Question:

get cramps at the middle and top of the abdominal region (often

followed by some bag activity) … cramps are not severe and do not last

any

length of time (30 seconds).   I’ve had periodic or limited diarrhea (or at least, more watery content in the bag), although do not feel sick. Is this common at the six-week mark? … will it disapear? … thoughts? Thanks …. Steve

Steve, I had a very similar problem that showed up at about the six-week time.  My GI thought that the cramping might be caused by the remaining organs just "getting used to" living without a colon (as well as plain, old, post-surgical discomforts).  He suggested and ordered 15 mg of Prevacid for me to take before dinner each day to counteract any effects from stomach acid (excess or otherwise) just to see if it might help.  It did so just about immediately.  As a result, he decided to keep me on Prevacid for a year.  I’m due to come off it this week, so I can’t really tell you if it’s "worked," but it sure has helped. That’s only my experience, however, so please don’t interpret this message as promoting a cure-all.  It’s just a suggestion of something that helped a similar problem, and helped it extremely well.  I’d further suggest that you might want to see your GI and bring up Prevacid? (. . . along with some further investigation, probably.) Wish you the best of luck. Peace, Vince

Response:

In article <19990129184438.01114.00000…@ng-cb1.aol.com

, steves…@aol.com

(SteveSaul) writes:

I do, however, get cramps at the middle and top of the abdominal region (often followed by some bag activity) … cramps are not severe and do not last any length of time (30 seconds).   I’ve had periodic or limited diarrhea (or at least, more watery content in the bag), although do not feel sick. Is this common at the six-week mark? … will it disapear? … thoughts?

This is pretty normal, Steve.  Everything is still a bit tender and any gas – or just passage of food through the intestines – may cause a crampy kind of feeling. As for the *diarrhea*, a normal ileostomy will vary greatly in consistency of output.  In the same day, mine will sometimes be very thick so as I have to squeeze it out of the pouch and at other times completely watery.  Orange juice definitely causes a liquification.  If you ouput goes up greatly in quantity, and is completely watery for a period of time, then you may be looking at diarrhea.  At the point, you’d probably have other symptoms, too. Hard to get used to the concept of not having constant diarrhea, isn’t it? –Gretchen

Response:

SteveSaul <steves…@aol.com

wrote in article

<19990129184438.01114.00000…@ng-cb1.aol.com

…

<snip———————————————————————

I do, however, get cramps at the middle and top of the abdominal region

(often

followed by some bag activity) … cramps are not severe and do not last

any

length of time (30 seconds).   I’ve had periodic or limited diarrhea (or

at

least, more watery content in the bag), although do not feel sick.

<snip———————————————————————

The watery content makes it sound like a blockage, but non that I’ve ever had have been as quick as that.  I only get them when I don’t chew *thoroughly*, and can last from an hour to a lot of hours. Any other ideas out there? Romane

Response:

I’m six weeks post-operative with Ileostomy (permanent – total proctocolectomy) due to Ulcerative Colitis … Doctors say I’m doing remarkably well as a 53 Year Old … as I am doing everything I want (and pretty much have been for two plus weeks now), other than lifting anything heavy … I’ve been driving for three weeks and plan on a return to the office within the next two weeks.   My control of and use of the Convatec Appliance has become routine. I do, however, get cramps at the middle and top of the abdominal region (often followed by some bag activity) … cramps are not severe and do not last any length of time (30 seconds).   I’ve had periodic or limited diarrhea (or at least, more watery content in the bag), although do not feel sick. Is this common at the six-week mark? … will it disapear? … thoughts? Thanks …. Steve

Response:

Do you have the cramps frequently? After eating? What are you eating? Make sure you drink plenty of fluids during meal time and make sure to chew well. Gary – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -SteveSaul wrote:

I’m six weeks post-operative with Ileostomy (permanent – total proctocolectomy) due to Ulcerative Colitis … Doctors say I’m doing remarkably well as a 53 Year Old … as I am doing everything I want (and pretty much have been for two plus weeks now), other than lifting anything heavy … I’ve been driving for three weeks and plan on a return to the office within the next two weeks.   My control of and use of the Convatec Appliance has become routine. I do, however, get cramps at the middle and top of the abdominal region (often followed by some bag activity) … cramps are not severe and do not last any length of time (30 seconds).   I’ve had periodic or limited diarrhea (or at least, more watery content in the bag), although do not feel sick. Is this common at the six-week mark? … will it disapear? … thoughts? Thanks …. Steve

Response:

Related Posts