Hi Amy
I had UC for 23 years and had my emergency surgery in 2006, resulting in a JPouch which I had disconnected in June 16. I had a JPouch for 10 years, most of which was pretty manageable.
When I had flare ups, particularly with gas, I was able to find relief by laying on my stomach or my left had side with my right leg bent about
half way. This allowed the passing of the gas with no follow through and significantly reduced my trips to the bathroom. The downside is that no one could enter that room again until the green haze dissipated
. Think of an upside down bottle half filled with water, and the only way for the air to get out is to lay the bottle down on its side.
To help control the gas and associated pain I used a peppermint tablet containing Simethicone called "Gas Busters", I kid you not. This doesn't remove the gas but allows you to deal with it by separating the gas from the stool to make it easier to pass. I would take 6-8 of these a day, in doses of 2. As it is peppermint, there is no real side effect. For any pain from cramping I would take Buscopan, which helped relieve the pain. I believe this is also used for relieving period pain for some women, but as a male I don't know about
such things.
Regarding the laying down thing, it is the only safe way to trust a fart with a JPouch, and I tried to eliminate gas causing food too. I had some success with a low FODMAP diet, which helps IBS sufferers, but it does restrict your taste experience a little. The good news is that I lost a bucket load of weight as well, but I could afford to.
Finally, I had to disconnect the pouch because the pain and pouchitis was only controllable with drugs and it was like UC all over again. I have an ileo now and learning to deal with that all over again.
I hope this helps, and my 10 years experience is worth something!
Cheers
Richard