Why Does My Ostomy Bag Fill Up More at Night?

It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, but at night my bag fills all the way up. Yesterday, I ate toast and yogurt all day; that was all I had, and overnight my bag filled up totally. I woke at 1:55 a.m. and had to empty it right away. Luckily, no leaks. But the night before, I ate pumpkin meatballs in a pumpkin and tomato sauce, and boy, did my bag fill up all the way to the filter. I only ate four meatballs and a little sauce. It just doesn't seem to matter what I eat. Why at night? During the day, I have hardly any output. When I am sleeping, my ostomy goes to town. What is that about? I can hardly eat less than toast and yogurt.

We're all unique; everyone of us has a digestive system that works differently, no matter what we eat or the times of day. I have loose output and drain my bag around 10 - 15 times a day, but strangely at night, it rarely needs emptying, even if I eat 1 hour before I go to bed.

You are so lucky not to have issues at night. I can't even sleep a full night because I have to get up and empty or face the consequences. I take a sleeping pill and I have to take a low dose so that I can wake myself up to empty my bag. It kind of sucks.

With an ileostomy, having to empty during the night is a given.  I try not to eat anything after 5 or 6 pm, but the best that I can hope for is only having to empty once rather than twice.  As someone else pointed out, tho', everyone is different.  You just have to gauge what works best for you.  

Agreed... spot on... but I do wonder how and if being vertical or horizontal is the issue. I can eat before 6 p.m.

But still empty twice at night.

4 a.m. is the only single time and rare I go once.

It exhausts you for work the next day. I wouldn't dare use a pill to help sleep.

There were a few rare times while asleep, I felt a pop, woke up, and saved the bed sheets.

It's like having a seventh sense.

Totally blows for sure.

Sitting also triggers massive flow too. For me, at least.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

I don't eat after 5:30pm except on Saturdays when it is closer to 6:20pm. Doesn't seem to matter when I eat or what I eat. I guess it is a given that I am going to have to empty at least once in a night but I just wish there was something I could do not to have to do that. I was wondering if when my body is resting it makes my ostomy more energetic. Like it's time to go to work people she's sleeping.

When I sit in my recliner in the morning it encourages farting. LOL

I don't tend to have a flow issue from sitting. Just when I go to bed at night. It is exhausting to get up and then not be able to get back to sleep. That is the problem I have, once I get up to empty, be it 1am, 2:30am or 4am I can't get back to sleep. So I end up exhausted all the time. That is why they wanted to give me a sleeping pill. Now they are testing me for sleep apnea, But I keep telling them it's that I have to get up to empty my bag. That is why I am tired all the time.

Pumpkin is all fiber, you’re gonna poop a lot. 

I too have to wake up twice per night to empty. Like others, it doesn't matter what I eat or what time. I've tried stopping eating earlier, but then I still have to empty the same amount of times. And in the morning, the output is mostly bile/acid.

Signed, Always Exhausted

I noticed that. My bag filled up to the top the day I ate that. But the day I just ate toast and yogurt, my bag was pretty full too, with very little food. I don't know how it does that when I don't give it any food to work with. Well, hardly any food to make poop from.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to matter what I eat or when I have to get up in the night and empty, once or twice. And then when I get up in the morning, I have to empty again. All liquid. I am just amazed I haven't had a leak, totally amazed. I would expect a leak, but nope. I have a good stoma. He might produce a lot but doesn't leak hardly ever, a year ago once, and 2 bag failures that I don't count as leaks because there were holes in the bag. I sometimes wake up with a lot of output and a bag full of air too. I am lucky, no pops.

Whether you eat or not, your system still has “debris” in it. And I’m guessing that if you eat sporadically, once it goes thru it’ll still come out like you ate normally. So, if you’re gonna poop being hungry and being full, I’d choose to just eat the way you want. 🤷‍♂️ I have a colostomy but I pay no attention to what/when I eat since I work overnight and weird hours and I usually have very very little output at night(or while I’m asleep anyway). 

I think that is how ileostomies are different to colostomies. Seems people with ileostomies have a lot more output and at night too. Some have said they have to get up twice to empty at night. I am lucky enough that if I get up once and then empty as soon as I get up in the morning then I am good to go. 

