ostomy reversal diet

This is my first time posting on any site and I am hoping to gather some helpful information. I had an ileostomy reversal two weeks ago and am experiencing frequent runs to the bathroom and much soreness (diaper rash!!!).
I have searched online for any information and keep reading that diet is "trial and error". Any information is "sorely"appreciated.

Welcome to the forum, watergirl!

As Ironmum said, some of this will depend on what type of surgery you had. The term "reversal" can refer to a variety of situations. (Did you have a j-pouch constructed? Did you have a resection, removing just part of the colon? Was it just a temproary loop ileostomy to give your colon a chance to heal from some sort of perforation? Is your rectum left in tact?)

The more details you can provide about your specific GI situation, the better people here will be able to help you.

The "diaper rash" you are referring to may be what people here call "butt burn". (When what's coming out is so liquidy and full of digestive juices that it "burns" the skin around your anus.) Type "butt burn" into the search bar at the top right of your screen, and you will get more information than you know what to do with.

Diet will help some, but that is usually different for everyone, so you have to start paying attention to what you eat and how your body responds. However, most people have luck treating butt burn with a two-fold method: 1) Rinse with water after every time you go. You can use a little squirt bottle for this. 2) Use some sort of calming barrier ointment to protect your skin. There are a lot of specialized creams out there (Calmoseptine, B-Sure Butt Balm, Ilex), but I have also heard that diaper cream (like A&D Ointment or Desitin) works just as well.

So, does that mean your colon is attached right to your anal canal? I don't think I've heard of that situation before, so not sure how it works with urgency, frequency, etc. I'd imagine in some regards it would be similar to a j-pouch in that the colon would take a while to learn that it is the new "end-point" and frequency/urgency would get better over time... but having your colon in tact means that your system still has time to absorb additional fluids and finish digesting things with bacteria... My guess would be that the butt burn issue wouldn't be as bad as someone with a J-pouch, but that's just me speculating.

Boy, we have all sorts of interesting GI tract situations in this Ostomy forum. Let us know how it goes.