Soon going back to work....can't stop going to bathroom in mornings

[Brad P]

Hello all

After being off now for almost 7 months, I expect I will soon be going back to work. I have been off due to a major flareup where I needed a bowel bypass back in May to correct things. I've gotten most of my weight gain back and most of my energy but still working on the energy part.

My biggest problem now is I get up 7-7:30am and go right for the bathroom. I'll have a bowel movement that can take anywhere from 15-30min to complete. It's typically soft. Once done, I'll likely have to go back 5-10min later...and again, and so on. I may go up to 6 times in the span of an hour or so.

I can't seem to get regulated. My family doc tried lactulose but that seemed to increase my gas. I eat some FibreOne in the mornings added to Cheerios. I have other small servings of fibre in the day but afraid to overdo it.

I see my GI next week. Is there anything I can suggest to her? Is there anything anyone can suggest to me to try?

These trips to the bathroom can also be straining and take the good out of me. I usually get over the exhaustion by lunch time. If I go back to work soon, this is not going to help at all.

Thanks

 

[Billie Selene]

Hello all

My biggest problem now is I get up 7-7:30am and go right for the bathroom. I'll have a bowel movement that can take anywhere from 15-30min to complete. It's typically soft. Once done, I'll likely have to go back 5-10min later...and again, and so on. I may go up to 6 times in the span of an hour or so.

These trips to the bathroom can also be straining and take the good out of me. I usually get over the exhaustion by lunch time. If I go back to work soon, this is not going to help at all.

Okay, I feel kind of bad about jumping in on your post, Brad but I have a similar problem.... for those of you just joining us... Heh - Heh - Heh ... I have JUST been diag'd with Crohn's.... mainly thru scope and a blood test... I seem to have the symptoms.... but ONLY in the morning! I wake up around 3:30 - 4:00 am and start very much Like Brad does.... the first BM is soft and seems a bit excessive from the past record..... but otherwise "normal" .... then I start the runs to the toilet... 5 or 6 an hour... heavy bleeding with each one.... smaller amounts of "material" .... until around 9 am... then they taper off until around noon I quit going to the bathroom except to pee.... lots and lots of peeing.... but I think that's from my diuretic for blood pressure.... then I am as "normal" as I used to be before the troubles started! So any ideas?

I really don't have much to add for you Brad.. my bosses all understand really well.... it's a family run business and they had an aunt who had Crohns and one has a child with it..... my position isn't time sensitive or open to public encounters so it is easier for me to work around the problem.... :hang:

 

[Astra]

Hiya Brad

glad you're doing ok after your op.
do you have to take lactulose and top up with fibre? Is this cos of your op?
Can you go on a low fibre/residue diet instead?
I usually empty first thing in a morning too, but yours seems a bit excessive?
xxxx

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

You say you get up at 7 or 7:30. Could you get up an hour or two earlier to try to get your bowels (somewhat) under control by the time you have to go to work? That's what I do, I'm up between 5 amd 5:30 every morning and I have to be at work by 8:30. That gives me about 3 hours to try to get myself together. I usually use the bathroom first thing, drink some tea, use bathroom again, get dressed, use bathroom, watch morning news, use bathroom, etc. I also take anti-diarrhea meds (Lomotil) if the d doesn't seem to be slowing down after a few bathroom trips. Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works for you.

 

[Heb]

My doctor told me that eating marshmallows is good for slowing the process down and it does seem to work in conjunction with the 8 loperamide I am on a day and the pro-biotic. I just have some marshmallows when I feel that it would be helpful.

 

[David in Seattle]

I agree with Joan in wondering if the lactulose & fiber might not be counterproductive (or perhaps, EXCESSIVELY productive ) I would definitely ask your doc about continuing them.

 

[Rob]

I have this same problem brad
it's a right royal pain in the butt (pun intended lol)
this is what's keeping me from goin back to work
as sometimes I'll wake about an hour before I need to wake an hav to go then back to bed
then once I am up keep away from my toilet lol as I'll be runnin for it for the next hour or so
then it settles til it's time for bed then it starts again

I do shift work on a rotating roster so if I get up an hour or so before work then I'll never get sleep (work starts 4am 5am an 6am some weeks then mid afternoon others)

I've been on the low residue diet almost a year now an that hasn't helped either
starting to wonder if it's jus part the disease???

