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Posted 2/15/2013 10:25 PM (GMT -5)
I had my reversal November 2012, I had half of my rectum removed due to a perforated Bowel during surgery. My surgeon assured me I would have no problems controlling my BMs or anything else. I know it takes 6-12 months to be "normal" however at time I find myself rushing to the bathroom because I am unable to hold the BM and its not dirrahea its always formed. I also have horrible pain right inside the anus when I have to use the restroom. This pain comes and goes. Does this sound normal?
After my reversal I had dirrahea for a couple days then I was back to normal firm formed BMs. The problem just started about a month ago. Thanks!

23 year old female- stage 2 endometriosis
Sept 2012- laparoscopy to remove endometriosis, surgeon perforated my colon without knowing. Sent home, 3 days later went to ER a couple hours away from dying of sepsis. Partial rectum removal and colon resection. Temp ileo placed. Several hospital stays and complications.
Nov 2012- ileostomy reversed
Posted 2/16/2013 12:45 PM (GMT -5)
No, that's not normal. The first 4-6 months after my takedown I did feel a lot of urgency but it would last only a few seconds and then pass on its own. There was never a point where I felt like I had to get to the bathroom right away. Sounds like they need to do a scope on you. I wonder if maybe you have a stricture, inflammation or something else going on internally. Good luck.
Posted 2/16/2013 2:38 PM (GMT -5)
speech2014, you don't have a j-pouch, correct? You're still getting by with the remaining rectum and colon?

If so, you might be interested in the MD Anderson protocol: http://www2.mdanderson.org/app/pe/index.cfm?pageName=opendoc&docid=34

Have you spoken to your surgeon since you started having this problem?
Posted 2/17/2013 4:40 PM (GMT -5)
Plout- I do not have a j-pouch. I had the ostomy to allow my colon to heal. I have half my rectum and most of my colon. I have never had any GI problems and only had the resection because my OB-GYN perf'd my colon during her surgery.
I am going to call him tomorrow and ask his opinion as well :-)
Posted 2/18/2013 9:56 PM (GMT -5)
Hi Speech2014,
My situation is similar to yours. I had a laparotomy to remove endo from my bowel. They took about eight inches of my bowel and part of my rectum. about a week after surgery I ended up back in the hospital for emergency surgery because I had a leak at the anastomosis. I had to have temporary ileo for 6 months and my reversal was at the end of Oct 2012.

Right after my surgery it seemed like I was in the bathroom every hour. Stool was mostly formed and I could control things pretty well but I was going to the bathroom 12 to 15 times a day. After about a month things had settled down. Now I feel almost completely normal, but I do find I have more daily bowel movements than before. Used to be once a day and now it's more like 3 or 4 but I have total control and can usually wait all day so I can poop in the comfort of my own bathroom :)

I sometimes have pain in my rectum, especially if I need to have a bm. For me I think it might be the endo because I also seem to have more pain in my rectum during my period. Nothing like what I had before the surgery though!
Posted 2/19/2013 5:27 AM (GMT -5)
I had Ileostomy Reversal last Jan 17, 2013. Stayed In the hospital for 7 days. Been 5th week now and I go to the bathroom like 15 times a day. My bottom hurts so bad, itches, burns, and hemorrhoids already. My surgeon told me it'll take 6 weeks for my tummy to feel better and 6 months for everything to go normal. Right now, I am using Sitz Bath, Prep cream, Prep Suppositories, and Prep wipes. Nothing seems to help, so I stopped using them. Although cold water seems to work. I have so much pain in my bottom. Do you guys know of anyway I can help myself to feel better? I have been passing gas a lot, too. My stomach feels hard and gets gassy. I do run to the bathroom, too, because I sometimes have no control over my BM. It's frustrating. I'm going to see my surgeon on March 6, 2013. Do you guys experience this, too? Is this normal? And just tonight, I poo with blood like maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon; hurts like hell and it stopped. Please help me.
Posted 2/19/2013 8:17 PM (GMT -5)
Have you tried Calmoseptine cream? I found it to be somewhat soothing.
Posted 2/19/2013 10:05 PM (GMT -5)
I used wet wipes with aloe Vera and also used a TON of diaper rash cream called "butt paste" extra strength and I still use it from time to time. I am prone to hemorrhoids and it really helps me. I hope everything starts slowing down for you. My surgeon told me recovery time for BM is dependent on how long the colon has been out of order. Mine was out 8 weeks so I bounced back to formed BMs fairly quickly. I hope this is the case with you, that it will pass soon. My old normal was a BM every 3 to 4 days and now it is 3-5 times a day and it been 3 months
Posted 2/20/2013 11:28 PM (GMT -5)
Hi there, I had rectal cancer in 1999, 90% of my sigmoid removed, 15 inches above that removed, gall bladder removed (a pre-op cat scan revealed hundreds of gall stones), a temp ostomy for 8 weeks, etc. Prior to my surgery (which was caught early, Stage 1), I had oh 1 or 2 bm's per day, no D, no dumping, etc. After my ostomy was reversed, I had so many bm's per day, probabl 30+, I had 3 bm's during 1 meal. The sheer second I began chewing food, I had to rush to the bathroom. It was - awful. I thought my life was truly over at age 43, with children in elementary school to care for. I could barely leave my bathroom and bedroom area. My doctors all said - eat anything I wanted, enjoy life, take immodium if need be. Ha! Worst advice I ever received, I learned from colon cancer forums that a low residue diet is a comfort after colon resections (if you're experiencing D and constant bm's). I realized my insides were just raw, they were not used to pooping as much as a newborn baby does.

