Ballooning happens when the wind from your stoma collects inside your pouch causing it to inflate or balloon. This can be caused by a blocked pouch filter, a wet pouch filter or dietary issues.
Emptying your pouch before going to bed:
It's always a good idea to empty or change your stoma bag before you go to bed as it will help to prevent your bag from filling up too much overnight and disturbing your sleep.
Filter control
Certain foods – particularly spicy foods, foods that are high in fibre, green vegetables, beans and lentils – can all increase gas, as can carbonated drinks and beer. Understanding what leads to increased levels of gas in the pouch can help you manage how much air is entering the digestive system.
This is usually due to the filter becoming wet or blocked from stoma output.
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.
The best position to sleep in when you have a stoma is on your back, or on your side.
The stomatal openings remain closed at night as photosynthesis is not conducted without sunlight. They are closed to prevent water loss via the stomatal pores. The gaseous exchange required at night doesn't occur via stomatal openings and is conducted by diffusion.
To reduce gas formation in the gut, be mindful when eating and drinking. Activities where someone may swallow excess air, such as chewing gum and drinking through straws, can contribute to gas formation in the gut. To avoid this, take smaller bites and try not to eat while talking.
Burping your stoma bag
“Burping” your bag can help let the gas out. This allows the gas smell to escape the bag and is best done in the bathroom. If you use a two-piece system, this can easily be done by gently lifting the edge of your pouch away the flange which can help let the gas escape.
Fizzy drinks and 'burping' your stoma bag
Quite aptly, the way to resolve this quickly is to 'burp' your bag. This can be done anywhere you wouldn't be embarrassed to pass wind but I normally try to do it in a bathroom.
A colostomy bag is used to collect your poo. How often it needs to be changed depends on which type of bag you use. Closed bags may need changing 1 to 3 times a day. There are also drainable bags that need to be replaced every 2 or 3 days.
Foods that are reported to help thicken the stoma output include apple sauce, bananas, buttermilk, cheese, marshmallows, jelly babies, (boiled) milk, noodles, smooth creamy peanut butter, rice, tapioca pudding, toast, potatoes and yoghurt.
Many people enjoy leaving their skin uncovered for 15 to 30 minutes after taking their pouching system off. This is called a skin break. Taking a skin break can help with irritation or keep it from happening. You can decide if you want to take a skin break.
Sleeping Position
Sleeping on the opposite side from your stoma is fine too, you can just hold a pillow up against your abdomen or set your pouch on a pillow next to you so the weight as it fills does not wake you up. If you are a stomach sleeper, you can modify by bending the leg on the side with your stoma.
Some individuals prefer to wear belts during sleep because of frequent position changes and pouch movement. Not all pouching systems will accommodate a belt. If a belt is required for your care, it may limit the type of pouching system that you can use.
Not changing/emptying your bag enough
It is important to change your stoma bag on a regular basis before it is susceptible to leakage. An overfilled or overweight pouch causes undue strain on the base plate attached to the skin, which could lead to leakage.
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. This should start to improve as your bowel recovers from the effects of the operation.
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.
Occasionally the high output stoma will continue – this is normally because very large amounts of bowel have been removed, resulting in the bowel being shortened. When it is shortened below 2 meters there may not be enough bowel left to have normal bowel function.
If you have had some weight loss, you may find your stoma reduces in size also. If you are unable to measure your own stoma, contact your Stoma Care Nurse and they can help you measure your stoma and make sure your appliance is fitting correctly.
A good night's sleep is an important part of recovery after ileostomy surgery. Yet adjusting your sleep patterns with an ostomy bag will take some time and patience, especially in the early days. Fortunately, with some simple bedtime modifications, you can still enjoy a restful night of restorative sleep.
After surgery it is normal for all ostomates to feel fatigued. Don't forget you have just had major abdominal surgery.
Massages help to keep the adhesions from setting and can even minimize the formation of scar tissue down the line. If you're concerned whether you can get a massage with an ostomy, you don't need to be — getting a massage is a perfectly safe procedure.
The BBC Radio 1 presenter had a stoma bag, which she refers to as Audrey, fitted last October after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. The operation diverts one end of the colon, which is part of the bowel, through an opening in the abdomen called a stoma.