Reducing Ostomy Bag Gas - Any Tips?

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any luck with reducing the gas in their ostomy bags so that it doesn't get so big (and obvious) to others in public? I haven't been able to find a way to reduce this, apart from modifying my diet, but even then I manage to collect a lot of gas. I also have started changing my bags more often which helps, but I'd really like to manage the gas so I can wear tighter shirts/dresses without being anxious about it showing and people wondering if I gained a ton of pounds or got pregnant, etc. I realize it's sort of vain, but I'd really not like it to dominate more of my life than it already has...If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!

Hello HardTimes.

I gave up worrying about gas years ago because once I found a way of getting it out of my body, I had no more pain and the filters did the trick in terms of dispersing it without smell. 

This probably will not hewlp answer your problem but there have been a lot of past posts on this subject and some of them are to be found in the 'collections' section under titles such as 'diet'. and 'general problems'. I hope you find something in there that helps and I hope others will chip in and give you some tips.   

I hope you do well with your career choice. I had many years in the same field and found it very satisfying.

Best wishes

Bill 

Hi,

I find that just emptying it more often is the best solution for me. I really haven't modified my diet much since my surgery because I don't want it to dominate that. I haven't tried bags without filters, but I assume the filter makes a difference, so you could try that if you are using filterless bags.

Some people may suggest "burping" the bag, which I don't know how to do, so I can't really help with that. I imagine it could be risky.

Hopefully you find a solution that works for you.

Good luck,

Hamish.

Bill - That's good you found a way to get the gas out, I haven't found any truly successful methods yet; I even tried Gas-X, which was recommended by the doctors, but didn't help at all. I have no idea if this is just something to do with biology, in which case I'm probably screwed. I will check that area out to see if they have any insight. What did you do in the mental health field?

HungryHamster - Yeah, I tend to just suck it up and start emptying it more often too, along with taking supplemental medication to slow it. I'm going to try the charcoal thing someone else suggested on another one of my posts; it sounded like it might work. I have heard of the whole burping thing but it sounded weird and gross, so maybe if I'm really desperate I'll look it up and attempt it. BTW: I used to live in Australia when I was in grade school, I miss it!

Thanks for the replies guys.

Hello HardTimes.

It's not so simple to answer to your question as to what I did in the field of mental health because, over the years I've worked in seval different capacities.

I began as a youth worker, then a social worker and ended up as a psychologist. Most of my work was with people who were diagnosed as having 'personality disorders'. Which is essentailly a euphamism for the medical profession to admit that there is nothing they can do for them. Once people came to the end of the line in terms of the miriad of 'therapies' and were still not making progress, then they would be (rejected) referred to my programme, which rejected the notion that they could not be helped and was designed to help people manage wayward emotions rather than conceptualising them as having a mental 'illness'.

I have been retired for quite a number of years but still do a little informal work when the opportunity arises and I have taken the opportunity to document my work in various formats so that it will not necessarily be lost in the mists of time.

For my part, I enjoyed the work immensely when I was working in NHS community mental health teams because I had support from my colleagues, who safeguarded both me and my work from the ravages of the 'system'. I also did my thing with MIND, which freed me from the constraints of local authority bureacracy and allowed the participants to come and go as they pleased, rather than be monitored and judged by attendance rather than progress. 

Just as a positive note to end:- My stoma never got in the way of my work and all participants in the programme were very accommodating if I had to excuse myself fro any part of the sessions. In  fact, the more experienced ones simply took over and ran the sessions, for however long it took me to sort myself out. 

I hope you manage to carve a successful career for yourself.

Best wishes

Bill 

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Hard Times,

Over the years, I have found that gas buildup simply results from the types of food and drink that you have taken in and various combinations thereof. Gas buildup is a problem for us, especially during those hours that we are among others, whether it be work or whatever. Someone has mentioned the filtered bags. I have used them on occasion, but never found them to be that effective because they would micro leak through the filter and soil my clothing (underwear) and also lose their effectiveness against odor after a short time. Another person mentioned "burping" the bag. I am not sure exactly what they mean by this, but I will do this by simply holding the end of the bag upright so the contents fall downward and then remove the clip of Velcro (if this is what you use) and allow the gas to escape. Of course, this has to be done in a restroom or someplace where you have total privacy. As mentioned by another poster, this topic has been covered several times in the past. I am sure you can find the posts. I believe I remember one person suggesting that eating marshmallows helps, but I have never tried this myself.

X_