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Can immodium/lomotil safely manage bowel movements to 6 or less a day?

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Posted 11/5/2012 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
I am sitting on fence for UC jpouch surgery. I am very physically active in work and play, even with my UC. I understand that after the surgeries (I would likely be three step) there is an initial spurt of almost hourly bowel movement or, in the case of ostomy bag, bag emptyings. Can that be safely reduced down to 6 or less a day in short order, using immodium or lomotil? I am especially concerned because many seem to report 10-12 a day, or 8+ anyway, as normal.... Is that number without immodium, but easily reducable via immodium? And is immodium in sufficient doses to reduce that perfectly safe , for life if need be? Doesnt immodium make urinating more difficult (I notice that with UC- I tend to take 2-3 with breakfast and occasionally 4-5- when its 4 or 5 i notice urinating a bit more difficult, and I read of many jpouchers taking 8-12 a day). Thanks
Posted 11/5/2012 6:02 PM (GMT 0)
What you are not taking in consideration of those 6+ bowel movements is that a number of those occur while originally heading to the loo to urinate. How many times per day to you urinate?

Sue
Posted 11/5/2012 7:47 PM (GMT 0)
Pro,
After my surgery, 9 a total colectomy with reconnect, so I never had a bag)...I did go 9-12 movements a day. It did slow down a bit with immodium, but I was also on Bentyl for my stomach. Several times movements slowed right down and I was really concerned with blockages, so getting the right dose could be very tricky.. I am just on Bentyl now, but did recently have to have another surgery. (not to do with my colectomy necessarily..I had an ovarian cyst that wrapped around my remaining good intestine).. It may take sometime to get the right dosage, but plug along and you will get there..Remember to stay well hydrated! You really need extra liquid not to become blocked.. Good luck
Posted 11/5/2012 8:10 PM (GMT 0)
I was told that high doses of immodium could cause temporary colon paralysis. But if you don't have one, you can take 8 x 2 mg per day forever with no consequences. If that is incorrect, tell me, although I don't really want to hear it, because I can't get below taking 8 per day.
I took some when I had a loop stoma and can't really say it reduced my output, rather, it thickened my output which made it less, because at that time I was loosing bag after bag of water. I'm living with my jpouch now and cannot say it reduces the number of bowel movements, it thickens it up so it is easier to hold inside, and the stuff does not burn my skin as much. Just after takedown Ihad about 18-20 very chaotic bm's per day, then 16, then 13, etc, until now I have an average of six. I eat a light breakfast so most of my bm's are in the evening. That's with taking 2 immodiums every 4 hours from the moment I wake up.
Posted 11/5/2012 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, everyone. sue- i reckon, when awake, that I pee about once every 4 hours, plus usually once at night. So that is about 6x a day- so 6 would to be seem the desirable goal. As a man, of course, i face the issue that mens rooms often have just one or at best two stalls- maybe 3-6x as mant urinals as stalls, so for men its a bigger "downgrade" to be no.2'ing every time you no.1 but it is what it is.

B'dereh- how long since takedown was it that your average dropped to 6? Are yours in spurts? Its encouraging to hear some say they may barely have to go when out and active, because 12 a day is an average of once every 2 h whuch to me sounds housebound. I am surprised immodium doesnt refuce frequency- sad to hear that- but if it helps form stool that's something, I guess.

Thanks again.
Posted 11/5/2012 10:32 PM (GMT 0)
6X per day, or even 12X per day does not mean every two hours.

And there is no harm in a jpoucher taking 8 imodium per day.

Sue
Posted 11/6/2012 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
I got my j-pouch takedown in January and am currently having 6-8 movements per day. It really depends upon how much I eat and what (more fiber foods might mean one extra trip, etc). I do not use any Imodium, etc at all. I haven't for quite a long time except for two days when I had a stomach virus and just was getting too dehydrated.

I am also extremely active. I am a distance runner and train year round, I am a full time nursing student, wife, and mom to two very active young boys. My j-pouch does not hold me back in any way. Committing to 6-8 x's per day sounds like a burden but, I haven't found that to be the case. You develop a pattern after awhile. For instance, I usually wake up around 4:00 a.m. and go, then go again when I get up for the day at 6:00 and one more time before leaving the house at 7:30. That's 3 of the 6-8 right there. Once after lunch, once after dinner, once before bed and that's my normal day. There may be one more time or so mixed in there depending on the food I eat that day. So yes, during a normal 9-5 type day I'm only needing one trip (two max) while out and about. Really doesn't intrude upon anything. I'm also fine to go out and run for 2-3 hours without needing to stop for the bathroom.

Everyone's experiences vary but, that is what mine has been like so far.
Posted 1/13/2013 10:10 PM (GMT 0)
run4pancakes, thanks for the details, it helps to know other's experiences! I'm going to have my take down in a few months and I have a couple questions:
  • When your j-pouch starts to fill do you have the sensation of having to carefully hold diarrhea until you go?
  • How runny/formed is your output?
  • What's special about your diet? Any tricks?
  • Do you use a bidet, skin cream, or wipes?
  • Do you have any problems with leakage?
  • How did your ostomy/stoma wound close and heal?
Thanks in advance!
Posted 1/14/2013 8:42 AM (GMT 0)
I tried Immodium for my Ileostomy a couple of times, but the results weren't desirable. Any less than 6 in one go had no effect what-so-ever. However, taking 6 in one go made it so thick I could barely push it down the bag, and it was pancaking so badly I was afraid the bag would get pushed straight off! It's a shame, as it gave me several hours of zero output, but once that stuff started to evacuate, OH BOY!
I think it's another one of those things that's very individual and needs some experimenting, but in my case, the experiment said leave well enough alone.
Posted 1/16/2013 12:23 AM (GMT 0)

x5800 said...
run4pancakes, thanks for the details, it helps to know other's experiences! I'm going to have my take down in a few months and I have a couple questions:

  • When your j-pouch starts to fill do you have the sensation of having to carefully hold diarrhea until you go?
  • How runny/formed is your output?
  • What's special about your diet? Any tricks?
  • Do you use a bidet, skin cream, or wipes?
  • Do you have any problems with leakage?
  • How did your ostomy/stoma wound close and heal?
Thanks in advance!

I can give you my experience. After a while, you don't need to carefully hold it until you need to go (unless I eat something that my pouch doesn't like). It feels like when you have to pee...a little uncomfortable, but it can wait. Nothing like UC.

Runny at first...now looks like regular poop most of time, unless I eat something my pouch doesn't like :-)

I have a teaspoon of Metamucil every morning. I fill a small juice class half full and still in powder. I also take 1 Immodium in the morning and 1 at night. I usually go 6-8 times a day (most of those times from 7-9 pm). I don't usually wake in the middle of the night to go.

No bidet, but a squirt bottle at first and now if I have a fissure, hemmies or a yeast infection. I used wipes early on. I use calmoseptine when needed. All the time at first. You can get it at Walgreens.

Never had any leakage. Once I farted and something else came out (very early on), but not since. Can toot easily while sitting or lying down (never standing up, though).

My surgeon left my wound open and just put bandages over it. I thought she was CRAZY! It was disgusting, but I love my little scar now. I think it's cute and it reminds me that things are so much better now. It took a while for it to heal, but I'm not sure how long.

Know that you will probably have a lot of pressure feeling at first from gas and you will go a lot at first. It will also feel urgent. Try to hold it for as long as you can. I think I've trained my pouch pretty well...although it does act up at times.

Good luck turn
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