So I went on that low residue diet, stayed on it faithfully for 2 years or more. I'm still somewhat on it to this day, nearly 14 years later. My go-to foods back then were white rice, cottage cheese, bananas, plain white bread (like Sara Lee or bakery bread), mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, roasted chicken or turkey, plain yogurt, applesauce, etc. These foods seemed to really quiet down my gut and within 48 hours of going on this diet, I felt like a new person. I could leave my bathroom and actually drive short distances as long as I knew I had a bathroom if I needed one.

My gut still seems to prefer plain food. I just feel better when I have turkey subs on white bread, or chicken noodle soup, something as simple as instant mashed potatoes (over those from scratch, oddly enough) and plain english muffins.

I also implemented a food diary and kept track of what did irritate my GI tract. That was useful info.

I'd like to tell you I went back to "normal" but I did not. Without a sigmoid and then a portion above that in my colon, food travels thru my system rather fast and coupled with that is the fact I'm living without my gall bladder. Currently I am taking cholestyramine which absorbs bile dumped into my tract, a job a gall bladder performed. Is it making me normal? No, not really but it's keeping my dumping episodes to a minimum.

In the midst of all this, 14 years worth, I realized the only sure fire way I knew to reduce trips to the bathroom was to skip a meal prior to a social commitment. So I occasionally do this too but my husband and I keep a quiet social calendar (something I prefer now that I still use a bathroom more than I ever thought I would!).

It will get better for you but in the meantime, google a low residue diet and see if you think the foods on it would be good for you to try.
Posted 4/12/2016 7:43 PM (GMT -5)
Marksky is entirely correct. The LRD is the only food method that will keep your problems at bay as your body recovers from takedown (reversal) surgery after an ileostomy. Also, the "dumping" problem is definitely a result of what you are eating. My surgeon, also, told me, "Eat whatever you want" post-surgery and - boy - was he WRONG. The LRD diet, however, is not nutritional so you need to take vitamin supplements and figure out what foods you can eat that allow you to meet the minimum, daily requirement of vitamin efficiency. Everyone is different, but here are some of the foods my body began to tolerate. Not all food have to be boring, dull tasting and bland.

For instance, on the LRD you can have a lot of bread/starch products and meats that are considered "tender". Cheese is also allowed. So, I existed on a "diet" of plain, McDonald cheeseburgers with a little bit of mayo and french fries. My body LOVED that combo and I had solid BM's with no "dumping" every time I ate that (non-nutritional), small meal. Fresh vegetables and fruits are a big, "no no" on the LRD but you can have canned veggies which I don't like. Slowly, I began to add lettuce to my McDonald's cheeseburger and my body seemed okay with that. Here are some of the things (right off the top of my head) I, personally, CANNOT eat because it will trigger the BM "dumping" at any point in time and I have no control over my muscles when this happens: ANYTHING with sugar, particularly, candy; ANY sauces, gravys or soups or foods that contain them; ANY artificial sweeteners, also (such as Splenda); ice cream or milk bi-products; eggs; salads; citrus fruit, especially, freshly squeezed OJ (although I can eat melon and grapes); avocados or beans. Now, a few of those items are on the LRD diet as "can have" foods. Each person's body is different but, overall, if you follow the LRD diet strictly, at first (post-surgery) you will begin to recover more quickly, have more energy (since food's staying in your digestive track) and have solid BM's. The LRB is very strict about sugar, though, and that was a hard adjustment for me to have to make.

My surgery takedown (reversal) was two months ago. As a female, if I want to lose a few pounds, I will have a drink with Splenda in it and just deal with the consequences! haha Not a wise suggestion but not being able to eat certain foods and having these restrictions, has led to me being a more picky eater and I never sit down to large meals anymore. I find if I eat 4-6 small meals a day (I LOVE 1/2 a toasted bagel with a small piece of swiss cheese on it for breakfast) then I can usually make it through the day with normal BM's and no emergency runs to the bathroom. Everyone's body is different so try the LRB then, slowly, start adding small amounts of what you'd like to eat along with the LRD plan (like I did by adding a small piece of lettuce to my McDonald's cheeseburger). This might be a way of life from now on, as I've learned from longtime survivors of the reversal surgery; but it's not so bad to have to deal with. I will still have a piece of birthday or wedding cake upon occasion, I just make sure I'm near a bathroom when I do! Plus, the sugar gets passed by my almost immediately so I don't have to suffer any "guilt" about the calories which never seem to be absorbed due to the "dumping"!

I went to a BIG buffer during the holidays and ate everything I wanted, including desserts. The price I had to pay was spending hours on the toilet but the next day, I weighted 3 lbs less! That's the honest truth!! How many people "wish" that they had that problem?! Look at your new eating way off life as a blessing and just be glad you don't still have the ostomy bag attached to you, instead!
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