Need help with excessive bathroom use after J Pouch

[Aileen]

Hi,

I do not have a continent diversion but I was just contacted by someone who just had a regular ileostomy converted to a J Pouch in October. He says he is going to the bathroom more than once an hour. His doctor gave him Lomotil and said it just takes time for the J Pouch to function better. He is totally frustrated and impatient about being trapped in his house again. Anybody have any suggestions for me to give him please? Or would you be willing to talk with him on the phone about it? I will get permission to give out his number or tell him to call you. He does not have access to a computer but I do. I would appreciate any help you can give us. Thanks so much.

Aileen Gould

[SugaAngel4u]

i dont have the j pouch but i had the straight pull through. i also take lomotil. it can take a while for the small intestine to retrain itself. there are shots that your friend might rather take, they're stronger than the lomotil pills. also, he could start doing kegel exercises to strengthen his spincter muscles. he may want to consider reduce his intake of sugary drinks/foods as sugar increases diarrhea. if he's drinking gatorade, tell him to switch to pedialyte. pedialyte replaces the electrolytes but has less sugar so less diarrhea than gatorade. but he needs to stay away from sugar free drinks/foods though because the artificial sweetner actually causes more diarrhea than the sugar. if he'd like to talk anytime, i'd be glad to.

[Aileen]

You really are an Angel. Thank you so much for your advice. My friend's name is Cliff. Unfortunately he doesn't have a computer so he can't e-mail you. He would love to speak with you on the phone. I could send you his number but it might cost you for long distance as I don't know what kind of telephone plan you have. If that is not a problem, let me know and I'll send you his number. If you would be willing to send me your number via e-mail, I would give it to him and he would call you and therefore pay for the call. My direct e-mail address is: soulful@verizon.net. My name is Aileen Gould and I am the President of the Long Island /Nassau County, New York Chapter, so I'm sure there are many people in UOAA who will vouch for me if you want references. I called him tonight with the information you sent and you made his night. Thanks again. I wish you health and happiness.
Aileen

[Lynne]

Aileen,

I know there are lots of postings about this on the j-pouch.org site. Let me know if your friend's questions still need answers.

Lynne

[pouch]

Hi there Aileen

What a good friend you are indeed. I am more than willing to speak to your friend any time. I have had the j-pouch since 1995. I also had a hard time at first. I thought that I would never be right. I can tell you that it does take some time and patience but in the end I am sure that your friend will be quite pleased with his j-pouch. I have spoke with a number of people who had various illnesses concerning the colon. I have talked most of them into having the j-pouch procedure done. A few of them were quite upset in the beginning but with timew they too were very happy with the end result. This is my email mpnbr8@comcast.net. I live in Oregon, so our time may be a bit different but I am willing and ready to speak with anyone who is in need of a little advice and alot of listening time. I hope all is well with you. You are a true FRIEND.
GOD BLESS
M (pouch)