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Posted 8/4/2011 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
New member,

Bin on the bag for the past 9 months and still having problems slowing down.  My big problem is right after I eat.  Need to use the bathroom with in 15 minutes. I'm on Lamotal and Imodium.  Any suggestions would be helpful. 

Thank you

Posted 8/4/2011 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
How often and how much of the immodium are you taking?
Posted 8/5/2011 1:50 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for reply back. Take 3 chewables a day. 2 mid morning and 1 before I go to bed.
Posted 8/5/2011 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
I take 2 capsules 3 times a day. I take them morning, luchtime and before bed. I also take codeine and tramadol for damaged discs in the neck and ammitriptalyne (spelling?) for nerve pain caused by Humira. All this seems to slow things down really well which is good as have short bowel syndrome and very high output.

There are other things that can increase and make output thinner like too much bile. Could this be causing a problem for you as well?
Posted 8/5/2011 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
Stripey - Does the amitryptaline (not sure if I spelled itright) slow things down? I take it at night to help keep my bladder quiet so I can sleep.
Posted 8/6/2011 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
Try to incorporate some of the BRATY diet. My sister, a nurse practitioner who used to do quite a bit in pediatrics, told me about this when I had my temporary ileostomy. The BRATY diet is bananas, rice, applesauce, toast and yogurt. The applesauce didn't work for me because of the sugar in it, but the rest seemed to do quite well in slowing things down so they could actually digest. I would start and end the day with a banana and yogurt. It seemed to work pretty well for me, as I was able to gain weight at a time I needed to.

Good luck!
Posted 8/6/2011 12:03 PM (GMT 0)
also, try the Imodium Capsules...the chewables don't work the same sad
Posted 8/6/2011 3:54 PM (GMT 0)
Wonderturd, not sure as I take it for a nerve block as the Humira has stripped the myelin of the nerves. I take 30mg a night, it is helping but not painfree and can go up to 50mg per night. If that is still leaving me in pain at night then my GP will look at other nerve blockers. It is the day pain that gets to me, the ammytriptyline (spelling terrible) seems to last for about 10-12 hours so wear off about 10am-midday and then pain comes flooding back and this is when I am working so suddenly I seize up which can be interesting:)

Agree with equestian mom, the immodium melts (haven't seem chewables in UK) are terrible. Was prescribed them before Xmas and they really badly stained my teeth within a week so it looked like I'd been sucking on old ashtrays and the darn stuff didn't work anyway. Changed to the capsules and as long I take these regularly they work really well.

Post Edited (stripey) : 8/6/2011 9:57:32 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/7/2011 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
Emptying after eating is very normal.  The action of eating induces peristalisis of the gut.  In those of us with shortenend digestive tracks, the need to empty our bag or pouch is failry immediate after eating. 

Sue

Posted 8/8/2011 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
So capsules work better than the chewables. Will give that a try. Just wish after I empty that it would slow down but within a half hour I'm back in the bathroom with a full bag and it's mostly all liguid.

Just starting to get frustrated......
Posted 8/8/2011 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
Do you have a loop or an end ileo? I think a loop is worse for fast, fluid output. I have had both and definitely noticed a difference - the loop is faster and higher in liquid output. I now have an end ileo, and if anything I'm having trouble with thick output that keeps getting under my wafer (sigh). Jelly beans cause it to go very thick and gloopy.. you could try that?!
Posted 8/8/2011 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
Have an ileo. Don't like jelly beans. Isn't this fun to go through. How many times a day do you have to empty bag? I average 10 to 12 a day.
Posted 8/8/2011 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
10-12 a day is a normal day for me. Bad day when I had my flare few months ago was 25-30 times in a 24 hour period. I could only sleep for 2 hours a night and even then had to be 8 hours after I had eaten so it slowed down enough. Apart from that was having to empty every 30 mins and the bag would be full to bursting.
Posted 8/8/2011 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
Was kinda hopping for a little better news. My surgeon said 6 to 8 times I would have to empty. What do they know they only do the surgery, they don't have to live with it.
Posted 8/9/2011 8:12 AM (GMT 0)
sorry to hear you struggling so much golfnut50 - have you got a stoma nurse to talk to ? when I had my loop I was also emptying 10 times a day. But then I like my bag to be flat and empty. Now it's slightly less, but still probably 6-8 times a day. I don't know what your experience is and why you have an ileo, but I feel so much better than I did before that the bag is a minor inconvenience to me now and I wouldn't want to go back to how I felt before. I'm grateful for it.

sounds like you need a bit more support to help you come to terms with it. Why and when did you have the surgery? and where are you living.

sounds like you need a big HUG x
Posted 8/9/2011 12:03 PM (GMT 0)
I do fell so much batter. Just wish it would slow down. Don't mind empting it after I eat but every half hour for next hour is kind of annoying. It would be nice to eat dinner and go to a movie with out missing part of the movie. The price of movies these days, you don't want to miss anything.
Posted 8/9/2011 8:35 PM (GMT 0)

Golfnut50 said...
Was kinda hopping for a little better news. My surgeon said 6 to 8 times I would have to empty. What do they know they only do the surgery, they don't have to live with it.

My surgeon said the same thing Golfnut, as far as I'm aware that is the average norm once things are settled. I'm 4 months post surgery (exactly to the day!) and, like you - have been constantly struggling with a high output. I empty about 10 times a day, sometimes more, sometimes less if its a good day. I've had 2 hospital admissions of 4 - 5 days each since as a result of this causing dehydration etc. I try to have as much 'stodge' in my diet as poss but sometimes struggle to keep up with this.

Ironmum - you say that a loop ileo usually has a faster, more liquidy output - do you know why this is?!

Posted 8/10/2011 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
So were just going to have to wait until are insides desided to slow down. Can't wait for that day to come.

Thanks for all your imput.....
Posted 8/12/2011 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
qwerty1 - I've had both a loop ileo and an end and the loop is definitely faster and more liquid. The end is exactly that - right at the end of your small bowel at the ileum. The loop is generally taken higher up on the small intestine, so output has less distance to travel. Hope that makes sense ! I've been quite surprised by the difference.
Posted 8/14/2011 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
Have you tried Metamucil? It might help bulk things up a bit, so your output isn't so watery.
Posted 9/2/2011 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
Golfnut50

Doc gave me this powder called CHOLESTYRAMINE it will slow things down I was going bathroom up to 15x a day.
This seems tobe working for me.

Dale
Posted 9/3/2011 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Metamucil is good.
I have an ilostomy, and have to avoide certain foods because they make my stool so thick that it gets under the wafer an then I've got a leak situation to deal with.
Here are the foods that thicken it up too much for me:

oatmeal (I was eating it uncooked, mixed with yoghurt) I think a good bowl-full would help you.
Bananas
French fries and potato chips mmmmmmmmm, and basically any form of potato
pretzel stiks
Eggplant (don't know why it thickens things)
Noodles
Sounds like you really need to avoid sugar and chocolate, because sweets always make things run fast.
Try some pectin from the drug store, this is also good. I will probably take it when I have a j-pouch, but while I have a ileostomy I have to watch that my stool stays a bit on the thin side.
Everyone is different though, and while some people have runny stoma stool, others have thick output like me.
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