Digestive Difficulties: Diet without a terminal ileum for cecum?

[Wallace]

Hi all,
I had my terminal ileum and my cecum removed in December. Before surgery I struggled with constipation, and after surgery, I had liquid stools for a while. They have started to become more normal, but I still have them with great frequency.

The past few days have been particularly bad, and today I was unable to go to work, and I may have to miss another day if this keeps up. It was as if I was preparing for another colonoscopy.

Is there something that I can change in my diet that may help? I eat as healthy as I can, and do my own cooking. I have a very busy work schedule and live on my own, so cooking is not as easy as I would like it to be. Sadly, I'm likely also slightly anemic due to a vit B12 shortage, so I'm pretty exhausted right now.

Any advice? Thanks!

 

[wild_one353]

lots of things are absorbed mainly in the ileum. b12 magnesium, dietary fats.

try increasing soluble fiber intake to encourage firmer stool formation,stool is pretty much a product of bacterial fermentation and bacteria use fiber from plant foods to grow mainly.try apples, oatmeal. ive also found cranberries and spinach to also contribute to bowel bulk, though im not sure they are considered to be high in soluble fiber.

after trying this you may also want to try a soluble fiber supplement.

good luck!

 

[Grumbletum]

Hi Wallace. Sorry to hear you are having these issues. Since my resection, I have found that fatty foods and foods high in refined sugar cause me urgency and frequency issues, so I try to avoid. Several people on the forum also recommend psyllium husk as a natural remedy.