Feeling the Urge to Poop with an Ostomy Bag - Is This Normal?

I got my ostomy bag a month ago. I regularly feel like I need to poo, and unsurprisingly, only a drop comes out. Does anyone else get this urge?

Hello,

Your intestines produce mucus to aid in moving food along as it's slowly digested.

Your remaining rectal stump continues producing this mucus, which you will "poop out" occasionally. This is normal.

Usually, only a small amount comes out.

Yes, I understand that, but does anyone feel a strong urge throughout the day to poo?

You mentioned that it has only been a month since your ostomy; therefore, it is not totally surprising since your body has to adjust. I was alarmed when it happened to me because on multiple occasions I did poo out my anus. The surgeon told me not to worry; it was just residual left in my colon after surgery.

Yes... I do get a strong urge to poop. In fact, sometimes it hurts a little. I'm 17 months post-op. I pass mucus every couple of days, sometimes once a day.

I get checked by my colorectal surgeon every 6 months. He checks my rectal stump, looking for abnormalities and bleeding.

My colostomy is permanent. I could get Ken Butt surgery to remove my useless anus and rectum, but I never suffered from ulcerative colitis, Crohn's, or cancer. So no need to remove it. Just gotta have it checked occasionally.

My Ostomy Journey: April | Hollister

Thank you for sharing. I think I'm worried I'm going to give myself a hemorrhoid trying to push out a poo that never comes.

Don't strain. If it does not come out, wait awhile, let it build up. It will come out eventually.

It takes several months before your body adapts to an ostomy and you recover from surgery.

Hi Vic,

One month is nothing. I seem to recall a similar thing. Your body is still freaking out and trying to find its way. Time should remove the urge you speak of.

Yes, I do. It's called tenesmus. With me, though, I have some inflammation in my rectum that is most likely causing it along with blood mixed in with mucus. I have ulcerative colitis. I've been prescribed some prednisolone suppositories that I've been taking for around 5 days, which has reduced the constant urge to go to the toilet all day a bit. I've been told by IBD nurses that I need to give the medication a full 2 weeks to establish whether I'm responding well to them or not.

A question on my mind, as well, so I'll be following. I never had that mucus passing. I'm 6 months post-op for ileostomy. Yesterday, a first: felt the strong urge to have a BM, sat on the toilet, passed what looked like a dark yellow, soft stool. About 1/4 cup. Also, a bit of pink blood on wiping. I sent a note to my ostomy care team but would like to hear from anyone with a similar experience.

Henry, what your rectum is experiencing is proctitis. Very common. I had that and it was controllable through medication over the years. Until it wasn't. It got worse and the rectum developed Crohn's. So that is something you need to look into.

You might be delaying the inevitable. Like I was, and the cost would be side effects of those oral meds. It took me 6 years in limbo waiting for proctitis to calm down. 6 years! Pre-stoma.

Like many temp ileos, hook up later was the plan. Direct connect to rectum.

Just wasn't in the cards.

Anyway, do keep an eye out for Crohn's in the rectum. Might consider removal and options. That goes for anyone else with a temp ileo and bloody output. Just caution.

Thanks, warrior. Yes, I did suspect it is proctitis and the other condition I've read about is diversion colitis. It's weird. After my sub-total colectomy to remove my large bowel, I was hoping to get my life back after the horrors of full-blown ulcerative colitis. No such luck because of the rectum problems.

I've got a sigmoidoscopy on Tuesday and I'm hoping this gives a diagnosis or at least more information about what's going on in there. I'm hoping I respond to medication and it keeps the inflammation and feeling of urgency to go to the toilet in check for a while. However, I don't want to be on steroid suppositories for a long time and was wondering if I might be able to switch to mesalazine suppositories if I don't respond to prednisolone. However, I'm aware that surgery is the only way to permanently fix this issue.

I'm on stage 1 of surgery treatment for UC as they call it. The next stage (I think is either a J-Pouch if I'm eligible, but with an inflamed rectum, I'm not sure). The other is proctectomy (I think that's what it's called) and removing my rectum and anus and sewing my bottom up! Both options freak me out to be honest, although I'm more inclined towards proctectomy as J-Pouch just seems to be too problematic. I would just like to be healthy and well (as we all do!), but it seems at times this is too much to ask for!

I get what you mean about hoping to be healthy... or healthier. I tell that to myself every new year and like this year, like last year, both sucked.

But... you know it's a process... which includes elimination. And in our case, eliminating the diseased colon... we got to have hope for that healthier time. But the road has a few speed bumps, so proceed slowly.

It's almost 6 months into the new year... and... I will say it again... "this will be the year."

Half of the year is gone, but I still have hope. Never give up, dude. Research pays off... consider your options.

Talk to members.

Our day... our years are coming.

That happened to me in the beginning. Really odd feeling! Doctor told me it was quite normal. The feeling did go away eventually.

I have serious mucus issues. Colorectal cancer November 2021 (stage 4), chemo and radiation, then tumor removal and ileostomy July 2022. Reversed December 2022. After 14 months of what I dubbed seagull syndrome, I went back for a permanent colostomy March 2024. I have to wear a pad every day because of the mucus, and it's really disgusting and annoying. I want to go to the beach and swim, but I can't go without a pad for even an hour. Doc says it's normal but causing me UTIs that seem resistant to antibiotics. Considering asking the surgeon to do the Barbie butt; however, I heard it is a painful and difficult recovery. Appreciate any thoughts anyone might have to share.