Irrigating Stoma Twice in a Row?

Hello to all those who irrigate their stoma, I have a question for you. I read in another group of ostomates from France that there are some who irrigate their stoma twice in a row to have the chance to irrigate their stoma only every 2 days. In this way, there is no risk of residues. Is there someone who does this twice in a row? Because it's a lot of work, 1.5 liters of water wait until everything is out and start yet another 1.5 liters of water.

Thank you!

Merci!!!

Danielle from Québec, Canada

Hey,

I do irrigate and only have done that when something went wrong and I did not have a lot of output the first irrigation. I only irrigate every other day anyway. I cannot wear a cap because doing this, there is sometimes output in between days. If I would change my diet, as some keep telling me, I probably would not have any output in between but eating is a great part of life and I am going to eat what I like!
Maybe one day I will try it and see what happens. If you do, let me know.

Puppyluv

Hello Danielle. I've tried all sorts of different approaches to irrigation, including irrigating twice in a row. I found that it is quite useful to get rid of any harder stools near to the stoma  before irrigating again. However, I have never been able to get to more tha 36 hrs before more output, so I gave up on the idea and now irrigate everynight (once) whether I appear to need it or not.  I have found that this 'game' is all about experimenting to find out what may or may not work for ourselves.  Why not give it a go and see what happens? 

My present method is with a pressurised system and an anal catheta,which seems to evacuate most of that output close to the stoma before the rest of the water goes in. (It sort of forces itself out past the catheta) It's a sort of compromise so that I don't have to irrigate twice in a row. However, I have output for hours after the procedure, so I'm not sure that I have gained very much over the doing it twice method.

I hope this helps!

Best wishes

Bill

Hello Puppies, glad to hear from you. I had to do the irrigation in a 5-hour interval following a diarrhea because I had to go to work, but do it 2 times in a row to get everything out. I wondered if it would be dangerous for our bowel? And since I don't wear a cap or a bag, only a cotton cleanser and a Tegaderm film, I have to be careful what I eat. But if I weigh more than 250 lbs, unfortunately :(

Hello again Danielle.

In answer to your question as to whether irrigating twice might be dangerous. My guess would be NO! as the stoma nurse suggested this very early on so that any hard stool would be ejected before the second irrigation, which would then have a chance to be effective. Have contemplated the potential dangers, I would say that there might be a chance that you would lose some electrolytes in the process, but that can be easily rectified. It might be helpful to point out that colonic irrigation has been practiced for a very long time via the anus and nobody has mentioned any adverse effects. During this process, they don't concern themselves with how much water is pumped in, as it is evacuated at the same time. This is much the same as the way I irrigate my stoma. i.e. I pump it from a 5 litre pressurised container and much of the inputted water(plus feacal output) comes out while I am still pumping water in. Very rarely, I feel that more water than necessary makes its way into the colon and I become very uncomfortable and bloated. I then stop inputting and simply wait for it to all come out and the discomfort goes away. I've been doing this for years and do not consider it to be 'dangerous'.  However, if ever I was overly concerned, I would seek advice from the stoma nurses., (this has not been the case up to now).

I hope this answers your question

Best wishes

Bill 

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Hey Danielle,

Good to hear from you as well. It has been a while.
May you have been irrigating twice in a row? Is it always 5 hours in between or was that just once?
I don't work so I have the time to try it twice. See how it does.
I will let you know.

Puppyluv

Hi Danielle, I have irrigated twice, but I waited for some hours in between. However, what goes in will definitely come out. Initially, my stoma nurse told me everyone that has a colostomy will not be successful. I may go 8-12 hours with no output. I have not been successful in the 24-48 turnaround, but I continue to try.

Best wishes,

Angelicamarie

Hi all, I'm Doug from the UK. I've been irrigating for around 5 years since surgery for bowel cancer. During surgery, they removed the rectum, the sigmoid colon, and perhaps a small portion of the descending colon, thus leaving the majority of my colon intact, which, fortunately, means I am a good candidate for irrigation, which is just as well as I did not get used to colostomy bags immediately following surgery. I have found a routine which I doubt will suit many people. I wake every morning at around 03:00 to 04:00 (I go to bed at around 21:00). I then go to the bathroom where I have a small stool to sit facing the WC. I put around 1 litre of warm water into my stoma and sit for around 25-35 minutes reading social media and the news whilst waiting for full evacuation of my bowel. I used to use a pump to pump water in but I find the gravity method is much easier and just as effective. I also used to put around 1.5 – 2 litres of water in but find just 1 litre to be fully effective. After this time, I can flush and seal the sleeve and secure it with little pegs and head off downstairs to make coffee. I will make myself very comfortable and drink the coffee and relax in silence for a couple of hours, sometimes dozing off. As long as I didn't rush the irrigation, I generally don't have further output but if I do, it is well contained in the sealed sleeve. I then head back to the bathroom to flush the sleeve, shower, put on a stoma cap, and dress ready to go to work. I can eat a couple of meals and be very confident that I won't have output before I begin the process again the following morning. I must say if I plan to go out for dinner and drinks in the evening, I leave my irrigation until later in the day just so I don't worry. Since the stoma caps have limited capacity, I always carry a small emergency kit as a safety net but it is very rare that I would have cause to use it. I have installed a "muslim bidet" in my bathroom (sometimes known as a Shataff or a bum gun). This is a must for flushing out the sleeves and makes the whole irrigation process much easier. I'm not a good writer and although this is quite a long post (sorry), I have tried to keep it as small as possible. However, if anyone wants any further information or just to ask any questions, I would be very happy to share my experiences and help if I can. Hoping that this will prove to be useful. Best wishes

I have been very successful with irrigating in the morning, just one time. But I do it every day unless I have a very early morning and there is no time, then I just wear an open-ended pouch and hope for the best. I have only tried a second irrigation if my return stops before I know it should be finished. It usually takes about 30-40 minutes, but can take up to an hour. I have experimented a lot and there seem to be several things that affect the time it takes and if I have "bonus returns" during the day. Drinking a glass of water when I get up, having a cup of coffee, then starting makes it go quicker. I use an instant-read thermometer, the temperature is important, too cold and it seems to stop the muscle movement. Too hot and it relaxes the muscles and again, no movement. 75 (74.8-75.3) is my sweet spot. Maybe everyone is different. I also find it takes much longer, and I get the late returns later in the day, if I eat close to bedtime. Fatty foods can cause me to have watery return almost immediately after eating.

It's this kind of information sharing that prompted me to join this site. The best tips and help I have received have been from fellow ostomates.

This was a great conversation she started and I found everyone's advice helpful. I have been irrigating for 6 years and find if I do it at close to the same time every day that seems to work best. I have always only done it once a day, and cannot make it more than 12 hours, never made it to 3 days. And I have never done it twice in the same day.

I do find with pretty warm water and then drinking cold water causes my body to expel the water a little easier and faster.

Thanks for starting a great thread.

Thanks for the advice to drink cold water, I will try.

Have a great day!

Danielle from Quebec, Canada