However, having a stoma can make sleep a little trickier and for some ostomates going to bed can be a time filled with worries. By simply tweaking your routine slightly you can often help prevent any mishaps which may happen.
On the side with your stoma, your mattress will support the bag as it fills. If you sleep on the other side, you can lay next to a pillow to support the weight of your bag. If you are worried that you will not stay on your side during the night, use a pillow/body pillow/V-shaped pillow to keep your body in place.
Wear an ostomy belt or wrap to keep your pouch snug, but not too tight, on your abdomen during the night. Don't wear tight-fitting pajamas that will restrict the flow into the pouch. If you find your nighttime output is heavy, ask your ostomy nurse about a nighttime drainage bag. Prevent Leaks.
First things first, immediately before bed, empty your bag. In addition to that, stop eating and drinking a few hours before going to bed. Eating and drinking directly before bed can cause your stoma to be more active overnight and will result in a full bag.
Sleeping positions with a stoma
Laying on your stomach may increase the chance of leaks if the stoma becomes active and the bag begins to fill up. There's not really a way around this. Ostomates usually know when the stoma is generally going to be active if they eat and drink at the same times every day.
Once home, avoid strenuous activities that could place a strain on your abdomen, such as lifting heavy objects. Your stoma nurse will give you advice about how soon you can go back to normal activities. At first you will pass wind through your stoma and then, usually within 2 or 3 days, you poo through it.
There are safety measures you may need to think about. For instance, many doctors recommend avoiding contact sports because of possible injury to the stoma from a severe blow. But special protection may be able to help prevent these problems. Talk to your health care team about any limitations you may have.
After surgery it is normal for all ostomates to feel fatigued. Don't forget you have just had major abdominal surgery.
It is normal to feel exhausted in the early weeks and months following surgery. You probably didn't get much sleep in hospital as they are really busy places. You are up at night changing or emptying your ostomy pouch so your sleep has been interrupted.
For those with an ileostomy, output tends to be thinner and more frequent, prompting about six to eight bathroom trips a day. Some people who have an ileostomy may be looking for ideas on how to firm stool up a bit and decrease output and/or trips to the bathroom.
It is also important that you dry your skin thoroughly before applying your stoma bag. If the skin is too moist then this can also cause stoma bag leakages. Leaks can also occur if the stoma protrusion has altered. It may mean you need to have an alternative product to help prevent leaks such as a convex product.
You can bathe or shower with or without wearing your pouching system. Normal exposure to air or water will not harm or enter your stoma. If you're showering without your pouch, remove the skin barrier too. Try to create a routine that coincides with when you're due for a pouch change.
About Your Wet Colostomy
After your surgery, your urine (pee) and stool (poop) will leave your body through your wet colostomy stoma. Your stoma will have 2 parts (see Figure 1): A urinary diversion. Your urine will flow from your kidneys, through your ureters, and out of your body through your urinary diversion.
Keeping hydrated with an ileostomy, colostomy and urostomy
Keeping hydrated is an important aspect of living with a stoma. For many people it is just making sure you are drinking plenty throughout the day. You should try to drink 6-8 glasses of water each day along with any other drinks such as tea or coffee.
When the large bowel has been removed the small bowel must adapt to absorb more fluid, which it is not as effective at doing (this will improve over time). This means output from your stoma can increase.
After a stoma, the bottom part of the bowel no longer has poo passing through it, but it still produces mucus. Dead cells from the lower bowel or rectum may be mixed in with the mucus. The mucus may leak out of the anus, or you may feel the urge to go to the toilet.
Living with a stoma is a challenging situation for various reasons including uncontrolled gas passage through it, odor, diarrhea, and leakage around the stoma or appliance. It would take several months for the patients to adjust to this difficult time.
It usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to recover from an ileostomy and get back to your usual activities. But you should avoid strenuous activities or heavy lifting for 3 months while your tummy muscles heal. It's important to rest and take the time you need to adjust to the change in your body.
But you will probably need at least 6 weeks to get back to your normal routine. This care sheet gives you a general idea about how long it will take for you to recover. But each person recovers at a different pace.
For most of us, weight gain does indeed happen, we were ill at the time of the surgery, the preoperative weight was an indicator for being unwell, taking out the affected parts and feeling better leads to increased food consumption and being able to eat things that don't cause a stomach upset.
Stool irritation, product sensitivity and yeast are certainly the more common reasons for redness around the stoma.
Coffee and tea are fine, but as with anything else be aware of any reactions in your digestive system. Carbonated drinks in general can cause gas. Beer can cause the output from the ostomy to become more liquid. You can drink alcohol.
Foods to avoid
all high-fiber foods. carbonated drinks. high-fat or fried foods. raw fruits with the skin.
One major issue to watch out for with a stoma is the laxative effect of some chocolates. The caffeine and fibre within the chocolate can increase the rate of motility (which is the contraction of the muscles in the digestive tract that encourage bowel movements).