r/ostomy

What in your opinion is the best barrier ring that can support skin around the stoma and that can hold output and does not tent under the wafer?! (Ileostomy)

Specifically anyone trued the SALTS thin rings??

Im having a hard time understanding how. How did this happen to me, why did it happen, what am i supposed to do with this experience, why me, how are bags possible. What can i do, why did this happen to me.

Hi all ostmates! I have been using the sensura plus hollister bags for 6+ years. But as of the last few months they are not sticking well, I can’t get more than a day or twos wear without the adhesive losing its stick in a spot on the flange.

I got coloplast to send me some bags to try, they sent me a stick on system rather than click on. I have only worn one; but so far I like it. I’m just wondering if anyone else uses Colplast click 2 piece system or the “ flex” sticker type 2 piece system and how it works for you. Showering, how long it lasts for etc.

I’m hoping the coloplast bags will work for me, because I LOVE the black bags!

My mom is having her reversal surgery this week and I am trying to gather supplies she may need. I'm searching thru this group for suggestions, but am also wondering what type/brand diapers do you recommend for #2 accidents (I'm also familiar with baby diapers and with adult Depends (which seem to be more for pee accidents?)?

She's in complete denial that she'll need anything. Her surgeon is good but he overemphasized what a breeze the whole thing will be, so she's brushing off my trying to tell her that she may have a lot of urgency and go #2 often and should be ready for that, so I'm just going to have some things ready for her. Thanks for any advice you can give

I swear, whoever is in charge of product development at Coloplast should be fired. They are no longer including disposal bags with ostomy pouches now. How cheap can you get?!

Hi all,

I have a colostomy from the beginning of my descending colon. Has anyone with a colostomy taken imodium/loperamide to help improve their output. My output is mostly porridge like consistency although during the day it can become looser due to my bowel being more active. Would it be safe to trial one imodium per day for a couple of days to see how my output reacts? From searching it appears it is more common for ileostomies to take imodium

So I have my ostomy due to a car crash that destroyed my colon. They were able to save just enough to try to reverse it. 6 months is coming up, which is when I was told to call so we can start making plans.

When I saw the surgeon during my follow up in July, he mentioned that the consistency would probably stay the same and I wouldn’t be able to “hold it” like I once had.

So to those who’ve had reversals, what is it like? I’m worried about not getting to the bathroom in time or losing control during sleep.

I'm leaving the hospital soon, and while I'm prepared to do bag changes, I'm completely unprepared when it comes to accessories. Specifically wraps for sleeping and daily wear to stop the ostomy from flopping around.

Is there something I can jury rig in the mean time, like tying a piece of fabric around my waist for sleeping and going about my day? Most of the companies online I planned to order accessories from, I am only just finding out do not ship to Canada; and the Canadian companies seem to offer lower quality products. In either case, I won't have anything in hand before I go home!

What can I do as a stop gap? I don't know how to crochet and I can barely sew, lol. So bear this in mind as well.

Hi everyone.
I'm wondering if any ileostomates have had similar experiences...
I'm about a year in with my ileostomy. I originally had an appendicostomy due to slow transit in the colon and had to switch to an ileostomy as a result of cancer.

The first 5-6 months were great and I ate like there was no tomorrow. Little by little my stoma started slowing down and the symptoms of bloating and early fullness returned and now I have long periods where I'm not able to eat much until something suddenly lets go and my stoma produces large amounts of output for a few days. While this is happening I'm also able to eat somewhat normally until everything slows to a crawl and I'm back to eating very little again. This has been going on for 6-7 months now. No pain, just feeling very full and having very little output from my stoma. 1/2 glass of water can make me full for hours.
I do better with bland, easily digested food as opposed to high fat or high fiber foods which feels like I've swallowed a brick.
I've had an upper endoscopy, MRI and CT to look for obstructions or if the cancer has decided to come back but everyting looks fine. Meanwhile my stomach or my intestine refuse to play along.

I'm seeing my surgeon tomorrow. Any tips on what to ask for in case he says every test looks fine, there's nothing wrong`?

I came into the hospital on Friday Oct 2nd for reversal surgery. It is now Saturday… 8 days later. I had an NG tube for 3 days. I had aspiration pneumonia for a couple days. All of those problems are now good. I am still only on fluids and have not been allowed to eat solids yet. The doctor said my belly is still distended and won’t be able to go home until it goes down more. All bowel functions are perfectly normal. Doctors are saying most likely will still be here until Tuesday, day 12.

They have gone absolutely terrible! Cheap plastic, opening keeps leaking and the velcro type stuff doesn't stick like it used too. Glue isn't eventually spread on the flange anymore.

I genuinely thought I got a bad box/batch but I'm on the third box now since before Xmas ish and they have all had something wrong.

Ever since cera plus or something showed up on the box they have gone terrible. The company clearly doesn't care about there customers..

I'd immediately switch to coloplast if they would stick to my skin. They even have colours and an extra bit of velcro to keep the bag outta the way during sex and sports and that..

First post as a returning ostomate here (ileostomy). Crohn's disease since 2005. Had an ileostomy back in 2018. I have another now. My memory is a bit foggy but I don't remember having this problem...

When I install a new bag I find that by the next day a sort of volcano forms around my stoma. Like the edges of the appliance closest to my stoma lift up. The first few times this happened, my skin underneath was fine but not the last time.

I do keep my hand on the fresh appliance for a few minutes to help it and the barrier ring stick as advised. Has anyone else had this problem? If so how did you resolve it? All advice welcome!

Hey Friends, hoping someone can guide with their experience!

Got my ostomy three months ago, got a spouted stoma and very luckily had zero leaks from surgery through the whole three months. I know, a highly unusual and extremely lucky run.

