Update
I called Coloplast, and gosh, the person I spoke with was helpful. Between your comments and the call, I feel on a more even keel. Thanks to everyone!
I'm getting freaked out by trying to get prepared. I saw a video from a healthcare provider that new ostomates wake every 3 hours because of output.
I'm scheduled for a colostomy.
Is this your experience?
Hi there, you may have loose, watery output early on, but with a colostomy, your digestive system will pretty much be the same as before, depending on how much colon you might lose. I have an ileostomy due to Crohn's/colitis with no colon and sleep through the night other than tossing and turning. Good luck.
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Hi. As well as I can remember, I had very little output post-colostomy surgery. My output increased when I was able to start eating solid food. Of course, everyone is different. I didn't have any fear because I had emergency surgery and had no idea what I would wake up to. Keep asking questions, as you will get a lot of answers and advice, especially from those with much more experience than I.
Hello Chai Lover.
Everyone is different, but I cannot recall waking up every three hours because of output.
I would suggest that you give irrigation a try (if you can) as soon as you can (usually after about 6-8 weeks post op).
That will give you much greater control on whatever output you have. I have nothing at all during the day and very little at night after irrigating.
Mind you, old age and prostrate problems mean I still wake up about every two hours to urinate.
Such is life!
Best wishes
Bill
I had output starting soon after my surgery. It was fairly irregular, and consistency varied. However, it never once woke me up. And I never had a problem with the bag leaking while I slept.
I'm 6 months post-surgery, and by now my output follows a pattern similar to what I had before surgery. I very rarely get any output while I sleep, and never enough to cause a problem.
Not my experience at all. Emergency colostomy in Feb 2024.
Initially, I had very little output due to not being able to eat much. I do eat dinner early but rarely, if ever, wake during sleep.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and healing. Try to be patient, though it is definitely a learning curve.
This site is a great resource for information. I have learned so much from people on here.
Colostomy here! I'm only 3 weeks out, but I have been shocked! Shocked! Shocked! At what I thought it would be versus my reality! Yes, a bit runny right after surgery, but I was put on a full diet 2 days after surgery (cancer)(open). I can eat whatever I want, and my output is typical to what I had before. I am changing out my pouch every 2-3 days right after I have a bowel movement. It is empty most of the time. I'm still trying different products, but it is not the horror I was expecting. Having said that, the surgery recovery is a bear, but I'm up and walking and doing basic personal chores. I put on a bra!!!! I made soup!!!! Mostly, I'm birdwatching from my recliner.
You're doing great!
Yeah, the surgery is harder on you than the colostomy.
I had a total pelvic exenteration where they basically remove all organs from the pelvis. That's a real shock to the system, but it gets better and is totally worth it to be rid of the cancer.
You'll find out that what a lot is said about having an ostomy is complete gibberish, and nearly everyone telling you stuff in the medical field has never had an ostomy and is only going by what's the stereotypical situation. Yes, everyone is different and will have various output conditions, but try not to freak out until you need to freak out. 😁 It takes no more energy to be positive over a situation than it does to be negative over it. Why stress out when you don't need to? It may be rainy/cloudy, but the sun is there, and the clouds (issues) will fall apart, and you'll begin to see the sunlight in everything. 🌞
While I know absolutely nothing about colostomies, I have an ileostomy that is active 95% of the time. I wear a large high-output pouch, as a normal bag would need emptying almost every hour.
If I am not feeling very well, I wear a nighttime bag that attaches to my pouch, so I can sleep throughout the night without having to get up.
In general, if I don't drink too much before going to sleep and I make sure to empty my bag before bedtime, I generally only need to get up in the early morning hours, but it's my bladder that usually lets me know it is time to go to the toilet.
I think everyone is different.
Don't try to worry about things you have no control over. Although educating yourself is very important, which I never got the chance to do, as my surgeon was doing exploratory surgery on me, found that my entire large bowel had toxic megacolon, so I was awoken partway through the operation so that they could inform me that they needed to remove my entire large bowel, except for leaving a rectal stump of 4.5 cm.
Initially, I was horrified to have an ileostomy; my husband was much more interested in looking at my ileostomy than I was.
After having had my ileostomy for 28 years, I had my entire small bowel intact, but after an intussusception and a lot of bowel obstructions (thanks mostly due to all the adhesions/internal scar tissue my body created), I lost all but 3.5 meters of small bowel.
Fear is natural for the unknown.
I pray that your colostomy operation goes well, though.
All the best from New Zealand,
Gracie
I've had a sigmoid colostomy for 2 years. I always sleep over 8 hours. Never once have I had to empty the bag after I went to bed.
That's my experience.
"New ostomates wake every 3 hours because of output."
That is a worthless statement because it does not distinguish between colostomies or ileostomies. I have a colostomy (16 mos. and counting 😉) and the above statement was false for me. The digestive system tends to be most active in the morning and following meals. Try not to eat a big meal before going to bed and also try eating at least 2 hours before going to bed. The digestive system also slows down during sleep. I usually put on a new pouch before going to sleep.
