Struggling With Ostomy Bag Leaks Despite Various Solutions

Smnard · 2025-01-16T22:12:00-05:00

I was doing so well for a while, making it two days between bag changes. No skin problems. Good, right? Wrong! The last three bag changes have leaked just enough to hurt me. I have now tried everything: paste, Tegaderm, protective sheets, calamine, Head and Shoulders, silver colloid spray. I tried all different rings and wafers. I started a spreadsheet of my days with pics of leaks attached for insurance fights over products. I started cutting my ring and fixing it around my stoma because it's a big duck beak-looking thing and the base is smaller than the top. I also place a ring on my wafer before placing it on, at the suggestion of an ostomy specialist. Even that is letting output in. So tonight, I put some paste in a children's medicine syringe and placed some in the deep cracks along the edge of my wafer/stoma and let it air dry a bit to stiffen up to a solid. I feel desperate. I am on colestipol for bile malabsorption and also have diversion colitis now. How do I flush the mucus out if my colon doesn't work? I could push for days and nothing happens. But I'm in pain and I'm freakin' tired. That's it for now, I guess.

Struggling with Ostomy Bag Leaks Despite Various Solutions

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SusanT

Feb 15, 2025 7:56 pm

Reply to CrappyColon

Aha! I found the post recommending Domeboro. The skin around my drain is in exceedingly poor condition. The replacement nurse has been doing a terrible job dressing it.

My husband helped me rig a mirror tile on a floor stand intended to hold a tablet so I can see the drain area while lying down to dress it.

So... I dressed it myself yesterday. I was able to use the Domeboro on the skin and to leave the area exposed to air for about an hour. I was very pleased with how much drier the skin felt afterwards. And the area has been much less painful.

Thanks for this suggestion. I think it will really help me.

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