Something that Has Helped my Pouch... and Bathroom Dreams

Love this post! It is so interesting, and truly does makes sense when you think about it. I will definitely be paying more attention to my mouth health. Thank you for sharing!!!

And YES! I have such weird bathroom dreams often as well...almost always in my dreams, I am searching and searching for a bathroom. I will finally find one in a bizarre place, but when I go to use it, it suddenly becomes submerged underwater so it is destroyed and unusable. Weird!!!

It is always good to hear from someone with experience...I am nearly 3 months out with my pouch. Glad to hear you and your daughter are doing well!

I have occasionally had such dreams and awakened to find out it's the real thing. It doesn't happen too often but it has happened. I suspect your sleeping brain knows something is going on in the Pouch and manufactures a dream to correspond to such impulses. I wake up immediately whenever I have had such dreams and then checked to see if my underwear has something in them, and they always do. Fortunately though and like I said, this is a rare occurrence. 99% of my nights are dry and bathroom dream free.

I have weird bathroom dreams all the time as well.  I find myself searching for a usable toilet but there is always a problem with each toilet I find, its always either disgustingly filthy or without any privacy and there are always people around. Then I wake up and find that my pouch is full.  Glad I am not the only one with the toilet dreams.

Definitely believe there is a relationship between mouth and gut health and sickness.
Weird dreams and not finding the appropriate toilet is so true.  Mine are mostly at a grocery store - which not usually use a grocery store toilet but is part of my dreams also a subway which I live in Colorado and we don’t have anything similar to a subway nor I ever lived in a city with a subway but in my dreams I search for the toilet at the subway.  

@RossG posted:

  I find myself searching for a usable toilet but there is always a problem with each toilet I find, its always either disgustingly filthy or without any privacy and there are always people around.

I have had this exact same dream!

So here’s my theory on why we can’t find a toilet, or the ones we find are disgusting, unusable, etc. I think our brain knows we have to go, but doesn’t want to go in our sleep. So, we just can’t find a usable toilet. Because if we did, we might actually crap ourselves.

@CTBarrister - when you have had the ones where you actually do go, do you remember if you actually went in the dream too? Sorry - awkward question but might validate the theory. Although I think I’ve actually gone in my dream but not real life?

@ElmerFudd posted:

@CTBarrister - when you have had the ones where you actually do go, do you remember if you actually went in the dream too? Sorry - awkward question but might validate the theory. Although I think I’ve actually gone in my dream but not real life?

Yes but I usually wake up just as I start or as I am crapping in the dream.

Thanks. Yeah - I'll bet then that's why our brains just won't seem to find a bathroom / toilet in working order It's trying to wake us us to go to the real bathroom and doesn't want to in our sleep!

I had to chuckle when I read about your dreams.  I have the same dreams, the same way.  Can't find a bathroom & it's always disgusting, etc.  So glad I'm not the only one.

This disease is indeed a tough rode.  So glad we have this forum & can discuss & get good feedback that we can relate to.

I get my teeth cleaned every 6 months.   I have periodontal disease but, under control. 

Yeah... the bathroom dreams are such a drag - especially if it's multiple nights in a row And I am glad to have this place too, where we can discuss such things. We joke at home all the time (with two j-pouchers) about how not many dinner discussions go by without something about poop being discussed. "It's the IBD life for us (to re-use and re-purpose a song from 'Annie')!"

OMG.  Just had my first unusable bathroom dream.  Will spare readers the details.  

Thank-you for sharing this!!! I love how you said everything especially when you said: Gut bacteria starts in the mouth!!! That was brilliant!!!! Definitely going to start keeping mouth more cleaner, like mouthwash throughout the day lol. Time to stock the hell up!!! Haha

Wow, I have had these dreams for years.  I am looking and looking for a toilet usually in a large building with offices and I'm going to each floor looking for privacy.  I often find bathrooms without walls where there are just toilets where everyone can see each other.  I'm searching and searching and finding disgusting toilets or toilets without privacy.  I really thought I was the only one.  

LOL - you are far from the only one Allison. So funny this is such a common thing. Especially the aspects of:

• We can't find a toilet (I theorized above that may be our body's / mind's way of keeping us from pooping ourselves in our sleep)
• There is little to no privacy (I have no idea what this is about)
• The toilets are usually disgusting (I don't know that I have this aspect to my dreams and I'm not sure what that is about either)

This is just one more thing for us to talk about at home with our family. So many conversations - even with extended family - migrate to talking about poop. And I'm always blamed for the conversation going there - but really... I'm not always the instigator LOL

Funny thing is, since I posted about this I haven't had a bathroom dream.  Maybe I needed to hear that I wasn't alone on this.  

Or, maybe I have more important things to worry about lately (some health stuff has come up). Not sure but it's nice to have a break from these semi-stressful dreams.

I have had my pouch for  >30 years and I have had these same bathroom dreams forever.  Still do.  Always felt these were a result of constant anxiety about needing to know I can get to a bathroom when I am out and about.  Made me laugh to see how common it is.  Thanks for sharing.

