Help with passing mucus plugs with ileostomy?

Does anyone have problems with passing mucus plugs? This is a new problem for me and I don't know what to do.

I enjoyed mine. After my colostomy, I was shocked at passing anything out of my rectum (it only goes up 8 inches). But wow! I got to have a real poo again!

A doctor (who I would never necessarily recommend as a doctor so take that for what it is) told me that when the upper colon reacts to the digestive process, and moves, and stimulates mucus, so does the lower colon, even if separated. I don't buy that. Personally, I think your lower colon is doing its own thing and working with your body's rhythms.

Your colon will naturally lubricate itself, so you will have a mucous discharge. It's a healthy cleaning thing. And if you can sit down with a magazine and enjoy the old sensation, all the power to it! Enjoy!

Hello KAP.

In the early days/ years, I used to have a problem with mucus both liquid and solid, which gave me grief because it stank!  I tried my old anal plugs to try to stem the tide until I could sort it but they did not work as well as they had done with the faeces so I gave up on that idea. I experimented with anal irrigation as I had been doing that before the colostomy and it had worked quite well. Unfortunately, it did not work with mucus because the relatively passive water flow did not dislodge the mucus from the anal walls. After more experimentation I finally found a technique that worked but I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT TO OTHERS WHO HAVE NOT HAD EXPERIENCE OF ANAL IRRIGATION as it could be be hazardous in terms of injuring the insides. However, for the sake of clarity I'll share the technique:

First of all I attached a modified anal irrigation catheter to the shower hose in the bath, which gave me the power/pressure than was needed to dislodge the mucus. That catheter was modified so that the water flowed directly out of the end, which cleaned the top of the tube. The second catheter was left as pretty much it was originally designed, with the holes coming out of the sides. this would be pushed up and twisted round like a chimney cleaner's brush so that it cleaned the sides and as it was gradually pulled out it forced all the gunge out with it. It should be mnoted that I modified both catherters so that the air balloon would not work because it woiuld have defeated the objective of letting the unwanted mucus flow from the anus.

This procedure was done whilst standing in the bath, with the added advantage of seeing exactly what was being dislodged and how much. I admit to being amused that it worked at all and satisfied at seeing the grot floating down th bath towards the plughole. I did this for about a year or so until the mucus started to be clear and did not smell anymore so I decided that the problem had changed sufficiently for me to managei t with a combination of incontinenece pads and a similar technique to that described by NotDeadYet above.

My reasoning was that just because they severed one part of the colon from the other, it did not mean that either section would die off or become inacative so the natural mucus generation would continue in both sections after the operation.

I hope this is helpful but please heed my warning about trying to emulate any of my methods of resolving problems as they carry obvious health and safety implications.

Best wishes

Bill 

So funny!!!

It's been a long time, since I've had a rectum, but for the 3 years between ileostomy and the removal of the rectal stump, it did produce a lot of mucus...and significant amounts of blood. Not pleasant but you're right...it was the old "familiar" feeling. Then I had the final surgery, removal of the rectum, and that feeling was gone forever.....along with the pain and blood. Mucus is nothing to worry about....it's still "healthy living tissue". But be aware of blood, as that indicates disease.

Best regards...

Marsha

This is normal and happens for some every 6 months - as long as you have living tissue, there will be small amounts of fluid and over time it causes enough mucus to need to exit the body.

Getting Support in the Ostomy Community with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Thank all of you for your input.