Don't forget urostomies too...
Urostomies usually use a night bag and don't wake at all. But if not using a night bag, then every 3 hours is not nearly often enough.
They were probably talking about ileostomies, but those vary widely.
Just a stupid statement overall.
I usually don't have any issues at night, unless I'm getting over a bug. Like this week as I'm recovering from the flu (and I was vaxxed!), but the flu appears to be harsher this year than in the past. As I'm going from no output (because I could only eat a little soup) to hard output as I got back on solid food (I swear, nuggets), to finally going back to normal output as my diet gets back to normal, then it was harder to predict when it would happen compared to pre-sickness. Other than that, I seldom had to get up in the middle of the night to deal with it. Oftentimes, though, first thing in the morning after getting up and getting active for the day I would have output. I got into the habit of showering early, and changing it after that, and usually good for all day until evening.
It has been 3 years for me since my surgery, and I still wake up literally every 3 hours. My body just naturally wakes me up in order to check. At the beginning, I had a lot of gas, so I'd wake up with a bag that had little output but was ballooned almost to bursting due to gas. I don't have much gas now, three years in, but my output is ridiculous. While the quality of sleep still sucks, I'd rather wake up every 2 to 3 hours to empty my bag than to sleep for 6 or 7 hours and wake up in a pool of watery poop. I never needed an alarm to wake up every few hours, but if your body doesn't wake you up, I definitely suggest setting an alarm to wake you up every 3 hours. Post-op, you'll have a lot of frequent output. It can be frustrating and upsetting. I wouldn't leave the house at the beginning, as I could not be far from a bathroom. I felt like it was always going to be like that, and it was overwhelming. Don't worry if that happens. In time, it will become more manageable.
Hi there, I know it's hard but try not to worry about it as you may never have any problems. I am 4 years in with a colostomy and my bag has never filled up at night unless I'm up and down a lot. It starts as soon as I get up and move around though even if I'm just drinking water. I only have a foot or so of colon left so maybe that's why? Best of luck.
Terri
Had mine for a year... sleep all night, no problem... maybe I am lucky?
Hi
It depends on what I eat and how late I eat. I tend to eat something bland for dinner, and I don't eat anything after that. I still hydrate a lot in the evenings, but that seems to be OK.
I had my surgery back in September of 2024, and I still wake up every 3 or 4 hours, but I think my bladder is causing it. I'm still on chemo, so there are a lot of factors that cause you to wake up. Sometimes my bag is so full of air I could explode. Lol.
I had my surgery back in September of 2024, and I still wake up every 3 or 4 hours, but I think my bladder is causing it. I'm still on chemo, so there are a lot of factors that cause you to wake up. Sometimes my bag is so full of air I could explode. Lol.
Unfortunately, I have to wake up every 3 hours to empty my bag. I find it is most active at night, and I eat dinner before 6 PM. I want to start eating before 3 PM, but I don't want to miss out on family mealtime!
I fast every week, and I get a good night's sleep the day I'm fasting since there is little to no output. But as soon as I eat, that night it's there again all night! I've had an ileostomy since 29th Oct 2024. So not long, I guess.
I also leak if I sleep on either side, so I have to sleep on my back only, which is giving me lower back pain, but the alternative is to risk having nighttime leaks, and I've had many! Sorry! I'm not making it sound great, but it sounds like it's different for everyone. I'm surprised some people don't need to empty at all through the night! Amazing! I hope it's the same for you! X
Colostomies are different from ileostomies. Depending on how much colon a person has left, it can behave very similarly to normal pooping prior to the stoma. People without a stoma don't normally get up every 3 hours to use the bathroom unless they are sick. The same goes for colostomies.
Hint: Try putting a pillow under your knees when sleeping on your back. This should help relieve the back pain. I'm forced to sleep on my back too, but for different reasons. 😀
I sleep on my back, but I use an orthopedic bed wedge pillow set to provide some elevation to my back.
I am about a year post-surgery, where I ended up with a surprise colostomy. I was doing chemo for a while, and they had me on Miralax due to the chemo causing constipation. I've continued a lower dose of Miralax since finishing chemo, as it keeps my output pretty soft, and I need that because of an internal hernia. I find that most of my output is in the morning, and that my bladder wakes me up at night mostly. The one exception is if I eat something gassy; my bag can get full of air, and I need to release it to be comfortable. While I can do that in bed, my spouse is not a fan of the smell, so I generally go to the bathroom to de-gas!
I would hope anyone with a partner in bed would get up and go release the air somewhere besides in the bedroom; that's just disrespectful.
Hello. I've had my colostomy 3 weeks now and haven't had to get up once in the night. I empty just before going to bed, and when I wake up, it's never more than a quarter full. Hopefully, you will be as lucky as I have been. Wishing you the best.
Mine is basically like yours, and I usually do the same as you. However, never say never about having much output at night. Eventually, you'll wake up to a full bag (hopefully not a mess too) and think to yourself… why did it fill up that much? Poop comes out when poop comes out.