Maybe I should get a job permanent hrs from 10am-6pm lol- yeah I wish

hope ya find the answer soon Brad, and if ya do...... An ya post it up here lol

good luck

 

[CrohnsSucks]

Sounds like my mornings too. It wakes me up better than an alarm clock at 530AM every single morning! It is only off at the most 15 minutes. I go straight to the bathroom for about 20 minutes and is soft but then starts to get more like D. Then I'm back several times before leaving for work at 730. By then it is yellow or green water.
I don't eat breakfast, eat a small lunch at 100 or 200PM so the pains won't kick in until I'm about ready to get off work. I eat supper before 700PM and if it's later than that then I will either not eat or eat a small bowl of cereal and soymilk.
I drink only water now and I urinate ALL the time. Constant urges to go and go! Bad enough I had to drill a hole in the floor of my work truck and run a hose out so I could pee before I wet myself! The BIG cups just were not big enough to hold it all. I call it my SneakyLeaky. Nobody knows what I'm doing, they just see a huge relief on my face.
It is Hell working a demanding job with this disease, but you can make adjustments here and there that will work out for you. Mostly, keep a positive outlook on things. Find the humor in everything, lest you go crazy. I find making fun of my disease and it's symptoms to others helps me keep positive instead of dwelling on how bad it really is for me. eg: when my gut rumbles and jumps around, I call it my alien baby; when I'm bleeding heavily I joke that I'm having my period. It helps people understand what is going on with me without having to go into so much detail.
Just find and adjust what works for you and you will be fine.

 

[BWS1982]

Brad, you could have watched me one morning and typed up my routine, right down to the number of trips and the straining as well as the time they can take and the frustration you have. This is "normal" for some versions of Crohn's from what I understand, but obviously sucks. I have not found a way to cope with it except to do what Catatonic does and empty out after each and every task, or taking some OTC meds. I get dressed, BM, make my breakfast, BM, pack a lunch, BM, gather my work stuff, one last BM or two...finally leaving. This is every morning, and it's been like this for about 2.5 years since I hit a bottom. The mornings are the worst.

I was just told this is part of my severe Crohns Colitis, that it's how my disease is, if they can calm the disease down, they can calm this down. Luckily as a result, I don't have severe pains outside the bathroom too often (unless I'm being 'signaled' that it's time to get to the bathroom)...

I agree about OTC meds, trying loperamide has been shown to limit D, as does Lomitil. (I have some of each)...One reason I don't take some right before this "morning rush" is because this is stool that will have to come out one way or another. I'd rather get it out at home in the privacy and sanctity of my own toilet than at work where I get railed on for using the bathroom too much as it is. I figure the lesser of evils is to let it all come out first thing to limit the trips later, even though the first 4 hours of my day can still entail a dozen trips as it is (first 25% of my day has at least 50% of my bathroom usage in it)...

IMO, I honestly don't think your fiber intake is doing this (but could be wrong), as I have done low residue and I've increased fiber. It's the same each morning regardless, it's just the nature of "our" Crohn's to have a happy morning each bright and sunny day.

 

[Brad P]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Plan B is to get up earlier but even while I have been off I don't sleep in. And waking up 7-7:30am is hard as I am still getting energy and stamina back.

The fibre and lactulose was to help the problem. I was having this problem before taking that.

As far as I know, I don't have bowel disease in my large bowel.

2 years ago I had a bowel resection where I fasted for 2 days prior and took oral fleet to clean me out. 2 weeks later when I had my first BM, my stool and movements were perfect. But when I started chemotherapy 2 months later my BM's went haywire. So I know my bowels are capable of it.

Having said all that, I may have found a cause. Since June, most nights before bed I mix a ScandiShake with milk, and add protein powder, and perhaps yogurt, olive oil, and/or whole milk powder. And I may have a Glucerna bar. Total calorie intake is between 800-1000 calories....before bed! lol

I stopped the shakes for a few days and I have been going 2-3 times in the mornings, over the course of an hour. My dilemma is I need these shakes to continue to gain weight. It has worked for me because I gained 22lbs since June.

I see my GI tomorrow and will bring this up. I'll let you all know what happens.

Thanks again

 

[Brad P]

I saw my GI after and she said the lactulose is not going to help really. She didn't really have a concrete solution. She did send me in for a standard x-ray to see if I am backed up. I haven't gotten the results of that yet. I have found it has gotten somewhat better so maybe it is gradually working itself out.

In any event, I start work today for a couple of hours as I am on a ease back program.