I had my first leak a few weeks back and changed the bag as soon as I realised. I noticed the stoma was shrunken where it previously hadn’t been. It sorted itself out a bit more once I was up and about but the next two weeks it just leaked every single night but never during the day.

What can we do for this? I have to sleep on my back and it seems like the stoma is legit shrinking back into my body and I’m waking up and the output and stoma has almost disappeared entirely under the barrier ring. I don’t know what to do and I’m burning through so many supplies.

I tried sleeping a bit tilted to the right but that didn’t help much either. Is there something I’m missing, like why is this an issue now where it wasn’t before?

I’ve checked my template meticulously and tried soft convex and now light convex bags. Wondering if anyone went through similar just RE leaking only while sleeping and found some answers??

Thanks so much for your time and solidarity in advance.

i'm getting my colostomy reversed in four days and i am kind of excited but also scared. i've had the colostomy for almost two years (the waitlist for reversal surgery is super long) and it has probably been the most normal i've ever felt. when i talk about this with other people they phrase it like, "you'll be back to normal!!" but honestly? i think my life has been more normal with the colostomy. the people i talk to don't have prior knowledge of what my life was like before. since i could remember i have had nothing but trouble with my stomach. constantly in pain, always bloated, was constipated more than not. i couldn't eat normally because if i did, it would cause a massive bloat that would last many weeks, and eating would cause even more pain on top of that. doctors could never figure out what it was and so i eventually stopped going to the doctor and just accepted that this is what my life would be like.

the symptoms weren't crippling or significantly impacting my quality of life, but it is extremely unpleasant to be in 6-7 out of 10 pain every day, and to always be hungry because i could only eat very small portions of food to minimize how much pain it would cause me. if you asked me if i remembered any moment in any given year where i didn't have pain, i actually could not answer you.

years of those symptoms culminated in sigmoid volvulus with surgery complications that resulted in me getting a colostomy, with surgeons intending to reverse it in the future. i don't think i've been significantly bloated even once since the colostomy. some pain every now and then, sure--but not pain for literal months on end without any relief. i can eat normally and not be scared of causing myself more pain!!!! the surgeons were never able to pinpoint what caused all my problems and all they could tell me was that those persistent symptoms put me at risk for volvulus. so we still don't know what the root issue is, and that's why i'm so scared that once i get the reversal all those problems will come back and i'll go back to being in pain all the time.

i have to take laxaday every day in the morning and my stoma prolapses every day but these honestly aren't even problems to me. the prolapse hasn't been an issue, it's just an annoyance when i have to change my bag. this is infinitely more preferable to what i was going through before i got the colostomy. so i guess i'm just scared that all the pain and bloating and constipation will come back. what scares me more is that if my fear does come true, i'm going to have so much struggle starting a new medical investigation process. the healthcare infrastructure and systems in my province are crumbling and it is so difficult to actually get anything done. i don't have a family doctor either (very common experience, unfortunately). i'll cross that bridge if i get there, i guess.

thanks for listening!!

I’m trying to learn what life with an ileostomy is really like, particularly from people who had one because of severe/refractory constipation. I have both pelvic floor dyssynergia causing outlet obstruction and slow-transit constipation. I’ve already tried pelvic-floor PT, puborectalis Botox, and most, if not all, of the medications and laxatives typically used for constipation.
At this point, my current regimen only “works” by essentially creating a medically induced high-output state. In some ways, it feels like I’m trying to accomplish what an ileostomy would accomplish, but without actually having the surgery. So I’m looking at an ileostomy as a tradeoff: Stoma + appliance care + the hassles of having an ostomy vs. less dependence on extreme bowel regimens, medications, and repeated rescue clean-outs. I’m trying to figure out whether that would actually translate into a better quality of life. I’d especially like to hear from people who have had an ileostomy for slow-transit constipation, refractory constipation, colonic inertia, pelvic-floor/outlet problems, or some combination of these. What is day-to-day ostomy life actually like? Things I’m particularly curious about: How often do you deal with leaks? How much of a problem is skin irritation? How often do you normally change your appliance? How difficult is it to manage supplies? What about odor and gas? How much do you have to think about hydration and electrolytes? Does the ostomy interfere with travel, restaurants, social activities, etc.? How long did it take before caring for it became routine? Are there things you can do now that were difficult or impossible before surgery? Conversely, what do you miss about not having an ostomy? And probably most importantly: did your overall quality of life improve enough that you would make the same decision again? I’m particularly interested in the less glamorous realities that might not come up during a surgical consultation—the annoying, inconvenient, embarrassing, or unexpectedly easy things you only learn after living with an ostomy. If you had an ileostomy specifically because of refractory constipation, would you do it again knowing what you know now? Thanks in advance. I’m trying to make a very consequential decision and would really appreciate hearing the good, bad, and ugly from people who have actually lived it.

Has anyone done hyperbaric oxygen therapy? My surgeon cleared me to do it, I had surgery 9/16 and it’s great for wound healing and post surgery recover.

I really want to start it, but I’m nervous about using Hollister or coloplast products in the chamber.

Some of them say they are flammable and I called both Hollister & Coloplast suppliers and there are no “studies” on using them in the chamber so they “can’t recommend them”.

My surgeon said I could use it for healing but I would have to ask Ostomy clinic, HBOT director and ostomy suppliers if it’s safe.

I contacted them all and they said to ask a different person so no one really knows.

Can someone please tell me if you’ve done HBOT with an ostomy; and what supplies you had when you went in so I know it’s safe?:) right now I use Hollister Ceraplus one piece 8091 and the Ceraplus adapt barrier ring. Thank you!

How long do you wear your device? I have hollister 2 piece..I work construction and sweat alot so my edges lift but I use barrier extenders. I have gotten almost a month on one setup