How Quickly Should Food Appear in an Ostomy Bag?

Hey all, just wondering how long does it take for food to show up in your bag? For example, I will eat and 1-2 hours later, it’s in the bag. Is this standard?

I do have a high output ileostomy. But a lot of food comes out whole, and it doesn’t seem like it’s in my body long enough to absorb any nutrients.

This is a situation we as ileos face daily.

If your output is too fast, there is no way you get any benefit from nutrients. Bulking up seems the right course.

I'm using these gummy bears made with fiber by Metamucil.

I hate the powder mix. 🤮.

These help retain bulk, but it's just for maybe one output.

Then more gummies to sustain the bulking process. I'm pretty sure for a normal person, three gummies daily is fine, but for an ileo? I don't know. Three is weak for us. I chew them like candy.

Also, oatmeal raisin cookies help me. Alex T. suggested them.

They help.

If you are seeing food not digested in your bag, something is wrong for an ileo. I never see that. 8 years, never. It's liquid. Or semi-bulk.

You have had this issue since

the surgery? Do you know how much of your small bowel was removed?

You may have small bowel syndrome. SBS. Heard of it?

Check it out... ost i.a. in forum.

Yup, that happens to me periodically.  I have a very fast transit time.  Frequently, the few pills I take come out whole. I absolutely detest Metamucil.  The powder, even when mixed with OJ literally makes me gag. So, to slow things down I eat a banana in the morning, or unsweetened applesauce.  Peanut butter (almond butter) is your friend.  Potatoes and rice can help to bulk things up.  My surgeon told me as I was lying in a hospital bed " Do you like chips (potato) ?  They help for bulk as well as providing some sodium."  Try and stay away from coffee and carbonated beverages.  There are some things that just will not break down; carrots, some salad greens, skins from black beans, blueberries to name a few.  Good luck !

Well, when I eat Qdoba, the corn comes out probably 1- 1 1/2 days later. Same with pepper chunks in salsa. That’s just the noticeable stuff. 🤷‍♂️

Are you taking any meds to help slow your output down? 1-2 hours is a reasonable time for a high output stoma if you're not taking the right amount of meds to slow it down. You will still be getting some nutrition from food. To be honest, you won't get many benefits from all the thickening foods; they're more help for people that just have loose output. You know yourself there's a big difference between loose and high output. How many times a day on average does your bag need emptying?

Living with Your Ostomy | Hollister

Hi Warrior, since surgery I’ve been seeing/smelling what I ate in my bag. I had olives on a slice of pizza the other night, and an hour later, I had a bag full of undigested olives. Same with potatoes, pasta, beef, carrots, peppers, etc. I was very surprised the beef didn’t digest.

I need those gummies! I hate the stupid drink, too!! It makes me gag the entire time. I hate it lol but yes, it’s one dose per bag it seems. I have had a little luck with marshmallows before bag changes. I’m up 4-5 times a night emptying. It’s just so freaking much!! 

I love peanut butter and it’s a staple since surgery. I feel like it keeps me alive lol I will definitely try a banana in the mornings.

It seems like if I’m able to bulk it’s not for long. 

That's not right, but if you do have SBS...there lies the reason.

W30bob has this. I hope he chimes in. Rather alarming to be passing liquid poop.

That flush. Pretty common as an ileo, but too much will dehydrate you. I have lost weight, and it's not the way I want to lose weight. It's like you are melting away. Nothing fits, and you're exhausted from lack of sleep.

I think you need to find out about this short bowel syndrome. How much small colon was removed. This is why you go and have undigested food pass through you.

Dehydration will cause kidney issues. You don't want that.

The only things I have seen are watermelon seeds... 🍉 I can eat everything...no issues.

The gummies really bulk up output. I drink a variety of fluids.

I'm on liquid IV daily. A powder mix. So far so good, but nighttime is a whole new ball game.

I find food generally takes 4 to 5 hours to pass through; however, one meal can have different transit times for the different items within the same meal. The salad component will be fast, other things much slower. I eat dinner by 7 PM, and I'm largely empty by 11:00-11:30, but I do get up in the night for another, though not always. I find after eating breakfast at 7:30 or so, eating/chewing kickstarts my digestive process and expels what didn't make it through the night before. I used to think this was just breakfast going through quickly but eventually realized it wasn't.

Chew chew chew. That is the advice I was given about food coming out whole the way it went in. I know food can still come out whole, as it does for me at times, if you eat highly fibrous foods. Are you a very new ostomate? High output is usually something you see with newer ostomies, although it doesn't have to be. Do you have a shortened bowel? Sometimes that can make the turnaround of food happen in 1 to 2 hours. Generally, for me, it's about 4 hours, sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends a lot on the food. Carrots, for example, even though I only eat canned cooked ones, come out faster, whereas beets come out in liquid form a little later. I have very liquid output usually, with the occasional food bits in them if I haven't been focusing on my chewing. I have bad teeth, so chewing isn't always my strong suit. But if I am focusing on chewing, then things go better. So think about chewing. And also, don't be too alarmed if things are coming out in your bag; at least they are coming out, not causing a blockage. Don't eat raw veggies; that will definitely cause a problem for you.

I also wanted to add that things with skins are harder to digest. Olives and peppers have skins. 

I have read the comments to your questions and thought I'd add a note. I see you have commented (as well as others about not liking the powder that thickens things up). For a long time after my surgery, I had what I referred to as a "failure to thrive"... it seemed all I ate was just liquid output... I finally decided to try Metamucil, but I buy it at Costco and it's called Psyllium Husk and only comes in orange flavor at our Costco. So, every morning I add 2 teaspoons to vanilla almond milk, 1 banana, and some powder protein mix and that's my morning smoothie... this results in less liquid output and finally getting to what I refer to as more normal food consumption and processing. I drink this when I am hungry, therefore it does not have much time to thicken up in my glass. If I wait and it thickens, I cannot drink it - as everyone says... it gets "gaggy". jb

For thickening, bananas are the gold standard for me — I eat 3 - 4 bananas a day.

To slow my transit time, I take loperamide (Immodium). For high output stomas, the recommended dosage is two tablets with each meal and two at bedtime (maximum 16mg per day).

Finally chew your food thoroughly — if you can feel something solid in your mouth then you haven't chewed well enough, the food in your mouth should be mushy.

You should keep a diary of the foods you eat and how fast they move through your system — there are mobile apps you can use to keep track of the foods you eat.

I have similar experience; I’d be eating something with vegetable and almost an hour later green bits and pieces would come out! I told my doctor about this and he said that would be impossible, even my husband, until one day I showed him and now he was confused too. But the next day some vegetables would come out again. I am not sure why it is - I think perhaps my ileo is processing some a bit and some later. Rice, banana, potatoes and cassava takes longer and gradually too. Whereas vegetables seem to be processed rather quickly. Nevertheless, despite being new ileos (I had surgery at the last week of Nov 2024) I have been trying to eat more and I gained 1 kg which is an accomplishment for me because I have lost so much weight it is worrying and the ileos is making it more challenging tbh.