Stoma Output Stops When Bag is Full - Anyone Else?

Hey again. Apparently, I'm a social one tonight.

Just curious if anyone experiences this.

When my bag fills up to its limit, my output stops. Like completely.

I can sleep through the night now knowing that a full bag won't fly off. There's no pressure, no signs of a potential blowout... nothing.

Then when I empty, things start flowing again. I usually have to empty again within the hour of waking up when this happens.

Am I stretching out the intestines like one would with a J-pouch? Since there's stool being stored in this space for a long period of time?

Could this make my future J-pouch more awesome?

Does anyone else experience this?

I've thought the same in the past; at times, once the bag is full, output stops. Then I found out from more experience it's just down to good luck. It was giving me a false sense of security. Luckily, it has been over 10 years since I've had a leak while sleeping, so hopefully, you won't experience any leaks before having your j-pouch.

Hi Danno,

As Ben alluded to... you're playing with fire. When you sleep, your bowels slow down, which is why most people never have to get up in the middle of the night to go take a poop. Also, consider that those who make ostomy bags had to pick a size for their bags that makes sense. Bigger than necessary would make it harder to hide, and smaller than necessary would not be practical. So, they're sized for the average amount of crap one produces when they go.

So you're using those things to your advantage, but to expect you'll always time it right is a bit optimistic. A touch of stomach flu or food poisoning, or just eating the wrong thing will ruin your plan. So enjoy it, but don't count on it always working out that way.

;-)

I typically wake up to empty because sometimes I get lucky and somehow my body knows when it's full. Other times, I wake up in the morning and it's filled right up.

My output doesn't stop at night, but I do sense when my bag needs to be emptied (or burped if I'm really lazy), and I wake up. Except for the expulsion of output from a partial blockage a couple of weeks ago. That explosion was fun to clean up after at three o'clock in the morning. Luckily, that is very rare for me.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister