Hi, I need help!
I hear ya sister.........I'm in the same boat....sort of. I assume you're either short-gutted or have severe disease activity. If you're a shortie, you'll find the motility meds just don't do much. They can't. It's not a question of motility, but gut length. As I've said previously, it's like a velvet-lined garden hose. If it's 20 feet long and you dump a quart of water into it.....not much will come out the other end. But if it's 3 feet long, a whole bunch of water is going to come out the end. I don't know how often you eat, but assuming it's not constantly, you should find that when your stomach is empty, your bowels will be empty shortly thereafter. During that time, your bowels are secreting bile (it's a pretty constant process). Your bowels will hold that bile for a bit, and then dump it out when it's built up to a point. It's a cycle. Knowing the timing of the cycle will allow you to do things like shower, change your barrier, drive without having to stop to empty your bag, etc. For me, my cycle is about an hour on an empty stomach. When I get up in the morning (after stopping eating by 1:30 am and drinking my quart of ORS from 2:30 am to 3:30 am), I'll have some bile in my bag. It usually happens around 8:00 am if I eat and drink as previously described. I usually get up at 7:45 am, prep for my barrier change, and wait until it gets done dumping the bile into my bag. That dumping bile process from start to finish is about 10 minutes, but I give it 15 just to be sure. Then I know I still have 45 minutes until it dumps out bile again. So I pull off my barrier, jump in the shower, dry off, and change my barrier. Right around 9:05ish, she'll dump again, so I need to be done with my barrier change....or be standing over the sink with a good book and let her do her thing again for another 10 minutes while I read (how's that for a good visual). Then I have another hour without output. My point is you need to know your cycle, as everyone's is different. Once you know yours, life gets easier.
In terms of motility meds, I've tried them all and they're not much help. As I described above....they really can't be. The Tincture of Opium did absolutely nothing other than get some weird looks from the folks behind the pharmacy counter at my CVS. You'd think I was asking for crack cocaine or something. Of them all, what works best for me is Diphenoxylate-Atropine (Lomotil), but be warned that it can numb your stoma and if you take it for any length of time and then stop taking it, your stoma may feel discomfort from the acidic nature of your output. Been there, done that......not fun. Diphenoxylate is similar to opioid pain relievers, so be warned. After my short-gut surgery, I was taking 16 Diphen-Ox tablets a day (4 tabs 4 times) AND 16 Loperamide tabs (4 tabs 4 times) a day. I've slowly weaned myself down to 4 Diphen tabs (2 tabs 2 times) and 8 Loperamide tabs (4 tabs 2 times) each day..........but routinely miss doses when I'm busy and really don't see much difference. My goal is to just stop using them altogether, but going cold turkey is NOT the way to do that. Don't ask how I know that.
So what I'm saying is don't rely on motility meds as your primary means of living your life. Get to know your body's bowel cycle and work with it. I know....easier said than done......but it pays large dividends in confidence once you know what's going to happen and when. I've looked high and low for motility-altering meds or food, and my conclusion is with such a short bowel, there is no easy answer. I wish there was. To be honest, I haven't fully explored the diet and what to eat and when aspect, as I'm sure there are gains to be made there........but my lifestyle and lack of self-discipline (i.e., willpower) sort of limits me there. If I take a sip of ice water.......I'm drinking the bottle.......it's just how I roll. If your issue is more related to diseased bowel, then all bets are off because there's so much going on there. Let me know if that answers the mail and if not, provide a little more info about your condition so others with similar circumstances can chime in.
Regards,
Bob