Excessive Stoma Mucus: Seeking Advice

Since I had my urostomy almost four years ago, the amount of mucus has increased dramatically. Sometimes it is so thick that it blocks the tube to the night bag. I drink plenty of water each day, but it makes no difference. I have asked the stoma nurses if there is anything I should be doing to decrease the mucus, but they don't know.
Over the years, I have learned more from this site than from the hospital on how to deal with my ostomy. Has anyone experienced this problem and found a way to lessen the mucus, or have I just got an overexcited stoma?
Once again, your help and advice would be very welcome.

Hello vpl. Thanks for your post.  I thought I would reply, not because I have any solutions to the problem but simply to share with you that I also have this excessive mucus at  times. There doesn't seem to be any logical explanation as to why some days it is like a thick, sticky, goo/glue-like film and on other days there is hardly any at all.  I tend to think that producing such a film is nature's way of protecting a vulnerable area of the body so there is part of me that welcomes it as a sign that everything is working as it should.  Of course I may be wrong about this, but I figure that putting a positive interpretation on it is probably a better approach than letting (something I can't do anything about) it worry me in a negative way.  Being an 'experimenter', if it started to worry me, I think I would take samples to one side and see if there was anything non-toxic that would have an effect on it. After all, that's what they would do in a laboratory if they thought that they could make money out of it.

Best wishes

Bill

Hi Bill,
Thanks for replying. You're right about laboratories making money as and when they can. I might collect the mucus, bottle it, and sell it as wallpaper paste. (Black humor!)

Hello vpl.

Wallpaper paste will make very little cash.   The big money is to be made from vulnerable people who are desperately looking for some sort of 'cure' or relief from something.

So, if you took the concept of mucus being able to 'cure' something; mix small amounts of it with common substances that cost you nothing; package it in many layers with suitable 'instructions' and pretty pictures on the outside; have a 'celebrity' advertise it and put a huge price on it in order to convince people that it is somehow better than anything else. Then you'll have a product that many people will want simply because they 'believe' it will be good for them and at the same time you will be making a fortune out of other people's misfortune. What better formula for this modern world!

Best wishes

Bill

Fancy going into business together, Bill? You supply the ideas and I'll supply the goods.

Sounds like a perfect partnership, except with mine as well we'd probably have a surplus of mucus. Or maybe we could use that to stick on the labels!

Hi, I have found that cranberry juice can help with mucus. I usually have a glass at breakfast and before I go to bed in the evening. If you don't like the taste of juice, you can buy cranberry extract tablets from any good herbal shops. I've had a urostomy for 40 years and have found that cranberry is the best solution. Keeping the mucus to a minimum helps keep urine infections at bay. Good luck.

Hi, I have found that cranberry juice can help with mucus. I usually have a glass at breakfast and before I go to bed in the evening. If you don't like the taste of juice, you can buy cranberry extract tablets from any good herbal shops. I've had a urostomy for 40 years and have found that cranberry is the best solution. Keeping the mucus to a minimum helps keep urine infections at bay. Good luck.

Thanks Ibr for your suggestion. I did try the juice for a while, but it made no difference.

Mix baking soda in water and put it in your bag after emptying it, it helps with the mucositis.

Thanks for your suggestion, Ianabana, but with a urostomy, once the bag is removed, it's binned.