I too am amazed how the bag always fills while sleeping. I think it's because we are so relaxed. I get gas too every single night.  

Gas often fills whatever space is left in my bag after output. It's ridiculous. I do wonder if it has something to do with being relaxed. 

I really think it is. Just like when we shower, it's relaxing and they decide to let loose.

I have a friend who has a colostomy, and we joke about how we have to carefully get up with this big, huge, tight balloon that's ready to pop and carefully walk to the bathroom, hoping there's not an explosion.

When I open my bag at nighttime over the toilet, it seems to explode out of the opening into the toilet. I have to watch out for splashback. It just can't wait to come out of the bag. Woosh!

LOL about getting up carefully and walking to the bathroom, hoping for no explosion.

I know in the shower mine would go too. That's why I stopped showering with the bag off and started cleaning my stoma at the sink.

I just wish there was an option for a size 14-inch bag. There only seems to be 12-inch bags. Then maybe we could get a little more time between emptying.

They do make high volume bags they have a spout instead of a velcro opening. I started out with those bags. But moved to the smaller velcro ones when the amount of output went down. 

That sounds really frustrating! I've had similar issues where my bag would fill up way more at night than during the day. I found that eating smaller meals throughout the day helped a bit, along with sticking to foods that are a little more binding, like bananas and rice. Staying hydrated is important, but I tried drinking more during the day and cutting back a bit at night, and it made a difference. 

This has been more helpful than I realized I even needed. I've had 2 instances this week with leaks but I think now it's because I'm not emptying when I get up to twinkle or I ignore my bladder altogether. Glad I took a chance on this site!!

I don't have the same problem with my colostomy... but the topic makes me wonder. My urostomy has basically constant output and very large volume. I connect it via a tube to a large "night bag"; otherwise, I would have to get up hourly (literally) to empty it. It seems like someone should devise a similar system for ileostomies. Obviously, it might need to be different... maybe disposable, given the difference in the nature of the output. But what a difference it would make for ileostomy quality of life!

Where was that dude who wanted ideas for R&D? Lol

I do drink less at night than I do during the day. But I don't eat more binding foods at night. I might try that. I can't eat rice; it caused a blockage before, but I can eat bananas. I will give that a try. And I do sometimes eat a smaller meal at dinner time. But that doesn't seem to impact things. I will keep trying. Thanks for your suggestions.

I empty twice in the night now. Whenever I wake up I empty my bag. It gets full and I am lucky not to have had a leak in a year. I think that is thanks to the bags and the ring and the dermarite wands I use when I change my bag. All make a good seal and it holds pretty good. But I could easily have a leak with the volume of output I have at night. I highly suggest if you get up in the night empty your bag. 

I wish there was such a thing for ileostomies. But there doesn't seem to be. I don't know how it would work either. I think you are right; it would have to be disposable. This would be very expensive to keep up. That is probably why no one has made one, because it would be expensive.

They say you can talk to your stoma nurse and they can tell you how to slow down your output.

I get that. I am up 2-3 times a night peeing, no leakage at night though. Can't get back to sleep... too much thinking, worrying.

I no longer have an ostomy nurse. I talked to my gastrologist and he told me to take Imodium twice a day. So I guess I am going to try that. He gave me some powdered stuff to drink in water, but I didn't like it and didn't feel comfortable taking it. So I told him so, and he said to try Imodium.

That is my trouble too, once I wake up I have trouble getting back to sleep. 

I've only had my colostomy for a month, but I noticed that my stoma wakes me up at about 5 or 6 AM, and it's hard to go back to sleep. I had a section of sigmoid colon removed, so my stoma is high up on the descending colon. My normal BM pattern before my emergency surgery was in the morning at about 7 AM, consistently. I asked my GI doc if that's because it's part of my daily pattern, it's just that the stool is "exiting earlier" because of where the stoma is, and he confirmed that it's likely the case. I switched to closed-end bags this week, and that's a bit better. Now I can sleep a little later, and just dump the bag and put a new one on when I wake up. I think it's all a matter of your digestive system working a little differently, at least in my case. Hope this helps.