Diarrhea After Stoma Irrigation: Seeking Advice and Experiences

Good evening to all of you who irrigates their stoma. I have 2 questions for you tonight 1st, I would like to know if among you you happen to have diarrhea even if you did your irrigation a few hours before, if you take a product like imodium (if you take something else, please tell me) to stop your diarrhea quickly and does it work well? Secondly, are there any of you who take this product against the diahrea regularly as every day or 2 days to avoid having diarrhea. Because I took a pill imodiom this morning because I had a lot of gas and usually diarrhea happens a few moments later. And thank goodness I did not have diarrhea at work, and tonight I saw how much my irrigation was very good, my stools were well formed and almost no loose stools, do you think we can take that pill like imodium all night without constipation ??

Merci de votre aide....thanks for your help

Danielle

i am wondering if you ate something that mite have caused your trouble....since you also said you had excessive gas. a proper diet is just as important as irrigating for reliably predicting output. i very rarely have output between irrigation cycles, but when i do its gonna be something i ate. you will learn by trial and error over time what you can and can not eat. i will give you an example, we raise blue berries and i love them, i can eat maybe a handful and get by with it....any more and i will pay the price. sorry but i cannot comment on the imodium as i have little experience with it, perhaps someone will have more info. 

Hello Danielle.
Thank you for your interesting post, which has prompted me to look up the definition of diarrhoea. Which apparently: ‘is the condition of having at least three loose or liquid bowel movements each day’. That’s something I did not know! I always thought that the watery liquid after irrigation was due to the nature of the irrigation rather than any medical condition. For me, it sometimes continues a while after the main session is finished, which is why I irrigate in the evening and wear the sleeve (sometimes all night) to catch it.
As for immodium; I found that taking it in pill form was far too excessive and caused chronic constipation. I then tried it in liquid form and measured it carefully with a syringe. This was a much better solution as I could get just the right amount for the required effect. It’s been a long time since I used it and I now just take it for granted that my output is likely to be watery after irrigation.
According to Wikipedia ; The most common cause (of diarrhoea) is an infection of the intestines due to either a virus, bacteria, or parasite – a condition also known as gastroenteritis.
I have never thought of mine in this way and, it’s never bothered me much as it seems to be just another facet of what we have to manage as ostomates.
I hope this is helpful
Best wishes
Bill

Hi Danielle, 

I seldom have any output after 20 minute of irrigation but have been doing it at night and then going to bed. My colon sleeps when I do thank goodness. I just started irrigation in the morning. Today was only the second time but had output several times in between and it has always been liquid, same as always for me.

I tried Imodium once, one half tablet, but my output became sludge and pancaked. I have not tried again. I am kinda glad it is liquid. It goes to the bottle of the pouch and empties easily! I drink lots of water so not afraid of dehydration.

Hello Bill, thank you for your comments but it's not every day but I would say it overflows sudenly for nothing it comes out 3-4 times in 1 hour about  once every 2 weeks. Yet I pay attention to what I eat and i always do my irrigation at 5:30 pm.... but as we say we never know with the human body, we can play tricks.

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