When Good Days with a Stoma Take a Turn

I've had a good day today, stoma-wise, or so I thought.
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A few hours ago, I had the worst pooh pains; rubbing my tum didn't help, nor did sitting on the loo (WHY!!!!! BOTHER, NOTHING IS GONNA COME OUT). Also, my stoma felt swollen, like when you haven't been for a few days, not always a problem for me as I don't stop going most days. Anyway, I thought I'll take my bag off, and sit with a dry wipe over my stoma as that sometimes helps. WRONG IDEA, it went everywhere, I never knew it could shoot out so quick or so far. I have just spent the last hour cleaning pooh off the floor, sink, and the wall!!!!, as I said, I never knew how far it would shoot out.
I have learned an important lesson tonight...............NEVER REMOVE THE BAG WHEN THE POOH PAINS ARE THAT BAD, it was like something out of a horror movie. Glad to say pooh pains have now gone. I'm just sooooooooooo glad I was at home and in my own loo.
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Hi... Should it happen again, put a chair in the bathtub and let it go as it wants... Just a thought... easy to clean up!

Maybe you were experiencing some blockage and by removing your appliance you opened up the dam so to speak. Another possibility, and one that I've experienced, is that the stoma opening was getting smaller over time. Gas noises became very loud and if any poo came out while I was changing my appliance it would shoot out really far. Eventually I had to get a stoma revision, but it was no big deal.

I just jump in the shower, take off my bag, and let the shit fly!

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I take mine off and get in the tub with the shower running. It makes a mess, but I have one of those shower heads that you can take down and spray, so it's easy to wash down the drain! Too bad there's not some kind of competition for distance. I'm pretty sure I could take an eye out with mine if I tried!

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Thanks for the tips, it's never been that bad. I have not been now for 2 days. Most of the time, my stoma is well behaved and I don't worry about having it, but it's times like that I hate it. I can't have it reversed, not that I mind too much as the operation to have it was murder as it was done as an emergency to save my life, so I'm thankful for that, but it is not what I expected when I went for day surgery for a simple operation and came home 3 weeks later and my life had changed for good.
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Still, it goes back to what you're eating. I am trying a food enzyme that helps digest my food and also acidophilus, which has cut the gas noise down. What I don't like is you never know when the stoma will act up. I just know when my bag is full, I need to empty it quickly because I get stomach cramps. As soon as I empty the cramps leave. I don't think there is one answer because I think between the food we eat and the weather changing all the time, we really

can't count on good days, and we definitely know the bad days. Butterfly48

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I agree with Butterfly - sometimes eating yogurt or using probiotics can aid digestion and cut down on explosions. I've said this before, but it bears repeating - fresh pineapple created the worst blockage ever!

Another idea - you can order irrigation sleeves (usually used with a colostomy) that attach to your flange - they are about 2 feet long and gently let the effluent down into the toilet. Convatec, Hollister, and Coloplast all make them...maybe others as well. You just order the size that fits on your flange.

Could be useful in this kind of situation.
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That happened to me once. It was from a blockage; ended up in the hospital to unblock it, but when it finally came through, it was like a backflow. Changed bag five times in one hour.