Diet after 7 months after smal bowel resection

I had a small bowel resection in April (7 months ago), it was an emergency as I had adhesions from a previous operation 25 years ago. I don't have Crohns.
I was doing quite well on Allbran and just 2 x teasp laxido a day and eating a diet mainly of fish, some veg etc. I am scared of adding to the diet as I have had two bouts of a really bad stomach, pains on the loo for 3 days, etc.
and I don't really know why. This last one, I had added beef casserole (made myself with beef, swede, carrots and a very small amount of Leek, and it was with mashed potato, the following day I made a shepherds pie, with minced beef, carrots, peas, again with mashed potato. I did this to try and get some more vitamins, but the result wasn't what I expected. gripe pains low down, and on the toilet.
Has anyone had a problem with diet and any ideas of what to avoid and what to eat?
Thankyou

Sorry, I'm stumped? All I can suggest is try keeping a food journal. See if that helps.

You also might see a nutritionist.

2

Was your IC valve removed? That can cause issues with bile malabsorption. I find too much fatty food gives me cramps and the runs. And too much sugar.

Hi Grumbletum,

My notes just say that approximately 80 cms of my small bowel were ischaemic due to adhesions and therefore resected. an ileo-ileal anastomoses
Small bowel obstruction with a transition point in the RIF. My doctos notes say that 180cm was left (I think they must be referring to a section of it and not all of it) I am trying to get this clarified, I sent an email to the surgeons secretary but she hasn't yet answered.
I hadn't had much fat (I seem OK with chips! I had eaten 4 ginger biscuits and a twix, but that's the only sweet stuff I ate, I though I was eating quite healthily, but something was wrong.

Are you sure the symptoms are related to food at all?

If Allbran didn't give you problems, then it's a mystery to me; I thought Allbran would be one of the worst possible things to eat! Fibre is often problematic after bowel surgery, but if your problem isn't fibre and isn't fat, I'm not sure. Things like caffeine, alcohol and spices can cause problems, but it doesn't sound like they were responsible for your symptoms - you didn't add any spices to your meals?

What vegetables had you been doing ok with before? If you're worried about vitamins, vitamin pills or supplements like Ensure will provide these. Supplements provide calories as well: useful if you want to gain weight, not if you want to lose it! But some people find vitamin pills upset their digestion, especially those with iron. Also, some pills might not be absorbed properly if you're missing some intestine. It might be a good idea to check with a doctor before trying any pills anyway. There are also drinks you can just buy in the supermarket that provide vitamins (including vitamin C), like Horlicks and Ovaltine. I know it can sometimes feel like vitamins from real fruits and vegetables are superior, but your body will manage fine with vitamins from other sources.

I really would consider whether food was the problem though. If it's only been a few episodes, it could have been coincidence that they occurred after you tried new meals.

Hi UnXmas,

I know, everything I read is that people "go too much" after small bowel resection (I had three foot of bowel taken away), but I am constipated most of the time and need the Allbran plus 2 x tsp Laxido to go at all and that's just one bowel movement a day. Now, after the bout of being on the loo I am totally constipated again, even with Allbran and Laxido. I don't know what to eat anymore. I have emailed my surgeons secretary to try and get clarification of what part of my bowel was taken etc. but no reply yet.
I have decaffeinated tea, no alcohol (I have been pretty good with my diet for years due to constant migraines) never any spices.
I am OK with sprouts, carrots, peas, boiled swede corn (the casserole just had beef, swede carrots and one leek (I am wondering if its the beef, but I was always find with that before the operation). Or maybe the bowels just do this now and again after this kind of operation (I don't know). No, don't want to gain any more weight now, back to almost what I was pre op any bigger and my stomach will be too big for the clothes, (still have the bum tum with the 8 inch groove)!

What was the reason for your original surgery? Do you have a condition affecting your digestive system, or did you have any digestive symptoms before the resection?

Is the constipation causing you pain? It's normal for some people to go quite a few days without a bowel movement, and if you've had a bout of diarrhoea, your system will have been cleared out, so that can mean it will take a bit longer before you next go. But if you're bloated and uncomfortable something's not right.

If fibre has been helping you I wouldn't have thought vegetables would be a problem. Trying to identify the effects of individual foods is very tricky, and you may become needlessly worried about eating. I would keep to a fairly simple diet, things that didn't give you problems before, and maybe see a doctor to ask whether there's cause to investigate the problem or if there's any other medication that could ease the symptoms. Seven months after a bowel surgery everything will have healed, but as mentioned above, sometimes things will not be quite the same as before, depending on which parts were removed, and it's also possible a complication has developed. But even then symptoms can often be helped with medication. Diet can help too, but if you can't see any obvious patterns between what you eat and what symptoms you get, it may help to find out a bit more about what is causing the problem before you can work out what kind of dietary changes may be beneficial.

Thanks UnXmas, I had a burst appendix 25 years ago and adhesions had formed a band around the bowel, I was OK, eating chips then two hours later in agony. I went in as an emergency. I have always been constipated even as a child. I ate linseeds with cereal before my operation for years and now I don't know if its OK to eat them. My stomach has always been sensitive, irritable bowel, stuff like that and my top stomach feels like there may be an ulcer as that can play up, but I had years of most of that without too many problems.
I had a reply from the surgeons secretary today saying she would pass my concerns to the consultant so I hope to get some information soon as to what part of bowel was taken and how much is left etc.