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Urgency after the final surgery?

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Posted 8/18/2017 6:09 PM (GMT -5)
Quick question for those who have had the surgeries and/or know about them.

Do you still get urgency once you've completely recovered? I know your BMs are at the very least 4-5 a day, but I thought the urgency subsided once your body got used to the new digestive process.
Posted 8/18/2017 6:41 PM (GMT -5)
I've never had any urgency with my j-pouch. Urgency is caused by rectal inflammation, and in the surgery your rectum (apart from a small rectal cuff) is removed. Freedom from urgency is awesome - what a liberation!

I have 4 BMs a day. I time them around my three meals, and then before I go to bed. If it's not convenient to go, I can hold on for hours if necessary. If my j-pouch is really full it can get uncomfortable after a while (in the same way that holding onto a full bladder can be), but it's still nothing like urgency. Today, I didn't use the bathroom at lunchtime (and didn't even think about it, to be honest, as I was pretty busy). I felt ready to empty my j-pouch by the time I got home for dinner, but even then it wasn't uncomfortable. I only realised I hadn't gone at lunch when (at 4pm) I went to a cafe and noticed it didn't have a toilet. Even then there was no stress. I stayed there until 5.30, then had a 20 minute walk home, etc. It's a big change from my UC days, when I really couldn't stray far from a bathroom.
Posted 8/18/2017 7:11 PM (GMT -5)
that's good to hear. the only reason i ask is because i have a family friend who has a relative who is looking into the next surgery (he currently has a bag), and my family friend was with him when the surgeon was describing the surgery and my family friend was under the impression that the urgency remained. she thought it was because they removed a muscle or did something that affected urgency.

i saw a surgeon a few months ago, and my impression and what he said backs up what you said which is once the inflammation is gone, the urgency goes with it.

i wonder if my family friend was referring to some type of complication with the surgery? i dont know, but glad im not going crazy.

i can handle the 4-5 BMs a day, my UC has really opened me up to using public bathrooms so I have cured myself of that! haha. I figured my BMs would be something along the lines of: when i wake up, some point doing the work day, when i get home from work, maybe some point after dinner, and when i am about to go to bed. if i can get on a schedule like that and the urgency is gone, i can totally live with that.

ill miss my easy 1 BM days though before my UC.
Posted 8/18/2017 11:09 PM (GMT -5)
Urgency after surgery, interesting question. For me, I have the sort of feeling I had before I had UC. When you have to go, you have to go, but you can wait. If I have to go, I can sort of forget about it and wait a while, sometimes a very long while, but eventually you get the urge back. You definitely have time to get to the toilet though, not a huge rush like when you're inflamed.
Posted 8/21/2017 10:06 AM (GMT -5)
I find that when I go, it's because I'm aware that there is stuff in my j-pouch that could be emptied, but I rarely empty it because I *need* to. It's more that meal times are a convenient time to visit the bathroom.

Today I went to the bathroom at 7.30 am. I would normally go at lunch, but ended up having lunch with a colleague and didn't think about emptying. I took a coffee break at 4 pm, which seemed like a convenient time to empty - but even then I didn't *need* to. I could've easily waited until I got home from work.

I think if I tried to get it down to 3 BMs a day, I might start emptying when it felt like I really had to. But at the moment it's very comfortable.
Posted 8/21/2017 10:13 AM (GMT -5)
I have chronic pouchitis, even when flaring I do NOT have urgency issues. Pouchitis is usually responds much better to treatment than UC does.
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