What to wear with unexpected diarrhea?

Hi Astralita before my treatment I was concerned about losing control of my bowels during hospital visits etc and luckily I didn’t experience that but the complete opposite! Members came on to say they were given medication to prevent loose stools and changes to their diet. You health team should be able to help you with this and a well know brand of incontinence pants have been advised on here.

Dear Astralita,

                             I was lucky and usually managed to get to the loo before more than a few spoonfuls came out, that's quite a lot of poo though because it finds its way onto the loo, your trousers, pants and body and the floor.

I had a bag with loo roll, wet wipes and clean pants and trousers. At one point I used menstrual pads which were quite good for little but often occurencies. I found if I stayed home till I'd done some morning poo and went out in the middle of the day it was less likely.

After a while I became expert in taking trous and pants down levelly, in one go, keeping the poo in the hammock of the gusset......If I pulled my garments from the back first, as you would without this problem, the poo would fall out the back and get everywhere.

As time goes on one does find ways to make it easier.

It's different for each person, I poo about 6 times a day !  Im 9 months finished chemo/radio and still have accidents !

This is a good place here, I'm glad you found it, it really helped me.

Very best wishes,

Twigley

Hi Astralita,

Luckily I didn’t suffer the diarrhoea that many do throughout treatment, I swung completely the opposite way & had sometimes chronic constipation which was deeply unpleasant especially when things got sore towards the end of my radiotherapy. The information I was given by my treating team was it to happen though was to use loperamide. Many other members have had success with loperamide, it can be a bit of a juggling act at the beginning though to see what dosage stops the diarrhoea but doesn’t cause constipation so maybe just use it when you need to be away from home or as you’ve mentioned Zoom meetings etc. Also as has already been mentioned take notice of your diet, keeping a food diary I’ve found invaluable for pinning down trigger foods. You’ve already done the other thing I would have suggested & that was to buy some incontinence pants. Twigley has suggested another thing that many members have done & that is to carry a rescue bag containing everything you would need should a ‘clean up’ be needed! 

Hope this helps a little. 

Nicola

Thanks Twigley. I so value having a place where this stuff can be talked about so candidly, and such practical, helpful, down-to-earth advice given!

Thanks Nicola - Hmm, yeah constipation sounds like a different version of hellishness!  Food diary is a good idea. I already have been keeping a spare set of clothes and clean-up gear at work, but now think I also need a set in the car.

Thanks Jaycee. BTW Is there a way to just 'Like or 'Thank' someone who posts a helpful or supportive comment without having to actually reply?

Hi Astralita and welcome to the group. There is a way to ‘like’ a comment which is also a way of saying thanks. Next to the ‘reply’ button at the base of a post there are two arrows, up and down to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ a post. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a ‘dislike’ on this Group -so far! Bev.