I get bathroom dreams. The toilets are either dirty, there isn't toilet paper or I simply can't go. I wake up and realize I have to go haha

Yep.  Exact same bathroom dreams.  Often the toilet is overflowing with wet TP and waste, or it's all over the floor.  So I gotta keep searching.  I get distracted in between the searches and other things happen in the dreams.  I'm always in old houses or factories-places I generally like.  In one, my brother was upstairs working on a radio commercial for "Illegally warmed leather-your hop shop alternative-for those who have to fly in late on a week night."  Only one time I did actually find some relief during a dream but luckily did not find soiled drawers upon waking.  I think a gas bubble must have shifted or something. 

I love hearing about y'all's poopy dreams!

I do have really good oral hygiene, and I haven't all of my life.  I didn't notice a gut change when I started flossing nightly and brushing more thoroughly.  Maybe there was one but I wasn't looking for it!  I'm more motivated now to not skip flossing.  It happens on occasion-if I'm sick or tired, or sick and tired.

Yes I posted about weird toilet dreams a few years back.Im sadly pleased that others have them two.I have had every combination of weird toilet dream, a few nights ago it was like a set of 4 bricked in little squares with only  about 5cm depth.Each one also had a scented candle in the middle.As usual it wasnt suitable to use, and there was another person in the  room

Jacqueline, how's your pouch now?  Any more tips?  How's your dental hygiene?  Still awesome?

Dental hygiene pretty good ,I hope.Pouch was great,  having some issues this past year going into my 15th year.

Good to hear that things have been going well, but sorry to hear about the 15 year issues.  I'd be curious to know about them, as I often wonder about the longevity of the pouch.  I'm approaching my 18th year and my pouch is working much better than it ever has before.  It started with me experimenting with organic psyllium powder.  That stuff is the best.  I wish I had known about it when I got the pouch!  I would have saved myself from so much discomfort over many years!  I also have been taking L-Glutamine and I'm unsure of its effects.  Aloe gel (ingested) has been an amazing revisit lately.  I used to drink aloe a lot when I had the colon, but stopped using it at some point.  It's been great for my inflammation.  I have also been experimenting with chlorophyll again but not sure how much it does.  Just sharing because I have gotten a lot of great ideas for things that really work through this group, starting with the Jini Patel book, "Listen to Your Gut." 

@ElmerFudd posted:

So here’s my theory on why we can’t find a toilet, or the ones we find are disgusting, unusable, etc. I think our brain knows we have to go, but doesn’t want to go in our sleep. So, we just can’t find a usable toilet. Because if we did, we might actually crap ourselves.

@CTBarrister - when you have had the ones where you actually do go, do you remember if you actually went in the dream too? Sorry - awkward question but might validate the theory. Although I think I’ve actually gone in my dream but not real life?

get exactly the same dreams at least once a month. this is actually crazy when you think about it... we're having the same dream.

Sara mine was tge best it had been for about two years prior then last year things started to play up.Not really sick, but it's not like it was

Jacqueline, that is how I have been for years.  I haven't really felt sick all the time, but the pouch has been super sensitive and often irritated, and this would increase and decrease but always be present.  It didn't interfere much with work...more with life plans.  And it decreased overall health.  I felt puny too much of the time and the feeling was always there, niggling at me, even while not feeling puny. It affected my ability to socialize because I was trying to control symptoms through diet only, and wasn't sure which thing worked, so I restricted so much.  I feel like I'm getting a better handle on which foods are really irritating and which are OK.  I have reintroduced eggs and nightshades.  Eggs are great and nightshades are ok in moderation.  Dairy grosses me out (which seems like a no) and wheat is still a no.  I feel like I'm on a healing path at this time.  I'm experimenting and paying close attention to what happens and having some successes.  I'm feeling optimistic like I haven't in a long, long time.

I had a new kind of bathroom dream. I dreamt I was on my period and my pad was overflowing.

What really happened was I soiled myself (like every night) from my jpouch and luckily I did wear a pad to catch it.

These dreams are all so crazy.  I know sometimes they are distressing but I'm getting suck a kick out of hearing what we all dream about and it makes me feel happy that we have similar dreams.  Keep em coming!

Amazing to hear someone else share my exact dream. I have them pretty regularly. Can't find a clean restroom. Floor is dirty with stools and toilet paper. Lots of other people around and can't seem to get privacy.

It's such a specific experience that we have with a j-pouch. It's so great to return here from time to time and remember that I am not alone. The last couple of years have been hard (for everyone) with the pandemic. I've gained weight, like so many others, and am feeling really out of shape. Chronic pouchitis doesn't help. It's hard to feel motivated when I'm feeling inflamed and tired. Also, juggling life with a 7 and 11 year old daughter and son keeps me too busy sometimes. It feels easy to cycle downward around self-care. Fortunately it works the other way as well. I've returned to therapy recently, and that's helped me lighten the load and also prioritize. I teach high school, and just finished today. Looking forward to really investing in exercise, sleep, meditation, and also doing a run of the Low FODMAP.

Here's to having the summer "off"!  Like teachers don't work three months worth of unpaid time during the year, minimum.  I don't know how anyone with any sort of health issue does it!  Hope the teachers in your state weren't treated as poorly as they were here in TX during the pandemic!   

I dream about 'normal' stools. I dream that I look in the toilet and am so happy and surprised that my stool is formed. I'm smiling like a kid at christmas haha