Empting Ostomy bag

Dear Stephaney - if your bag is mainly full of air then cutting out some foods may help to reduce wind. They are : onions, brussel sprouts, pulses, fizzy drinks, beer and lager. If you are not eating those think of the veg you are eating. If your bag is mainly water then an anti diarrhoea drug like loperamide that you can get over the counter will help. At any rate you should not have to empty your bag so often. Usually I do not empty during the night and sometimes just once.

Hi. I agree with Patricia that it could be foods that are causing the air..

If it is just air you can get rid of it by opening the bag and gently squeezing it without having to get out of bed. Just be careful when you do this - you don't want to squeeze too hard and end up in a puddle!

If the bag is full of liquid you may find using something like Ostosorb sachets (from Ostomart) or Diamond gelling sachets ( from Convatec) - both available on prescription. 

These two products have really helped me.

When I first got the stoma I used to have to set my alarm for every two hours so that it didn't blow out or leak. I now take one or two Loperamide (also on prescription) - depending on how liquid things are - before bed and use one of the sachets each time I empty the bag. If things are really liquid before bed I'll set my alarm for and hour and empty then that's it for a good four hours plus. Thing slow down whilst I'm asleep so morning is a good time to change the bag too.

My stoma nurse recommended that I take a Loperamide half an hour before eating but it's not always necessary. I get more liquid because of my veggie diet. There are foods that help thicken things up like marshmallows, jelly, mashed potatoes, rice and peanut butter but I obviously don't eat the ones with gelatin in!

Well, I think I have waffled on for long enough..

Hope this helps.

Any questions -please don't hesitate to ask!

 

I use loperamide which I get on prescription and if it is very liquid I always have some jelly babies or marshmallows in my handbag. I have just had to measure my output as when I went to my stoma nurse I was emptying my bag more than I was going to the toilet for a wee. My stoma nurse told me that my output should be no more than 750ml in a 24 hour period.

I hope this helps, I am new to all of this so at the moment just having to take advice from my stoma nurse or other people who have been through this.

Some people just gave a high output stoma. Mine has always had high output. Tried lopermide tablets but needed to take 6 at a time for any effect but they gave me horrific migraines so had to stop them.

Everyone has food that thickens output and things that don't and this isn't the same things for everyone. Try keeping a food and drink diary and write down everything that passes your lips and also when bag emptied and thickness/rough amount. Then you can hopefully see what

makes it thicken and what makes output go nuts.

Tomato in any for makes my output go bonkers whereas bread thickens it up.