouchers. I am throwing myself on your collective mercy in the hopes of finding a solution to my present problem.
I've been sick for almost a week, it started as a cold/virus kind of thing, coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose. It's the first time I've been sick since I had my pouch installed a year ago.
The cold symptoms quickly devolved to what I suspected was pouchitis -- increased BMs, diarrhea, cramping and urgency. I had a bout of this about 3 months ago but it went away after about 4 days and my surgeon said it probably wasn't that after all.
But now, I'm feeling really super lousy, like I did before I started the surgical journey, and it's scaring me. I have no appetite (but I'm hungry and my tummy is aching), nausea, constant headache and fatigue. No fever, but I'm sure I'm dehydrated, though the BMs have slowed (but not thickened much). I'm trying to boost my electrolytes with a potion I devised in the last stage of my surgery, when I had the loop ileo (and it worked) but nothing seems to be helping.
So, I'm freaking out. I don't know if this is related to my guts or if it's just a cold/flu that is hitting me extra hard because of my modified plumbing, which seems extra sensitive to anything out of whack in my body.
Has anyone experienced this? I'm grateful for your thoughts.
-Karen
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