Topic: When the Pouch Swells Up Like a Balloon
I've had a radical ileostomy with complete removal of the large intestine and rectum. It was non-reversible surgery. I've been
living with it since October 1992. The topic I want to discuss now is when your ileostomy pouch swells up like a balloon. The most
inconvenient time this usually happens is in the middle of the night when you're sleeping. There are some appliances which have
a kind of gas release valve at the top. But I've never had much luck with those appliances.
A month or two after surgery, I attended a class at Bethesda North Hospital where a nurse talked about living with a permanent
ostomy with an appliance. Everyone in the classroom was an ostomate. One bald-headed middle-aged man kept complaining to the
nurse about how his pouch swelled up like a balloon at night, so tight it could easily burst. The nurse didn't have too much advice
on how to handle such a problem.
In my case, I've learned to live with it. A number of times during the night when I come out of a deep sleep and am in that
hypnagogic state when I'm half-sleep and half-awake, I look down and see the pouch swelled up like a balloon ready to burst.
Sometimes I force myself to get up, go to the bathroom, and release it. Other times I'm just too tired to get up and go
through all this bs and just lie lightly on my side until the alarm clock rings.
As I mentioned in a comment elsewhere, the best way to stop this is by not eating any full meal after 7 p.m. and not doing any
heavy snacking after that time either. I've had about four accidents over the many years, and there's not a whole lot I can
do about this damn situation except what I previously mentioned.
Why Join MeetAnOstoMate?
First off, this is a pretty cool site with 33,888 members. Get inside and you will see.
It's not all about ostomy. Everything is being discussed.
Many come here for advice or to give advice 🗣, others have found good friends 🤗, and there are also those who have found love 💓. Most of all, people are honest and truly care.
Privacy is very important - the website has many features that are only visible to members.
Create an account and you will be amazed.
Advertisement
Hollister
We sat down with two influential people in the ostomy community, to find out how they cope during challenging times.
Read what they had to say.
Read what they had to say.
Advertisement
Hollister
We conducted a survey to better understand the impact that living with an ostomy has on sleep.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.