Regulating Bowel Movements with a Colostomy

I am new to having a colostomy. Is there any way I can regulate my bowel movements and consistency?

Nope. You can try keeping a food diary. Track how foods affect your stoma.

There is a technique called "irrigation" which allows some control. People with permanent colostomies made in the descending or sigmoid portion of the colon and who had regular bowel function before having a colostomy are good candidates for irrigation. Your stoma needs to be producing a normal, semi-formed or formed stool to be able to successfully irrigate.

Depending on how new you are, it will get better. What/when you eat will really dictate any consistency.

The simple answer is nope. A more complex answer involves diet. But, there is no way to hold back the flow the way your sigmoid colon and rectum did. When you have an ostomy, the old adage of "when you gotta go, you gotta go" is the ultimate truth. :-)

There is a lot of good advice here when it comes to diet. OstoAI can help you locate such.

Daniel

Hi! I am fairly new to this also! I have found that first thing in the morning the bag fills with mostly liquid. After I eat breakfast, it starts to turn mushy and is mushy most of the afternoon. Now, this evening, it is all liquid. I like the idea suggested to start tracking what you are eating.

Kim

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

Sounds like you need more thickeners in your diet. Potatoes, rice, peanut butter, bananas, etc. Also, loperamide (Imodium) can help, but experimentation is needed to see what your best dosage is. For me, it's 2 mg in the morning. I tried twice a day, but things were too thick and that caused different problems.

Some people here swear by iron supplements. Daily use of psyllium fiber (Metamucil) can help, as well. There's the old yada-yada about everyone being different, but the fact is that having an ileostomy means that your main water absorber is missing and all that liquid is passed through to your bag. Adding things that thicken your stool slows things down and gives your system more time to absorb liquid.

It is surprising how quickly a person can adapt. I've only had my ileostomy for a little more than a year and it seems like I was born with it. Well, okay. That may be a slight exaggeration. 😂

Daniel