Seeking Digestive Aid Recommendations for Ileostomy Blockage Prevention

I've had my ileostomy for 50 years, and it has worked great. In the last five years, I have had four or five blockages. One trip to the ER, they gave me a 10 oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate, which resolved the blockage. I bought a few bottles to have on hand at home and have used them successfully when a blockage arose. Does anyone have a recommendation for a daily product to help with digestion and hopefully eliminate or minimize blockages? I do watch what I eat and chew, chew, chew. Thank you.

Hey there, you said you have an ileostomy, correct? Not a colostomy? I want to make sure I read that correctly because with an ileostomy, you do not take laxatives. If you are having issues with your stoma and blockages, then it needs to be further investigated. You could have adhesions or scar tissue that is the problem.

I'm with Beth on this. You've had the ileostomy for 50 years and only had problems the last 5 years? Something else may be going on. I'd see a colorectal surgeon.

Hi Milford, after 30 some years, I had scar tissue causing my stoma to retract and blockages, and after having a scope, my gastro said it was time to have surgery. That was in 2018, and I'm glad I did.

I know you're very experienced from all the years you've had an ileostomy, but if you haven't already done so, I think it would be worth your while to keep a food diary for the time being, as foods we can digest easily can change at any time, even more so the longer we've had a stoma. Then you can see if you have problems after each time you eat a certain food, or, as already mentioned, possibly scar tissue. I didn't get any problems from scar tissue until around 30 years after surgery.

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Hi

I have an ileostomy, and the hospital specialist usually makes me drink a bottle of Gastrografin, which is a contrast medium (a dye) that contains iodine and is normally used if you have to have a CT scan, but my doctor uses it as it very effectively gets the blockage to move in an hour or several hours.
Normally my partial obstructions (which are caused by adhesions and not food, as I am no longer able to eat solid food) come right if I drink a glass of fruit juice.
BUT I am never given laxatives, as I have very watery output.

My stomal therapy nurse recommends I eat some acidophilus yogurt to help with digestion. Not sure how effective it is, as I have rapid transit syndrome, and normally if I take something by mouth, it comes out in 15 minutes to an hour. I make my own yogurt, and I like to flavor it using frozen summer fruits such as a mix of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and black & red currants, which I puree first. It makes a nice smoothie.

But if you have only recently started having issues, I totally agree with the others; you need to get this fully investigated to see what is going on.

Gee, it is hard replying with a purring cat on my chest!!

Thank you all for your very helpful and informative comments! I will definitely follow up and find out what's going on. It's always something, isn't it? Many thanks to all who replied.