Hi everyone, hope you are all well.
I am currently trying to help my mum with her colostomy bag among other medical issues, but despite my best efforts to find solutions that will help her situation, she will fight me over it, over and over again becoming agitated and dismissive.
Every night or second night she will have an accident while sleeping in bed, requiring constant bed changes/sheets etc, washing of sleeping items and then she will get depressed about it.
I've suggested the following and i'm met with these reasons for not entertaining or sticking with a routine.
Eating earlier and emptying before bed, and resisting the urge to snack through the night. ( But i get hungry through the night)
Eating marshmallows or similar to help bind. ( Too filling)
Cut back on the tea/juice or eat more as she doesn't eat very much due to worrying about the accidents ( gets thirsty due to smoking, afraid to eat in case of accident or not hungry)
Fibrogel in case not getting enough fibre. ( Doesn't like the taste/texture)
Immodium Tablets. ( Tablets not as good as the gel was)
Immodium Gel ( Didn't like the taste)
As you can see all of these reasons take priority over the accidents issue despite the accidents being a major reason for being depressed, I can't get my head round this as If it were me and this was affecting my mental health daily, I'd be willing to eat or take just about anything to get it under control and it would have to be something making me sick or unwell to stop me taking it if it were working.
She likes taking Co-Codamol for it as she believes it helps thicken the stool, the doctor has confirmed this will work also, so this most likely is useful the issue is the dosage she is on for another condition is very high and this leads to mental health issues and paranoia, so this isn't a good long term solution but this is only one she is interested in doing.
Thanks for any advice you can offer, as I think hearing it coming from other people that have experience themselves with a colostomy bag might help make things click, my other concern is there is an addiction to the Co-Codamol and this is the reason she has all these excuses for not wanting to do all the other options.
Hi Moosik and welcome to the group.
What a difficult position you find yourself in, and I would say an unusual one from a colostomy point of view. It’s not unheard of for the bag to leak, but for this to be happening on such a regular basis, my first question would be is she using a suitable bag?
Usually with a colostomy the reason for an “accident” would be pancaking-poo not dropping down into the bag and sitting at the stoma with the bag then being forced off your body by the volume of poo.I’m presuming from what you’re saying, the issue is that the poo is not firm but more liquid, hence your attempts to thicken it up?
I’d be looking at the bag itself to see if it needs changing to a different type. Is the hole in the bag the correct size for a starting point? Things can change and it may be that this should be reviewed re-measuring the stoma and checking how the bag is cut. Do you cut the bags or does the supply company do this? If the hole is not cut to the right size, the bag might leak. Is 5he skin scrupulously clean and dry before attempting to attach the bag?
What type of bag does she use? Drainable or closed? Is is flat or convex? A convex bag could help sort the leakage issue. A drainable bag might help with very loose output. It is also possible to get flange extenders-these are strips which you place around the outside of the bag onto the skin to give better adhesion. I use these with my urostomy bag and they are a huge help. You can also get extra adhesion in the form of a product called Independence Fusion applicators where you rub the applicator impregnated with adhesive around the stoma prior to putting the bag on so it sticks better.
For a practical solution to the bedding accidents, I’d suggest sleeping on puppy pads which are easy to replace immediately and would save on washing. . I presume there is already a waterproof cover on the bed under the sheet?
It does sound as if your mum is coming up with a lot of reasons not to take on board the good suggestions you have already made, so my focus in this reply has really been to look at how to deal with loose output rather than how to make it thicker. Lots of questions for you, I know, but I hope you can find something helpful from it.
Sarah xx
