BCIR Advocate Living with the Barnett Continent Intestinal Reservoir 
This is a pretty good question. Leaving the hospital, they do advise you to drink more fluids than you normally would as it keeps things flowing a little better, and it’s just healthy in general. This is very true and I’ve noticed it was much more important in the earlier years with a BCIR. Though everyone will have a somewhat different experience, I had quite thick stool that made for excavating quite annoying. I contributed this mostly to just not drinking enough throughout the day. Many times, I could remedy the issue by guzzling some grape juice or water and it would clear things up in about an hour. Or I would just learn my lesson, and try to drink more during the day.
After maybe 5 years living with my BCIR, I noticed I rarely had issues with having to drink extra fluids to get things moving unless I had pasta for dinner for instance. So now, I don’t really make a conscience effort to drink more because of my BCIR. However, obviously it’s healthier to keep yourself hydrated, so I do make a conscience effort to drink my 8 glasses of water per day just for good general health.
So how much extra should you drink? Well you’ll quickly learn what works best for your body. If you’re having issues with slow extraction in the bathroom, then increase your water intake each day until you notice an effective balance that will keep you flowing effortlessly!
