Those who have had surgery (Small Bowel)

I just had my second small bowel resection 4 yrs after the first one.  I've never had formed stool after that or before it for that matter.  Now I'm a month post resection and I have watery loose bm's up to 20X a day.  I had the resection due to severe stricutres that were causing partial bowel obstructions.  Now I feel like Im always going.  I hope that it lets up but I def feel this time around the D is way worse.

ugghhh nawlinscate...that sounds exactly like my story.  i too had the same surgery the first time around.  valve and appendix removed at the same time.  this time I had two sections removed.  One at the reconnection site from first surgery and one a little lower down near the colon.  I'm costantly going to the bathroom.  Makes me wish i never had the surgery.  I am so uncomfortable (down below) I'm always sore, and about an hour after i eat it's outta there.  I feel like i can't go out or do anyhting for a long period of time without having to use the bathroom.  it's torture.  I hope it lets up b/c I really do think I can handle this for the rest of my life.  Even though the stricutures were bad and i was constantly being hospitalized with small bowel obstructions at least i wasn't running to the bathroom 20 + times a day.  i probably had about 5 bm a day and then was done.  Now i go morning to night and even inthe middle of the night when i 'm trying to sleep.  i get no sleep b/c almost every hour i get up to use the bathroom.  uggghhh its so annoyying !!!!

Same story here....dx'd  and emergent resection in 1990 and decades of sprinting for the bathroom.  It only got worse when I had my gallbladder removed 2004 (basically pour acid over your back side for equal sensation).  I am back on cholestyramine and loving every minute of it.  It binds the liquids so I generally go once or twice a day unless I eat really fatty or seasoned foods.  Any other natural remedy or med was too harsh for me.

Since your symptoms are even worse than mine, I suggest that you try some of the medical remedies available to you. Although I didn't really like cholestyramine, many people here have had major success with it. Ask your doctor to prescribe it. I'd suggest that you start small (say, a quarter of a packet) and, if that helps, maybe increase the dosage. Or try Immodium or Lomotil--or anything else that you and/or your doctor can think of. Motofen is my lifesaver--and yes, although my doctor suggested that I take two pills a day (!), I take a pill once or twice a week, depending on what I have planned--definitely if I have a special event on schedule (a hike or a trip or festival, or anything where I have to feel confident that I can make it through without interrupting things to search out a bathroom). You're going about twice as often as I am--and the big measure of how bad things are is that you're waking yourself up because you need to sprint to the bathroom. That's extreme, and you should talk to your doctor about some relief. It may not stop everything, but it will help, and make your life easier and more tolerable. Good luck!

I went for 11 years post-surgery without acid reflux. It came on with a vengeance in 2010. My new GI prescribed a low dose of omeprazole once daily. Periodically, I've tried to stop taking it, but the reflux immediately returns. My GI believes that many Crohnnies suffer from reflux, but I occasionally worry that the reflux could be from something else (like Barrett's esophagus or stomach ulcers or even cancer). I plan to ask him about this when I see him next.

It's called "short gut syndrome" or "bile salts diarrhea," depending on what you decide is the cause. With a resection--and especially one where they've also removed the ileocecal valve--and/or with gallbladder removal, you may get it permanently. Or you may be lucky and not get it. After 13 years, I'm absolutely sure that I'll have this condition for the rest of my life. My very knowledgeable doctor notes that the condition isn't curable; the best that you can do is control the symptoms, to give you some temporary relief. And yes, if you don't take the meds, or whenever they wear off, you're back to your usual sprints for the bathroom. Way it is, for those of us unlucky enough to have this condition--which, incidentally, nobody warned me about before I had either of my surgeries (gallbladder removal or resection). Of course, they didn't tell me they were going to take out my ileocecal valve and appendix at the same time, either. Sigh.

It's funny how things work. Remove just a few inches and everything goes haywire.

Oh I do a good enough job filling my own head. I haven't had an appetite the last week or so and have managed to convince myself I have stomach cancer. Isn't the internet grand? You Google for 2 seconds and you get the big C.

You know, I was thinking tonight in the shower before I went to the bar that even though I have to run to the bathroom several times a day...I'm alive and not in pain. Isn't that what we are all supposed to expect at this point? Not normalcy but life?