Colostomy hernias causing nausea

I am wondering if anyone else has this problem. I have a colostomy, 2 and 1/2 years ago.

6 hernias, and just about every other day I wake up with nausea. Then after up and about it goes away. Is this normal? It doesn't happen every day, maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

Hi Little Red, sorry to hear you are having problems. I have had a colostomy for five years and have not had that problem. Hope you find the cause soon.

Hello Little Red.  Thanks for your post.

6 hernias sounds quite a lot and makes me think that you might be prone to that sort of thing. Given the description of your symptoms, it might be that you also have a hiatus hernia. If so, the laying down position may cause reflux and a nauseas feeling. Reflux can be affected greatly by gravity, so that when you stand up and move around it would then diminish or go away completely. I was advised to sleep in a tilted position so that the reflux would not be so aggressive. I bought myself a tilting bed a few years back and have have had virtually none of those problems since. 

It is best to have these sorts of things diagnosed properly, so that you know exactly what it is you are dealing with. It is too easy to think that problems are gut/stoma related, when they may not be.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes

Bill

If you are getting a lot of reflux, then you're a good candidate for Barrett's Syndrome and then Esophageal Cancer. You really should talk with your GE about reflux.

Dave

Hi Little Red. We must have had our colostomies around the same time. I had mine in July of 2017. I have been told that I have a hernia under my stoma, and just recently, a surgeon said I have one between my breast bones. Neither of them bother me yet. However, I also have nausea at times. No rhyme or reason to mine. I often feel hungry right after I have a good meal, and wonder what that's about. Do you have this happen to you?

I am also a woman, 67 years old now. My damage was caused by untreated diverticulitis. I ended up in the emergency room, with sepsis, and had emergency surgery. I was on life support for almost 2 weeks, and my family was told I wouldn't survive. When I woke up, the doctors said I was known as the miracle woman. I feel pretty lucky and blessed to be alive, as this was the second time I almost died in 2017. My family was told I wouldn't survive in April 2017 - I had a really bad gall bladder and large gallstones, which caused sepsis, meningitis, encephalitis, and my body was shutting down. I was a woman who thought the pain was normal to me - but I sure learned different!

When you find out why the nausea is happening, I hope you will let us know. I'll be praying for you!

Good luck to you! Hope you continue to feel better!

Hi Kangaroo, yes, sounds like we have almost gone through the same thing. I was also in the ICU with a rupture of my bowel and given a 30% chance. Then in a rehab for 8 weeks after. Before that, I had a heart stent and an IVC filter placed before my colostomy in 2 different hospitals. Exactly a year after my colostomy, I was back in the hospital for gallbladder surgery. My surgeon and I have a thing going. Now come January, I will be meeting him again for my 6 hernias repaired. I am a little older than you, turned 80 in October. But am hanging in there. I have decided not to have my colostomy reversed. I have had enough and don't want to go through that pain again. Mine was also caused by diverticulitis and my internist should have done further tests when I was having the pain. Instead, it was a hospitalist and 3 CT scans when in the hospital to find the problem. Needless to say, I now have a new PCP. Thanks for the get feeling better wishes and you also take care.