bowel control

I think that's a weird response from your doc, why would your pooh consistancy have really anything to do with your sphincter muscles?

There are many types of poops that IBDers experiance anywhere from watery to solid hard.

It's common to have some loss of bowel control when you have IBD but it does not necessarily mean that there are sphincter issues, it's just the nature of the disease.

I do hundreds of kegal exercises and I still don't have complete control all the time, especially in the am and that's regardless of what the formation of my poops are.

I noticed in your sig line that you don't take probiotics? They are a huge benefit for IBDers since we tend to have bacterial over-growth issues...might even help with your oatmeal type poops...one thing that will help your oatmeal type poops for sure is taking a fibre supplement daily, my GI told me to and it's helped with many of my issues, including the mucus, gas and bloating and many other things.

:)

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My bum is broken....there's a big crack down the middle of it!  LOL  :)

Bowel control and movement (too many) are my concerns of the moment as well. I'm trying Pentasa right now, I'm on my 2nd week and so far no blood in my stools even though I'm tapering my Prednisone and on 10mg / day this week. But I have lost formed BM's and my BMs are irregularly timed except for the one in the AM (sometimes I go only once per day, at most four). I'm on Acidophilus and it seems to help remove the pain as well.

What fiber supplements might help reduce the number of BMs? Are those in GNC okay?

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Ulcerative Colitis - Diagnosed: 1997 (2nd yr HS)

Not responding to Salofalk (stopped)
Prednisone - 7.5mg in the morning, 5mg in the evening (tapering 2.5mg/week)
AMP Plus - 12 tablets a day (6 in AM, 6 in PM)
Lifetime Acidophilus - 2 capsules/day
Pentasa - 3x 500mg per day
5' 3" - 92 lbs
location: Philippines

Thank you for the info I'm going to go by these items tomorrow!





Best wishes,
Melissa

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Asacol 2x 3 times per day
Hydrocortisone Enema 1 or 2x's per day
8oz Aloe 2x's per day
Zango on and off

Pb4, I am still having issues with going 3 times first thing in the morning. Makes me cramp low in the pelvic area, and then sting. I have to take tylenol for the cramps or spasms. And obviously, I cannot eat anything I want. Ate a bigger than normal meal last night and paid for it with severe gas, both stomach and intestinal. Ate a small chopped beef steak with gravy, small amount of macaroni and cheese and small amount of fried okra with a dinner roll. Paid for that big time. After I got rid of a bunch of gas off of my gut and out the other I felt better but my guts still feel knotted up. Some from gas I am sure but some from stress also. Don't know how I am going to function and eat out at nice places on vacation if I cannot eat a decent size meal ever. What can I do??? I am using the probiotics nightly, take digestive enzymes with my meals.

I was severely flaring when my GI told me to take fibre supplements, it was the best thing I could have done, I was going a good 15-20X/day then with the fibre supplement I went down to 10 or less, then I added the probiotic and got down to (and still am at) 5 or less/day of formed stools, able to eat fibreous foods without getting all gassy and bloated...took care of my mucus as well.

Fibre helps both C and D.

at wit's end :)

Going 3X first thing in the morning may be as good as it gets for you, the pain is really something you should talk to your doc about, you're obviously in a flare still, it can take time to come out of a flare....I use bee propolis, it stopped all my bleeding and all the pain issues I had which were mainly in my lower back, bad enough to make me cry on the toilet every single time I had to "go"...it stopped my pain, cut back on my mucus and my daily BM's, that was one of the first things I started using for natural treatments for myself, then I added the omegas and then the fibre therapy then the probiotics, it took me a few yrs to figure out my regiment.

What works for some doesn't work for all, I am also very careful with eating a healthy diet, no processed foods, fast-foods or junk foods, I drink only water and chamomile tea and I excersise regularly as well.

:)

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My bum is broken....there's a big crack down the middle of it!  LOL  :)