Should I call the doctor ....

Hi everyone! I am 20 years old and had my colon and rectum removed a little over three years ago. I have a j-pouch currently and take 1000mg of cipro and 100mg metronidazole daily for pouchitis. The last couple months I have been getting out of breath quickly, light headed when I move quickly or get up (sometimes easy black out for a second), and lately I have been starting to get random abdominal pains. I like too run when the weather is nicer, but now even one minute of jogging makes me loose my breathe completely. I am not sure if this could be related to my J-pouch, but any advice will be appreciated. If you need more information to give a proper recommendation let me know, thanks!

Are you taking the antibiotics just short term for pouchitis or do you always take them all the time? That would be scary if you took them 365 days per year.

Call the doc- and yes, it sounds like you are not absorbing Iron. There are so many unknowns with an absent colon, but don't suffer. You also might want to try the Ostomy forum for other concerns, while it isn't as active, it has members with Ostomies and J pouches that will help.

garylouisville said...
Are you taking the antibiotics just short term for pouchitis or do you always take them all the time? That would be scary if you took them 365 days per year.

Gary,

A few of us have chronic pouchitis which requires regular treatment. I've been on one or another antibiotic for the past 10 months and my jpouch works great until I stop taking them. I am sometimes on a combination of two antibiotics like right now with cipro & augmentin. I also rotate in to my regiment Flagyl and xifaxian. We rotate antibiotics so they don't become ineffective or have side-effects.

When I had a colon and took Cipro I was completely miserable from it. But without a colon I feel much better on Cipro. I have had no side-effects from the antibiotics except for when I stayed on Flagyl for a couple months in the beginning and got Thrush from it.

We can also take biologicals to treat the chronic pouchitis but I can't due to Serum Sickness that I experienced from Remicade, Humira and Simponi.