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Nutrition post-Ileostomy Reversal

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Posted 8/14/2011 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hey everyone!

I had my Ileostomy reversal 2.5 weeks ago. I have incredibly high output. I was going to the bathroom around 40x daily, but am now down to about 20x. I still can't be too far from a bathroom and still wear Depends in case of accidents. I'm taking Lomotil 4x daily, 6 Imodium capsules daily, and mixing Metamucil 3x daily. I feel like I'm on the maximum of everything, but I'm at a stand still. What else can I do to slow down output? I eat things that I think will stop me up, like bananas, popcorn, white bread, applesauce. My appetite is still not great, but I'm trying! What can I eat or better yet, what do I absolutely have to avoid??

Thanks for your help!!

 

Posted 8/16/2011 7:03 AM (GMT 0)
I would try potatoes, rice, and chicken and avoid coffee and other caffeinated beverages. I hope it slows down soon!
Posted 8/16/2011 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
Rice is the best for me. Also avoid juice and anything sugary. I had a lot of output after my takedown as well. It took some time, but things did adjust.
Posted 8/16/2011 10:07 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you both for your insight! I'm optimistic that it'll slow down eventually. I've heard to avoid sugary things, but in attempt to stay hydrated I've had to keep the Gatorade going. And since I'm not eating as well as I had been, I've been supplementing a little with Boost. Both Gatorade and Boost are sugary!! Could they be speeding up my output too?
Posted 8/18/2011 2:16 PM (GMT 0)
I switched from Gatorade to Powerade Zero....all of the electrolytes without the sugar. You might try one. They do have artificial sweeteners in them, so if that bothers you it might not work. Are you able to tolerate dairy? I would recommend something like greek yogurt and a good multivitamin in place of the Boost. The greek style yogurt is calorie dense, high in protein, and has no sugar. Also, the cultures are helpful for our guts. It's really good with a banana sliced in. Good luck! I hope things slow down for you soon! :-)
Posted 8/18/2011 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
Stay away from too much sugar. Rice worked well for me and peanut butter. It will slow down.. don't worry!
Posted 8/18/2011 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your help and encouragement!! I saw my doctor yesterday and he was happy with my progress. I was surprised. haha. He promised things will slow down as well. I'm going to start biofeedback in a few weeks to help train my small intestine to act like a colon. I've done biofeedback before for my hepatitis c and it lowered my liver enzymes so I'm optimistic!! I will try Powerade Zero. I haven't tried it before! I typically stay away from dairy, but I can do a little bit of Greek Yogurt. I use it for shakes every now and then. I may put some agave nectar in it. But that's a great solution. I need to get back on multivitamin and iron supplements! I just started eating some peanut butter on white toast in the morning and that seems to help. I'll keep experimenting! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Posted 8/18/2011 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
My sister, a nurse practitioner, suggested the BRAT diet, with an additional Y at the end. She said it worked well for pediatric patients with diarrhea. The diet consisted of Bananas, Rice, Applesauce (which didn't work in my case because of a little too much sugar, as others have noted), Toast and the Y that she added was Yogurt. I would start and end the day with a banana and a small container of yogurt and that seemed to keep my food inside for quite a bit longer. I would have toast with breakfast and lunch and rice with dinner, and these all seemed to help a lot. As I noted, applesauce wasn't too good, as most commercial products have either sugar (not good) or artificial sweeteners (even worse). So, I guess that means I used the BRTY diet instead.

I had heard that peanut butter was supposed to be good too. I didn't try that. If you want to try it, just make sure it's the creamy kind and not the chunky kind, at least for a while. I'm a year out from my reversal and I gradually added just about everything back into my diet, including nuts, with no problems.

Good luck to you!
Posted 8/19/2011 12:15 PM (GMT 0)
Just to give you a little added encouragement, I am almost a year post takedown and my frequency is only 4x-6x a day now. And I can eat things now that I couldn't in the beginning. You can try different foods and if something bothers you, don't assume you can't eat or drink it. Just try again in a couple of months. Right now the only thing that really bothers me is chinese food and I think it's the MSG in it. I can live without it! Who knows maybe in time it won't bother me anymore. Your small instestine really does step up and take over for your colon...the body is an amazing thing! Best wishes! :)
Posted 8/19/2011 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
THANK YOU everyone for your suggestions and encouragement! I truly truly appreciate it!!
Posted 8/21/2011 3:09 PM (GMT 0)

Hi,

Marshmallow and smooth all natural Peanut Butter sandwiches seem to slow things down.

Posted 8/21/2011 3:33 PM (GMT 0)
I've heard marshmellows work, which seems a little surprising to me because of the sugar. I'll try it though! Thanks!
Posted 8/29/2011 8:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I had my Ileostomy reversed back on April 6, 2011 & I seem to still go about 6-8x a day also.

It also seems to be more active on weekends, which can be netween 8-10 times per day. I asked my doctor about this & he said the more active you are & walking you do, it keeps your system going & can increase your output sometimes. That's why after my reversal in the hospital, the nurses told me to walk around in order to speed up the time for my first output.

What I try to do is not comsume too many sweet / sugary products & also lessen my milk intake.

When I eat things like rice, fish, chicken, & bread, it seems to slow down & thicken my output a little.

Good luck. :-)

Posted 8/30/2011 10:18 AM (GMT 0)
Did u have to give urself water enemas b4 the take dwn surgery??
Posted 8/30/2011 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
The hospital gave me water enemas one or two days before the surgery.

Actually, I was as hospitalized for 4 days & discharged from the hospital a week before my surgery.

The hospitalization was due to dehydration, which happened 5 times during the 2 1/2 months that I had my ileostomy bag.

They had to give me 6 bags of IV fluid each time to calm my dehydration.

One question, has anyone else experienced weight loss following the ileostomy reversal?

I've lost 20 punds since my bag was reversed in April of this year & I still seem to be losing.

 

Posted 8/30/2011 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
[url]
www.freewebs.com/ileostomyreversalsurgery This site is great and has helped so many Ostomates.
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