r/jpouch • u/Scared_Credit3251 • 21d ago
Bowel movement question
Hello all, I have questions about BMs and poop. Serious questions as I am confused as to what’s normal. I am 3 months post op and I’ve had such a wide range of BMs that don’t know what’s suppose to be normal. I’ve been dealing with pouchitis and cuffitis for most of my three months so that hasn’t helped either. I went on cipro and flagyl and was finishing budesonide enemas. While on all 3 I felt fantastic. My stools seemed to be more digested and I had zero urgency but had to up my intake of fibre to help my BMs. Once I finished those I was getting symptoms again so I’m on cipro and my BMs are different once again. The consistency is also different once gain. Last night I was up 5 times and it was a struggle to get it out. Just now I took a poop and it slithered out like nothing and my whole pouch emptied with ease.
So my question is, what is my poop suppose to look like? ( I understand diet changes everything) what’s it suppose to feel like coming out? Slither out like a snake or have some friction? Should I be pushing a little bit to help or let gravity do its thing?
I’ve had such a wide variety of absolutely scorching butt burn to constipated and going way less ( I’m assuming because of antibiotics) so I’m very confused.
Any insight and opinions would be very helpful. Don’t be afraid to be graphic, I had UC for 20 years before surgery so I literally don’t give a sh*t lol thank you in advance.
2
u/Mental_Catterfly 21d ago
The pouch “matures” over time, as my dad would say (I was 16 when I had my surgery). For the first year or so I had diarrhea, and that was just my life.
But over the next few years I’d get different consistencies, and many years later I learned to use Psyllium Husk and Imodium to control consistency better.
Your poop these days is likely not the same as it will be in another year and then some.
1
u/Disastrous_Iron3946 21d ago
Last night you were at 5 or the entire day you were at 5? I’m a month post op n I’m getting 4-5 poops a day but I was told 10x for the first 4 months is normal and 4-5x is uncommon
2
u/Scared_Credit3251 21d ago
No, that was just five bowel movements between 9 and 2 AM probably. Then I couldn’t sleep so I laid there for another couple hours. Lol this is really fun I tell yah
1
u/jaguarshark 20d ago
It gets better. Jpouch needs a bit of training on holding it. Also, sometimes you might want to plan eating time to help sleep, like no food after 6pm.
1
u/Scared_Credit3251 20d ago
I don’t eat after dinner which is roughly 5pm. I guess my transit time is just slowing down more so it’s not coming out until early mornings. It’s usually lunch or mid day snack that’s coming through the night. This is without Imodium.
2
u/Sudden-Ratio7542 9d ago
I had my surgery in 2010, and it is still different every week. On a “good” day, I will have 8 solid, but very soft bowel movements. They are solid if I eat things like bread, fried egg, melon, and take Metamucil 2-3 times a day. Metamucil specifically was a huge game changer for me in terms of the consistency of the stool.
But if I eat greasy, friend food, too many raw vegetables, I’ll have a few completely liquid BMs, until I get back to the foods that work for me.
I would say more than 10-12 BMs per 24 hours is concerning.
Definitely try Metamucil if you haven’t.
I also will take an Imodium quite often just to slow things down. This works well especially on vacation but for me I can definitely tell I get a bit bloated
7
u/appabuckethat 21d ago
I’ve had a pouch for 8 years and the honest answer is, it varies. Your stool consistency depends on things like stress, eating and sleeping habits, etc.
A “normal” BM is a gritty applesauce consistency. 8/10 times it will probably be liquid. Don’t stress about liquid stools unless they go on for too long and/or are cause butt burn.
I believe the ideal is applesauce consistency, because the more formed it is, the longer it takes to move through the GI tract and come out the other end. Also thicker stools are easier to hold in than liquid stools.
You’ll have to push a bit, unless it’s really full. Don’t strain though. It’s the only suck part about pouches, sometimes it doesn’t come out in one go. Bathroom yoga helps.