I had a very successful J-Pouch/colostomy surgery, and have been rid of UC for 12 years now. Immediately after the surgery I developed food allergies to things that I had been eating ALL the time, and I can't kick the feeling that I may have always had a minor allergy to these foods that caused the UC to begin with, since some allergic reactions reportedly involve getting ulcers, diarrhea, etc. These foods were such a large part of my diet. They are peanuts, apples, grapes, peaches, pears, plums, and lettuce (I know, it sounds crazy). As soon as I could eat real food after the surgery, I had a Reese's Peanutbutter cup and became very ill, vomiting. I thought I had not recovered fully enough. Later I found out that I was allergic to peanuts. I ate peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches almost every day since I was a kid. The fruit allergies, which I also found out about after the surgery (after much trial and error and confusion) were also a huge part of my regular diet. I am allergic to the fruit juices, cooked, peeled, whatever. I still wonder if I had realized this before if I could have avoided so much of the pain that I went through. I did not have any reactions to these foods before the surgery, but I may have been getting irritated from these foods. I now know I have a peach allergy, which tends to develop into adverse reactions to other fruits including apple, apricot, plum, cherry, nuts (such as hazelnut and walnut) and peanut. The protein (allergen) that causes this kind of allergy is tough and the allergens survives in processed foods such as purees, nectars and juices. As a result, individuals with this kind of allergy cannot eat even cooked peach. Please be aware of allergies like these and try to monitor what foods you are eating,, because it may be and allergy that you can control by eliminating a few common foods from your diet. (PS. If not I strongly recommend getting the surgery, I have had no problems and don't have to worry about colon cancer or anything else).
