Bad diarrhea post bowel resection

[ArmyWife]

Hey everyone!

I just had a bowel resection January 12, 2011. I had a foot of my small intestine and 6 inches of my large intestine removed. I was just wondering if those of you out there who have had this had bad diarrhea months after your surgery? I know diarrhea is to be expected after this type of surgery, I'm just having a hard time differentiating between that or Crohn's disease. I never really had diarrhea that bad with my Crohn's before the surgery (I mostly had obstructive sympoms from narrowing/strictures) so I'm not sure what it's from. I did have very mild abdominal pain today for a few minutes, but other than that I've had no other symptoms. I've been having bowel movements anywhere from 1-5 times a day. Until today I thought it was from the surgery, but after the pain I started wondering if it was the Crohn's.

Anyways just wondering what ya'lls thoughts are about this, any input would be appreciated!

Thanks and hope everyone is well :hug:

Beth

 

[e13 boy]

Hi Beth,

I've had two resections for CD,right side hemi & resection of neo terminal ilieum(10 years apart).Following the right side hemi 13 years ago it left me with permenant 'D'.I then found that the Dr's would too easily blame the resection,rather than the CD starting to come back for my ongoing problems.
When i think back,in my opinion, the CD was slowly coming back within 9-12 months of right side hemi.All my complaints fell on deaf ears for months,until 18 months on from that op' i was on steroids & pentasa.To try to control the 'D' i was given Loperamide & at one stage codeine.I never had 'normal bowels',i just coped with it.One Dr got really sharp with me when i kept complaining & told me 'this was as good as it gets'.
Slowly, over the years the CD got worse (ie;had loads of iron infusions)but again my complaints fell on deaf,arrogant ears.That led to the 2nd resection which made the permenant 'D' even worse.
I have had to take loperamide for 13 years now due to the resections but it never controlled the 'D' until i finally gained remission from CD.I gained complete remission from CD for the first time in 21 years by taking Serovera AMP.I now 'enjoy' one perfect BM per day. I'm stuck with taking Loperamide for the rest of my life due to my short bowel.
It's crucial you get the CD into remission & also find the anti 'D' medication that works for you.(Loperamide?,Codeine?,Lomotil?)

I hope you find what works for you ASAP

Best Wishes

 

[Crohn's 35]

HI there yes after my second resection the D was pretty bad but a safer way to go is Questran (cholestyramine) and helped for about a year and then ate more binding foods and now mostly ok but never a formed bm. Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[krbsmom]

i had diarrhea for months after my resection last Aug. I finally got it to stop by going on a gluten free diet, once in a while depending on what i eat it will come back but never over a day long ever, its like i pass whatever i ate that upset me and im back to as normal as i get .... might want to try some yogurt too for me it works better than the pill probotics

 

[ArmyWife]

Thanks everyone! Pen what did you mix the Questran with to make it less gritty? Is there anything that makes it easier to drink?

The bad thing is that the D doesn't bother me at all. I was suffering so bad before with the obstructive symptoms that this is the best I've felt in a LONG time. As long as I'm not in severe pain and vomiting I'll live with the D! But I don't want to ignore this now that I'm feeling well and have the Crohn's get to the stage it was in before the surgery.

e13 boy I hear the same thing from the docs.. always blame it on the surgery. I've just began to question what this is really from so we'll see. I JUST started Humira back up again (only 1 shot in), so maybe that will help calm it down (if it's from the CD).

Thanks everyone!

Beth

 

[Mister_Hotspur]

Hi Beth, i had a right hemicolectomy and i had diahrea for maybe 6-7 weeks after. Since then it has always been loose but mostly controllable. Maintaining a routine is important to getting under control.

I find that Loperamide gives me cramp so i avoid it, and luckily only needed the Colestraymine for a short period, even though it was orange flavoured it wasnt nice, i can only suggest holding your nose and downing it lol. Make sure you brush your teeth straight after aswel because it can damage them.