I thought it was over...wrong

[Nik Colon]

I have recently gone of my oxy which many know can constipate you. Had loose stools in the days after. Had not taken meds to help either and in the last few days been somewhat normal, then felt constipated. Took just a little to go and was fine. But just a few minutes ago, diarrhea. I mean the dtaf kind. Seriously, when will it (if ever) get better! My surgery was April 2015! Will it ever be somewhat normal again?

[Nik Colon]

All I know is I had a foot of colon removed, was my sigmoid, up to 25+/-. Ever since have not been normal. Either constipation or diarrhea. When I have to go I need to NOW! It sux not knowing when, where, etc. I'm still hoping it will get better. But having my recent issue, idk. How can one live a normal life with this!

[JudeD59]

No answers for you, Nik, just a hug and a hope things improve very soon.

Judy

[O Stoma Mia]

Have you tried Questran for hard-to-treat diarrhea?

[jalusa]

Maybe more fiber? Fiber can help even things out. I had the same surgery things work well. I eat a bowl of raisen bran every AM.

[Joannerogers]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I hope it gets better

[Stanfordmom]

Hugs a positive energy to you! Sorry I cannot help more.

Sha

[Nik Colon]

Thanks everyone, just gets frustrating when you don't know what to expect on a daily basis.

[SuseB]

Sorry, Nik. I feel your frustration. I have had extreme issues since my surgery... Hose down the bathroom kind of stuff. Several times a week. No predicting what days. Have yelled cried and thrown stuff. For me at least, it at least clustered in the evening, so I'd know when to be home. Haven't been out in the evening much since. Nothing touched it; high fiber; BRAT diet, medication. Gradually less severe and less frequent over the last 6-8 weeks. Some respite now with the zofran and pain melds. I know this isn't helpful in a practical sense, but I always felt alone about it, making excuses why I couldn't get together with people in the evening. So commiseration.

[Nichoebe]

The problem is stopping the oxycodone your body is withdrawing. I unfortunately have much expierience in this dark area. I spent ten years addicted to pain meds due to back problems . Pain meds are a necessary evil and then just become evil,by know means am I accusing you of being an addict please do not take it that way it really only takes a matter of weeks for the brain and body to need and want more pain medication and even if you've only been taking them for a few months you really need to slowly come off them for example 30 mg tabs every 4 hours that becomes 1 tab every 6 and begin dropping in milligrams 30 down to 15 mg or whatever your Dr should be able to help you if your past a few days without them your getting close so if you can fight "the sickness" drink Gatorade and fluids as tolerated same with food unless your vomiting a lot and for the " peeing out of your ass" as it is Imodium works well as long as it takes for stool to harden up but as I said from my own expierience sit sounds like withdrawls . It sucks I spent a lot of tears in hell because of those little pills then I stopped for 2 1/2 years stopped drinking as well got in the best shape of my life back pain as I still have many herniated and bulged discs , stenosis, arthritis and such but it went away I went back to physical work and was the happiest and fullest I had been in years and then as I started my small side business I was diagnosed with a thing called colorectal cancer go figure I certainly hope that you feel better and take my advise and talk to Dr if you like but it's probably stopping the Oxycodone
Mime

[Nichoebe]

Mike not Mime stupid iPhone

[Nik Colon]

Mike not Mime stupid iPhone

I've been off them for a couple weeks now (roughly). I'm sure it's my body readjusting, but idk.

[BeansMama]

Hope it starts getting better for you soon.

[Nichoebe]

Yeah a couple weeks you should be past the major withdrawls try the Imodium that worked better during chemo rad than the prescription anti diarrhea meds they gave me eat rice bagels pasta things to bind you up and exercise is great even just walking
Hope this may help
Sucks being sick and side effects
Really suck
Good luck and stay strong
Mike

[chrisca]

More fiber is usually a good idea, but the kind of fiber seems to be very important. I experimented with a lot of foods before finding ones that gave me the best bowel stability (but it's far from perfect.) That said, I seldom have diarrhea. One thing I did, no guarantees, is to take a turmeric capsule each day at breakfast. Turmeric is proven to boost the gut immune system. I very seldom experience diarrhea, only when truly sick from some spoiled food or change in the water when traveling.

I make my own turmeric capsules (much cheaper) but it's easy to buy a bottle of the supplement at any natural food store and try it first. If it works, I can give you all the instructions for making them yourself. I take about a gram a day. I also eat a lot of probiotic foods, yogurt almost every day at lunch and I take a probiotic (Reuteri pearls) every other day. These things might help. If you only lost your sigmoid and kept the rectum, diarrhea shouldn't be a bowel function issue so much as it could be a gut microflora issue. Chemo messes with the gut quite a lot.

Some food sensitivities can contribute to diarrhea. Likely culprits are artificial sweeteners and less digestible sugars such as xylitol. Try going as natural as possible with all your food including an experiment with all organic foods for a while. My theory is that chemotherapy sensitizes the gut to all kinds of new food allergies and it can take a lot of time to sort it out. Quinoa was murder on my gut until I figured out I had a sensitivity to it. Before chemo, I could eat all I want. It's showing up in all kinds of foods these days. That's just one example.