I have only begun using the SenSura Mio two-piece bag system since just before Christmas.
My old ostomy nurse ordered me the one-piece bags, having done no homework, and she ordered the wrong type! She was seriously overworked, so I had to do my own research and discovered why my bags were coming off - and I was the one who had to figure out that the deepest convex base-plate is what I needed.
BUT I hate the pre-filters in my bags - they clog up after only 4 hours, so I get a lot of ballooning. If it weren't for the fact that these bags have changed my life as I have NEVER had a leak with the extra deep base-plates, I would probably ask to try a different product.
What have your experiences been? I suspect that my problems are because I have very watery output, having only 3.5 meters of small bowel and my ileostomy.
There are small sachets available that solidify the liquid, which may be useful for you. I believe you place one or two in the pouch. Ileosorb might be the name of one product.
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I will ask, do not know if they're available in New Zealand. Our medication and medical products go through NZ Health via Pharmac - The Pharmaceutical Management Agency (MΓΒori: Te PΓΒtaka Whaioranga), better known as Pharmac, is a New Zealand Crown entity that decides, on behalf of Te Whatu Ora β Health New Zealand, which medicines and pharmaceutical products are subsidised for use in the community and public hospitals.
So it depends, if they're subsided. But I will google it for sure!!
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Googling these products, they are definitely not available in New Zealand. However, I have emailed my stoma nurse, so I will have to wait to see what she says. Since my hospital is importing my bags from the States, maybe they can import these ones for me. We definitely would not be able to afford to buy them ourselves, as I empty my bag (a large high-volume bag) approximately six times a day.
I may need to keep my fingers and toes crossed.
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Other products are made by ConvaTec and Trio:
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I took a bag and cut the pre-filter out so I could examine it, to find out what it's made of. I wish it didn't have so many holes; also, due to my watery output, the pre-filters move, so they no longer stay in the same place.
My old Convatec bags had a filter I could replace, or even pop off, so I could let gas escape (sometimes if my husband was fast asleep - if he complained I'd tell him he'd just farted π) - I kinda wish those bags would fit on my base-plate, but they don't - sigh...
I am keeping my fingers crossed that my stoma nurse will find some of those sachets which would thicken my output a little... But she just replied that she had NEVER heard of them!!
However, she's trying to see if she can get me some.
Her problem is that the hospital deals with only some suppliers - and if they're not on the list, she cannot order them for me....
Thanks!! I just googled these and they are available in NZ! So, I may let my stoma nurse know, since I am already using Coloplast products.
I just researched them; they're available in Australia but not in New Zealand from what I can see!
I found a site that sells them in NZ but they cost $116.15 NZD - holy cow!
Read what they had to say.
ILE-Sorb and Pearls are sold on Amazon. Is Amazon available in NZ?
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I have a colostomy and use the SenSura Mio Click Closed Pouch. For a colostomy, my output is semi-liquid because I have lost a considerable amount of colon. I eat plenty of bananas and take loperamide to firm up my effluent and slow down my motility respectively. I change my pouch 2 - 3 times a day when it is between 1/2 - 2/3 full. I sleep on my back with it at an angle between 60 and 90Β°. Effluent never reaches my pouch. This pre-filter is by far the best I have ever used.
I am glad it works for you, Traveler. π When I was still allowed to eat solid food, it would come out all undigested, having only 3.5 meters of small bowel, and dumping syndrome, so trying to eat some banana or some pureed apple would only thicken a little bit, but everything behind that was like water. The hospital at one time gave me 20 loperamides to swallow out of desperation and that didn't work to thicken it up either. They tried all kinds of things and nothing worked.
All it did do was give me pain....
I have asked my stoma nurse if she can find me any of those sachets you put in your pouch (I have no idea how I'd get them into it, as I use this high output bag
20 loperamide tablets at one time is not good β at 2 mg/tab, you get 40 mg! It is recommended that you not take more than 16 mg (8 tablets) at one time. Most studies recommend you take loperamide 60 - 90 minutes before each meal and before bedtime.
Most users should not need more than 48 mg per day (6 pills before each meal and 6 pills before going to bed) β there was a recent post from someone stating that he takes 50 mg per day. In severe cases there have been users that had to take 96 mg per day β 12 pills before each meal and 12 before going to bed.
Loperamide is not a thickening agent, it slows down how fast food moves through your digestive system. With the small amount of small intestine you have, loperamide will probably not be useful for you.
You apply the sachets by unclicking the pouch from the wafer and inserting them into the pouch opening that was attached to the wafer. If you thicken your effluent, you will not be able to use that high output bag because it would be too thick to get through the tube at the end.
I had so many problems trying to put the one-piece bag on because I could not see properly through the peek hole, so it was often put in the wrong spot, so I'd have to start all over again with another bag...
So having a two-piece bag was so much easier to fit around my stoma.
I have seen a lot of YouTube videos where people show themselves changing their bags while standing up. I cannot do that. Firstly, we don't have any mirrors that could guide me. Plus, my weight loss has left a lot of loose hanging skin which is slowly stretching back - but it happens very slowly. So I change partially lying down and sitting up.
New Zealand does not have Amazon; Australia does, and my husband has bought a few things from Amazon US, but the shipping usually costs more than the product. Besides, why purchase something if the hospital possibly could supply it for free?
Plus, there are some things which Amazon does not send to New Zealand.
Yes. Loperamide was utterly completely useless for me. Shockingly, at the time, I was also on 450mg of morphine a day - via a pain pump. My hospital doctors could not understand why my output was not stopping the apparent diarrhea I was suffering... until my husband researched Loperamide with the help of our pharmacist, and they found that one tablet contains the equivalent of 1mg of morphine. So, if 450mg of morphine didn't cause me any constipation, why would 3 capsules of loperamide?
They gave up on forcing loperamide on me.
My husband had already figured out that my high output bags would not be able to be used with the plug on the end.
And I have my suspicions that my stoma nurse is not very keen for me to try it. A normal ostomy bag would not work for me, as I'd have to empty my bag almost every 2 hours, if not more...