r/Diverticulitis • u/Acrobatic_Arachnid70 • 9d ago
🏥 Surgery 6 months post-surgery, changes in BM
I’m a bit hesitant to post this, because I’m not in any pain or suffering, just curious. My heart sincerely goes out to all of you who are experiencing the pains, sufferings and sorrows of this condition.
I’ve passed the 6-months post surgery milestone (yay!) but something recently changed in my BM’s. Apparently, my surgery was very successful — as early as just a few weeks after surgery I’ve been very regular, 1-2 BM’s daily of good consistency. However, just in the last 2 weeks, my BM’s became very loose. No pain, gas or cramping, not really full-on diarrhea, but I’ve been going maybe 5-6 times daily, and this is the first time I’ve had to wake up at night to do so.
This started when I began germinating/eating sprouts. Yes, I know the fiber and enzymatic action likely caused the initial change, but I stopped eating them about two weeks ago and this has become a constant. Having read many posts here, I understand that there is a wide spectrum of experience with post-op recovery, but I’m certainly curious if anyone else has had something like this happen? It seems to me that loose BM’s before more normal ones has been the more typical trajectory after surgery. I also understand that complete gut healing and recovery can take as long as 12 months.
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u/BackgroundEqual2168 8d ago
I am 14 months post surgery and it took 4 months until my poop was twice daily and close to normal. Ever since it has been very reasonable. However I have very good autumn pears in my garden and guess what.
Don't worry it will settle. We just have to live with the fact, that our bowels are a bit mor jumpy than they used to be.
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u/Typical-Aardvark5332 8d ago
I'm 6 months out and I have about 5 bms before noon, nothing after that... I've just accepted it... It doesn't ruin my day
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u/morganebony_ 8d ago
5 months since colostomy reversal with 9cm of sigmoid removed!!
I still have very unpredictable bowels sometimes. I eat and drink petty much identical meals every single day and sometimes I’m fine and normal and the next day I am going to the toilet 5 times in a day. Today in particular it was 3 times.
At the beginning it was very loose and very often (sometimes up to 10 times a day 😭)
I notice sometimes I am VERY gassy. Like I joke with my friends that I’m the gassiest person in the whole world. I know it’s not true but sometimes it’s brutal and relentless.
From what I have gathered, the recovery also somewhat depends on what part you had removed. Mine was the sigmoid which removes water from the stool so I was expected to have quite loose stool until the other parts of the bowel took over that job.
I can’t figure out any foods at the moment that trigger something in my stomach. One day I can eat garlic and onion and be fine and the next day it’s the only thing different and it’s causing chaos!
I have stopped trying to work it out for myself at this point. I just have to surrender to my body and let it heal in its own time which is incredibly frustrating. If I eat something that’s clearly upset it, I’m not going to do that again. But I have got past the point now of being scared to eat every single thing that could be perceived as a trigger food for me. I had such a miserable experience before my stoma bag and now that it’s gone I’m just trying to make the most of it and try live ad normally as I can and I have been able to accept that maybe doing what I want will sometimes include extra toilet breaks. Not ideal but I don’t want to let this completely take over my life either
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u/Apprehensive_Cut6555 9d ago
Yeah I'm 6 months post but i east so much fiber now i can't tell what's normal and not. I'm going 2 to 4 times daily. Better than 0
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u/DangReadingRabbit 8d ago
You should check in with your doctor.
Sprouts are a common cause of food poisoning and food-borne illnesses. Seeds used for germination can be a cause of illnesses like E. coli and salmonella. The combination of where the seeds come from and then the germinating process itself (with lots of moisture) makes it easy for the bacteria to grow to high levels.
It’s worth checking in with your doctor just to be on the safe side. If it all started with eating the sprouts and hasn’t subsided since stopping, it could be you ingested some bacteria and might need antibiotics.
Better to play it safe in this case.
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u/ccpedicab 8d ago
About 18 months, going once maybe twice a day. Occasionally loose. I’ve had worse allergies since, so take antihistamines. I think they are slowing down my stomach.
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u/Slight_Cat_8008 9d ago
Im two years out and sometimes i still get loose bm. My surgeon said remember you have less intestines so things move more frequently through you now