Dear Dr. Cutler,

I am 86 years old and 23 years ago I had the upper 1/3 of my colon removed. After several years of normal bowel movements, I began experiencing loose bowels so I’ve taken a variety of medications. Now I’m maxed out on these meds and can scarcely maintain the barest semblance of control. My gastroenterologist/internal medicine doctor indicates that my next step may very well be a colostomy bag. Since you’ve had your entire colon removed, I thought perhaps you might have some personal recommendations for me.

—Mack B.

Dear Mack,

First, try a liquid cleanse or a bowel cleanse to ensure you don’t just have overgrown flora in your bowels. Either would make a huge difference for you.

Next, eliminate refined and processed sugars from your diet and get your sugar only from fruits. Refined sugar feeds yeast and yeast overgrowth can cause both irritation and diarrhea.

Lastly, ask your doctor if he/she could recommend a product to help soothe the irritation in your bowels, which was something that was very helpful for me when my colon problems were at their worst.

All the best!

Michael Cutler, M.D.