Colostomy blockage after eating cherries?

So, my colostomy hasn't had any output since Saturday early AM....48 hours ago... this hasn't happened before. Ate and drank normally the last 2 days and felt ok. Passing gas and no pain. But this morning I feel backed up. No actual pain or nausea, but I feel constipated. First time (in 9 months with a stoma) that I've gone more than 8 hours without output, so I'm worried. The only thing I ate this weekend that's different is a handful of fresh cherries... of course I spit out the pits, and I took time to chew them very well. Anyone ever had a blockage from cherry skins? Any other suggestions?

Oh gosh, 48 hours... I have never gone that long without output (I have had my stoma colostomy since March 2020). Hopefully someone will be along soon with some advice.

Have you got an ostomy nurse you can ring? If you do, I'd speak to them if I were you. Or if you don't, do the people who supply your bags have nurses who work for the company? Because if it's not normal for you and your body, you should definitely get it checked out.

An actual blockage, no. However, I do have times when I have basically no output for quite a while. Just had this happen over the weekend. Not sure how long it was since I don't pay attention to it much, but it was well over 24 hours that I know of. I know I didn't go all of Saturday and can't remember about Friday. Woke up yesterday with slight stomach pain. I drank some warm water and laid back down. Went to work at 4pm and started moving around. I got output twice while at work and another 3 times as soon as I got home this morning. Nothing since, and I'm pretty sure I won't have anything the rest of today. My culprit was eating Chipotle and having corn in the burrito bowl. Once the dam breaks free, my system gets cleaned out. Normally, I have output (enough to empty IMO) about 2-3 times a day on average.

I'm nine months out from my surgery. Only had the ostomy nurse following me for the first 4 weeks, then the visiting nurses discharged me from their care.

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You can't stay in contact with your ostomy nurse? I can send mine a message and they respond very quickly. She is also the one that sends in my RX for my supplies when I need them. I have an appointment in about 2 1/2 weeks to see her so she can do a checkup of my stoma. I've had mine since March of '21.

No, before I was discharged from their care, they showed me how to order my own supplies. The nurses were provided through the hospital's home care/home nursing visits. Medicare only pays for any kind of home care until you are able to leave the home to go to medical offices. But there aren't stoma clinics around here where I can see a stoma nurse as an ambulatory outpatient.

That's too bad. They can help a lot throughout this lovely journey we're on.

I think I would try going for a walk or something like that if you feel up to it to get things moving.

I think the key is that this length of time is not normal for you. One thing that I know has worked well for me and many others is Coke. Drink a bottle of Coca Cola, the full sugar stuff, not the sugar free. Just a small bottle, I think they are ten ounces or so, and warm is better than cold. Drink it right down. That should do the trick. Let us know how things go, OK? Good luck!

Terry

I go a lot of time for two or three days. I may have a tiny bit each day but not a full movement. Then I may fill the bag a couple times in a day.

Well, today is day 3, and I've passed a few (4-5) hard little nuggets... very tiny, but enough to give me hope that things are trying to move along. No pain and I'm passing gas as much as usual, no more, no less. I do know that caffeine (coffee, coke) can get things going, but I'm caffeine-free due to a heart arrhythmia. Though I haven't been under the care of the visiting nurses (including the ostomy nurse) since the month after my surgery (and I've been doing great), I still had the number of the stoma nurse's cell phone and remembered her saying the last time she came that even though I'm not technically their patient anymore, I could still call her if I had an urgent question... so I called her... but the number is her work cell phone, not her private phone, and it's a holiday... so of course I got her voicemail and had to leave a message. Hopefully she'll call me back tomorrow. I'm concerned because, even if this is just my gut being lazy and a bit of prolonged constipation... I have my granddaughter's graduation to attend on Wednesday evening, so if this doesn't get resolved before then, I'm afraid of everything deciding to "erupt" while I'm at the ceremony...

Good luck to you! I hope you find out quickly what is going on and a great remedy! I'll keep you in my thoughts!

I get those hard little nuggets quite often and then back to what my normal is.

Only have had the colonoscopy for about 3 weeks and I had a blockage. Drank about 6 cans of Pepsi. Went to bed as I turned on my side boom. My bag went from empty to completely full in no more than a second. It for several hours had a steady output after full bag. This might not be good for anyone else but it worked for me.

Wishing you the best

Jim

I have dealt with a lot of blockages over the years, so what I do when it happens is take a couple of ibuprofen to reduce the swelling in the bowel, drink a dose of Miralax and plenty of water, and put a heating pad on my belly. It always seems to help. I also try to drink half a dose of Miralax every other day (your mileage may vary) and it helps keep my output from turning into the hard nuggets that block everything.