Life after colonoscopy

Hi Harry I find banana's solid up things for me I was having some D and as soon as I eat banana's things solid up . I had my TI removed too. Just having the TI removed makes the vitties you mentioned needing to be replaced. You will have to ask if the med would be long term. You must be getting tired of the all night bathroom trips I was up all night long before my surgery and it was pretty tiring for me it was at that time more of a get up to clean myself up sort of thing with protected bedding and all. Sure glad I got pass that. Hope you get things figured out soon. lol gail

i normally have a banana in the morning with breakfast. that is when i eat my grains too (ezekiel cereal/ezekeil toast/oatmeal). i also use a banana in my protein shakes as it thickens it up and makes it more like a shake.

i redid the makers diet and that didnt help. however in this time i had stopped taking my green drink (just what i do when i re-prime my system - i go bare bones even on supplements) but when i reintroduced it things returned to normal. i was very relieved. but it only lasted a week. ugh. i've cut out yogurt and that isnt helping. i just changed my probiotic so i'm hoping something may happen there (switched from primal defense ultra back to vsl#3). hmmm.....

i do have some brown rice somewhere, perhaps i'll give it a try (i'm almost ready to try anything - hence my filling the prescription). i prefer quinoa though to rice. right now i feel dehydrated, but then it is humid here and with the field work i've been lately for work, i know i am not drinking as often or as much as i used to when my job was office based.

try this - mash a uber ripe banana and beat in an egg. add some cinnamon and vanilla extract (optional though) and then cook like a pancake. super yummy. (my tweak on this from the scd cookbook).

thanks for the advice all!!!

Hi Crazy Harry,

Well i must say i had the same problem with D after my resection (in which the ileocecal valve was removed). I tried everything but the only thing that worked for me was Cholestyramine. It eliminated the D almost completely and whenever i don't take it i get the awful cramps back again and severe D. That was in 1999 and i have been taking it ever since (1 sachet per day) as well as B12 injections every 3 months, I also have regular blood tests and doctors have never told me i'm really low in any particular vitamins (although they are probably only checking the vital ones). But i would highly recommend it to you. It gave me back my life basically and as far as i know it has no side affects or long term affects. I'm sure if you ask your doctor about the fat absorption problems he could come up with a solution for that.
I too have problems with otc anti D medication, it works for a few days and eventually loses effect.
I have to take Cholestyramine for the rest of my life or the alternative is cramps & D. So i am quite happy to take it everyday.
I reckon it would do no harm to give it a shot.
One thing i would say is to maybe half the amount that the doc recommends you to take. I was told to take 2/3 sachets per day but it turns out that just 1 does the job for me. Anyhow keep us updated, and best of luck with everything.

Lila

Hi Crazy Harry,

Well i had the same exact problem as you since the resection of my TI.

I tried Cholestyramine for a few days but it was giving me bad cramps so i stopped it. Immodium worked fairly well but it's pretty expensive so i got a prescription for a drug called Loperamide. It's the same thing as Immodium but looks different. I take one in the morning and it's usually good enough. I go to the washroom only once a day and is a fairly normal BM.

Hi CrazyHarry - Looking at Wikipedia, there is a mention of D due to damage to the mucosal lining or brush border. That may have happened during the colonoscopy. You might try adding glutamine to your supplements since it is used to repair damage and the body's stores of it are depleted by inflammation. You might also want to add turmeric to the mix - once you have D under control. It is a good anti-inflammatory and also an antibiotic and should help healing. If you use it while D is active, you may get the "ring of fire" effect.

saw my reflexologist yesterday. going to try a few herbal remedies before i try the cholestyramine. she's got me taking some stuff to detox me. i'll give this a try and see what happens....


Cholacol II -
It's primarily a detoxification product for the colon. Each tablet contains 540 milligrams of montmorillonite clay (bentonite), which absorbs toxins from the colon, the toxins being the result of the incomplete digestion of food. The person whose food is putrefying in his colon due to incomplete digestion will have foul-smelling stool and lower bowel gas several hours after eating, as well as diarrhea.
Bentonite, also known as montmorillinite, is a colloidal, hydrated aluminum silicate with highly adsorptive properties. The bentonite in Cholacol II works like a magnet to help carry waste materials through the intestines for proper elimination. Bile salts contribute further to intestinal cleansing through their role in helping to break down fats. Collinsonia root has been used for centuries by the Chinese as a "bowel tonic" to help keep the intestines clean and functioning properly.


Okra Pepsin E3 -
The function of this product is to remove mucous from the walls of the small intestines and thereby enhance nutrient absorption through the intestinal wall into the blood. The pepsin enzyme then breaks down the protein and thus destabilizes the mucous molecule. That causes the mucous to sluff off the intestinal wall and is eliminated in the stool. That in turn frees the villi (hair-like follicles) that line the intestinal wall enabling the villi to extract nutrients from the digesting food.


Spanish Black Radish -
Black Radish is effective in intestinal toxemia, especially for detoxifying the bowels.

All 4 GI's that I've had over my yrs have said that colonoscopies can infact bring on or worsen flares.

Feel better soon :)

Harry dahlin'

I'm assuming the products you are taking are from Standard Process. I found I had to go off of the SP products. I have taken them off and on since I was 10 years old. I'm now going on 57. For people who can handle them, they're great, but do take a while to kick in. The labeling is pretty conservative as to doses...I find.

Every once in a blue moon I will take Cholacol...like if I'm gong to have half a dozen fried and greasy pork chops, or something extremely fatty. I take the regular Cholacol and not the Cholacol II. I'm not sure what's in the Cholacol II, but the regular Cholacol does contain bile salts. They help with the fat break down, but leave me with a flaming butt the next day and looser stools. The collinsonia root in the product is supposed to help with strengthening the blood vessels, etc. Great for if you have hemmies. In which case I just use the stand alone Collinsonia root.

I have a whole bottle of the Okra Pepsin E3. Tried it once and decided it wasn't for me. It does have dairy in it. For me that's not good.

The Spanish Black Radish I've never tried. I did have a friend who was taking it and she developed a peculiar odor. It wasn't offensive, and it wasn't exactly pleasant either. It was just a peculiar odor. It permeated her clothes and everything.

I gave up on Standard Process products because of the yeast, soy lecithin, wheat germ and dairy. One product they do have that makes my tummy feel somewhat okay is the Gastrex. It has okra powder and bentonite in it. I break open 3 of the capsules and mix it with a full glass of warm water and let it sit for 15 minutes before I drink it. And I'll take it 15 minutes before a meal.

What I find works better for me is Theramedix enzymes. They are plant based and are pharmaceutical grade. A little more spendy than the Standard Process. Look em up if you like. I take PRX and DGX per my nutritionist (who does have Crohns and hasn't had a flare up in over 8 years).

squattie -

yep, they are standard practice brand.
yeast, soy lecithin, wheat germ and dairy - uh oh. those are ingredients i try to stay away from. i better go over the labels again. thanks.
as for the spanish black radish, i hope i am not on it too long for that to happen. but then you can get a similar thing from fish/cod liver oil too.
if anything is going to leave me with a flaming rear and loose stools i aint gonna take it. that is counter productive to what i am trying to achieve.


pb4 -
i dont feel symptomatic at all, just the D. kinda funny. so either right now i think either the scope/prep upset the mucus lining or it some how changed something in my gut so it no longer absorbs the bile salts. either way it sucks.



keeper -

i have been taking garden of life brand digestive enzymes soon after i started the makers diet. there is another standard process product my reflex doc has me trying and that is a digestive enzyme.



i cant tell if any of this stuff is working yet, so updates to come in a week or two.....