Question about eating with a stricture

[mugsymagoos]

Hello!

My daughter just had her ileostomy reversed after having it for two years due to a doctor perforating her colon during a colonoscopy. She now has scarring and a stricture in her colon. Can anyone give me some do's and dont's on what to eat with a stricture? Obviously no nuts, popcorn, fruit with skins and seeds etc... but how about flaky fish and white rice? Her reversal surgery was 2 1/2 weeks ago, and she has just been have pretty much a full liquid diet thus far. Hasn't tried any other foods yet.

Thank you for any info!

 

[DJW]

I haven't had issues with fish or rice. Raw veggies are always an issue for me. I have to steam them until they are mushy. A lot depends on how bad it is. I've had to go on zero fiber diets in the past.

Best to gradually add foods and see how it goes. And only have a bit of the food being tested.

 

[mugsymagoos]

Yes, I was thinking that too....try a little at a time and see how it goes. We would never attempt raw veggies, and she knows she has to chew all food well. We haven't dealt with the stricture before the ileostomy so this is new for her. I think the ileostomy and the doctor perforating her colon was what brought on the scarring and stricture. She had never had this before all of that happened.

 

[HARVinTX]

Did they say why they were not able to remove the stricture during the reversal? Just curious since they were already in there and usually take care of everything at once.

To the food question, it will be trial and error. I just had a stricture removed almost 3 weeks ago and needed to avoid fruits/veggies until the resection swelling eased. I'm doing well now with tomatoes, onions and lettuce. I still chew well. Regarding the stricture it really depends if it's small vs large intestine and how badly it is strictured and whether it is all scarred stricture or a combination of scar and inflammation. If it is combo, then once her anti-inflammatory meds kick in, that should ease the stricture. Flaky white fish never bothered me and I obstructed many times wth the stricture they just removed. Chicken was not a problem and I had soft fried eggs every morning without issue. Obviously there is not a single response since there are several factors to consider. I wish her well in her recovery!

 

[mugsymagoos]

Thank you for your response! Doing any type of re-section or taking out the stricture while doing the reversal was not even an option at this point for us. We were just happy he considered doing the reversal as her last surgeon said he would not do it. She has her colon, rectum and her ileum is perfectly fine. She has only ever had inflammation in her colon, but since being on Stelara the last year, her colon looks so much better also. I know there is scarring there also and in the rectum, and the stricture is in the sigmoid colon. Since the reversal two weeks ago, she has had very little pain (just some from the surgery obviously), and is going to the bathroom just fine, but again has only been on liquids and soup, yogurts, pudding etc...

 

[Khaley]

I'm having resection surgery this Friday for a stricture. I think it's been forming for several years and I've difficulties with raw veggies, especially, but it's only been the last few months that it's gotten so bad I've gone on a strict low residue diet. I've been working with a dietician and she's helped me a lot with my good and bad foods and with meal planning, but I think my food diary has been the most helpful. In addition to recording what I ate and how I felt, I also note things like my activities, clothes I wore and my highest pain level for the day. The pain level has been an eye opener because when I have a couple of good days in a row I tend to think I'm generally feeling well. But if I look back over a week or more I can see where I'm really not doing well at all.

I would suggest adding only one or two things at a time. It can be so hard to figure out what's causing problems because of the time lapse between eating and symptoms. Wouldn't it be great if there was, like, a pee stick for bad foods! You could eat something, pee on the stick, and it would say, "Nope, don't eat that again. That's bad for you!" If she has too many variables she will just feel bad all the time and never figure it out.

Best wishes to her.

 

[Jeffpscuc]

Veggies should be fine as long as when steamed, you can use a fork to cut them.
A low fiber diet should work -Banana, rice, applesauce, toast....

One thing I learned when my stricture makes an appearance, chocolate soy milk helps spur things along (out) nicely. If you can find something that helps you defeat a stricture, do not forget it.

 

[The Real MC]

I just recovered from a blockage due to a stricture (avoided surgery). They put me on a bland diet for ten days while the piping healed. That seemed to help. I'm no longer restricted as far as diet but I am going slow and easy to make sure nothing causes a relapse.

 

[Muppetgirl]

My lesions / resection / scar tissue are / have been in the same area as where your daughter has her troubles. I stick to low fiber and little and often also. On top of that I have discovered I have a problem with pasta (which is an allowed food). At first I thought it was about the bulk of pasta as it previously occured when I had it 2 days in a row. However, last week I had a small portion of plain noodles and I had another obstruction. I have also found that I can't drink fruit juice after a meal, it sends my gut into madness! I'm not sure why, my guess is that the acidic juice pushes things through and the food just isn't having it! As has been said though we are all different so a lot of it is trial and error.

 

[The Real MC]

I had really bad inflammation following a pasta meal. I did not know that too much starch could trigger an inflammation. The large pasta (rigatoni) can do this, the smaller pasta is safer.

 

[Justanothercp]

I had really bad inflammation following a pasta meal. I did not know that too much starch could trigger an inflammation. The large pasta (rigatoni) can do this, the smaller pasta is safer.

Pasta also gives me problems. I finally ended up giving it up altogether. I have started using spaghetti squash in place of pasta. It's actually quite good.

 

[cleuger]

I had 2 very narrowing strictures In my colon so bad the colonoscopy camera couldn't get through. I ate a very low residue diet I know if I had to much fiber I had lots of pain. I ate a lot of baked potatoes, I even ate burgers they didnt seem to bother Me as long as I chewed them well. Ice cream and milk shakes were my go to food if I had ate something that may have got stuck . Never had a blockage though. Eating many small meals instead of several large meals helped a lot also
hope this helps

 

[The Real MC]

I have also noticed that smaller more frequent meals were easier on my system.

 

[sk12383]

Strictures have been my big problem for many years -- mine is an anastamotic stricture from hooking up the small intestine to rectum after colectomy.

My guidelines are: no fresh fruits or veggies, no nuts/seeds,

Good: Yoghurt (Greek with all the fat gives you the most bang for your buck in terms of fullness/nutrition), mashed potatoes, chicken, pork, all fish (reviewed for bones first).

I know dairy is bad for a lot of people but for me whole milk is helpful in terms of getting a liquid that has carbs, fat and protein. Boost/ensure is probably better in that respect but something to think about.

Bread works for me too but somehow I don't recommend it all the same.
Cream of wheat can be nice if gluten is not a concern.
best of luck.