Just to say this reply was useful and led us to make big changes to diet. My partner was also vegan and has been for over 10 years but upon reading this post and doing some further research she has started eating eggs and fish and some chicken too. The paper that we looked at talked about the benefits of protein to the cellular structure of the bowel so it made sense to switch to better sources of protein. She doesn't have a protein shake every day but now eats 2 boiled eggs for breakfast and is frequently eating more animal protein.
We also read up more on diet and have managed to reduce the amount of pain she is in through cutting back on insoluble fibre. We realised it was problematic due to strictures meaning fibrous food caused painful mini blockages. Unfortunately it's been quite a change from a very fibre heavy diet of veg, pulses and seeds to more plain foods but the improvement to frequency of pain has been worth it.
The other problem is iron as her levels were very low due to absorption issues. Exercise is difficult as she gets out of breath due to the low iron levels but the doc has booked an infusion which should make a big difference.
