Hi Scott, I had my ileo. in November, as an emergency and took some time to come to terms with it and to learn the do's and don'ts for me. Had many an embarassing moment till I found the right bag for example. I had a blood clot, afterwards and was on Warfarin for a while and therefore didn't have a drink, of alcohol for nearly five months. I remember my first pint of real ale, after I was given the all clear; I was piddled!!
As was said by another mailer we're all different and we all have to learn what our own systems will handle and it is true, as was pointed out by that young lady, in one of your responses that your small intestine will adapt and start to take on some of the work of your missing colon. I'm very lucky in that I rarely have to take loperamide (immodium) to thicken my output and I haven' really seen the point in (in bag) thickeners. I find that pancaking (when my output is too thick and won't run away) has been the cause of all of my leakages and have never had a leak from a bag full of liquid and gas, even overnight after a session with my mate Matt. (A very bad influence.)
I discussed the alcohol issue with my nurse practitioner (if you haven't got one find out if there is one in your gastro dept. She's a great intermediary between me and my specialist. When they're too busy she's not, even when she is, if you know what I mean?)
Anyway, back to the point; I asked her why sometimes I have a lot of fluid in my bag and sometimes none after drinking alcohol on top of the gallon or so of water I drink daily. What I learned was this; firstly drinking lots of water, on a regular basis is good. The body absorbs what it needs and passes most of the rest out in urine and any excess (that is no longer absorbed by the colon) in the faeces. Good hydration is a major factor because dehydration affects the body's ability to (subsequently)absorb water and therefore the worst thing you can do, after a serious bout of dehydration is to drink copious amounts of water as most of it will pass straight through the body, unabsorbed and out into your bag.
As a rule of thumb; if you feel really thirsty you're probably already dehydrated to some extent. Drink water regularly and especially before during and after alcohol and you shouldn't have any major problems.
Secondly what kind of alcohol ? I, quite naturally thought that drinking wine, as it's sold in smaller measures and is, generally consumed in smaller volumes would lead to less liquid output? Wrong! Apparently their is little or no sustenance to be gained from fermented grape products so the body tends to pass it on through, as is. Whereas dark beers, which are generally full of malt and hops and other nutrients are more readily absorbed by the body and therefore produce less waste. That is ones that have been brewed in a natural process and not chemically induced which is where, I'm afraid that most of our regular draught lagers and beers fall down in this country; they have little or no nutritional value.
So the moral is, you are what you drink and if you drink crap then expect 'CRAP.' But, like the man said, the odd one won't hurt. Any more than that then be prepared for a few trips throughout the night. Most importantly drink water regularly and no, I don't have any shares in any of the water companies!!! lol.
I am going into my local hospital tomorrow and having the 'ileo-anal pouch' op. on Wednesday so will, probably have a whole new set of do's and don'ts to learn after that. I'm not exactly looking forward to it and know that there are no guarantees but i'm confidant that if my surgeon does his bit and I do mine then it will all work out well in the long run.
Regards, Keith.
