Why Does My Ostomy Bag Fill with Gas Only at Night?

So I am wondering, during the day my ostomy gives me the raspberries, but the bag doesn't fill up with gas the way it does at night. Overnight and into the wee morning hours, my ostomy manages to fill the bag so full of air that there is no give at all when you press on it. I don't eat a lot of gas-producing foods before bed or even during the day. I avoid things like carbonated beverages. Why is it that I only get balloons overnight and not during my waking hours?

Lee

My first thought is that you are opening the bag to empty it during the day. You produce a certain amount of gas. We never really paid much attention to that before we became ostomates.

My middle-of-the-night inner monologue involves wondering if I can pass on getting up to empty and, instead, either burp my bag (which I'll do several times) or simply ignore the fact that it looks like a blowfish and hope that it doesn't explode. I know I should just empty and go back to bed because the argument I have with myself actually keeps me awake. It's a nightly dilemma!

You know those baby food veggies/fruits you told someone about eating at night? Healthy food produces gas.

Which Eefyjig do we get on the forum, the one that wants to empty or the one that wants to sleep? 😂🤪

Oh, I'm a chameleon. If you need me to be serious, I am. If humor is indicated, I'm there. If I'm having a bad day, I mutter sarcastic things about you under my breath while I respond 🤓😉

But never about you, Alex!

This is exactly what I'd do to myself as well, a real debacle with myself.. lol.

Then after a few "unfortunate" issues, I forced myself to get up just so I could 😴 in peace.

Hello Lee. 
 I have no idea 'why' this happens.
My solution is to wear an irrigation sleeve at nights (folded up to make a massive bag). Still plenty of gas but there is no more worrying about a bag explosion as the sleeve is quite capable of containing all the gas I produce and more.
What is it they say: 'Necessity is the mother of invention!'
Best wishes
Bill 

I do the same. Stay in bed, rearrange the bag, then burp it... but catch heck if my wife gets "wind" of it.

I've been banished to the couch many times.

Eat food... get gas.

Same! I'm always in trouble with the husband for this. I use the excuse that he's allowed to fart in bed... why can't I? LOL

It's not even close to the same. You have way more impact on his nostrils than he does on yours. 😁🤢

Me thinks I might have singed my wife's nose hairs... both nostrils. 

I guess that is true, but what I eat during the day should cause more gas than a simple small snack at 8:30 when I don't go to bed until after 10 and sometimes not even until midnight. I think my stoma saves up gas and tries to give it all to me when I am sleeping. I usually wake up between 1 and 3 a.m. and have to go empty and let the gas out. I was wondering if the filter gets clogged at night and so doesn't let the air out properly.

Lee

That is an interesting solution. I don't have any irrigation sleeves. I do have a couple of high-volume bags, but I don't know if they fit on my current wafer. I suppose I could give that a try. Fortunately, I have never had the bag explode. I have heard horror stories about that happening. Once I had the bag come off the wafer, but that was a long time ago.

Lee

I think we didn't think about it before because it wasn't contained in a bag. When normal people pass gas, it just goes through their clothes and into the air. When an ostomate passes gas, it goes into an airtight bag.

Lee

Yeah, it is a problem for me because if I get up, there is really less of a chance that I can get back to sleep. I just kind of wake up for keeps.

Lee

If you eat carbs, they also produce gas. I have found that during the day, since I empty the pouch often, the air gets released. I usually cut off my intake of food around noon, and yes, it is tough and takes getting used to. I will allow herbal tea or water to fill my belly if I feel hungry. There are bags with built-in filters which allow for the gas to pass as it is released from your stoma. I still use a one-piece drainable pouch without a filter, but if the other type works, then try it. Hollister and Coloplast will send you samples of any pouching system you want to try.

Peace

I use a bag with a filter, but it never seems to work. I know a lot of people think that those filters work great, but I have never found them to work.

Lee

One suggestion that helped me is: Try not to eat/drink anything that contains high fructose corn syrup. FYI, if you like soda, Pepsi makes a cola made with “real sugar.” Hope this helps.