I stink

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Faith4Today

Does it seem like the vented bags just allow the smell to be stronger? After stool gets on the filter, it seems to just allow the smell out, and not actually filter anything? Are the non-filtered bags better for people with loose stool? With all the senna I have to take, I have 3 days of nothing and then 1 hour of 3 full bags. Can't quite regulate the dose yet..

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junopete

Faith, Senna is a bad choice for most people with ileostomies. It's vegetable-based.
A lot of the odor is coming from the Senna.

Rick.....

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Faith4Today

Thanks, Rick. You always have my back.

Past Member

Just curious, have you tried the flushable bag liners? These protect the bag from soiling and you can just pop the dirty one out and snap in a new one. The pouch stays fresh. I do not have an ileo, but if I did, I would try to work them into my daily wear system. You could put a few drops of pouch deodorant on a few squares of toilet paper and put this in the bottom of the vented pouch. The liners would protect it from soiling. Just a thought... You might request some samples which they will provide for free.

eddie

From Mayo Clinic:

You can eat whatever you want if you have an ostomy.

Have a favorite dish? If you've been given the OK from your doctor to resume your regular diet, eat what you like. If you have a colostomy or ileostomy, you'll find that various foods affect your digestive tract differently. Just as some foods gave you gas before your surgery, you'll likely experience gas with certain foods now that you have an ostomy. While you may choose to eat gas-causing foods sparingly or only at times when the gas won't make you self-conscious, such as when you're at home rather than at work, it doesn't mean you shouldn't ever eat gas-causing foods.

Certain foods are more likely to cause gas, diarrhea, constipation, incomplete digestion, or urine odor. But which ones have these effects on you will depend on your own body. If you're unsure how foods will affect you, consider trying them at home, one at a time, before eating them with a group of friends. Understanding how each food affects your digestion means you'll spend less time worrying about the food's effects and more time having fun with your friends.

 
How to Manage Ostomy Leaks with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister
facingmyfears

Hey Eddie, the food/reaction chart is helpful. Thanks! I've printed it and posted it on my refrigerator.



Be well and enjoy the day/moment!


Sharon

akinsv16

Hi Faith, I stopped using the filtered bags for the same reason. I always felt the odor and I always felt like they soiled my clothes. For the last 18 months, I have been using the non-filtered bags, I watch what I eat, and I have not had any issues at all.

Faith4Today

I don't seem to have much of a gas problem with a lazy bowel. Mostly, it is just the smell of the stool that seems to cloud around me. Once it coats the filter on the bag. Do they make the disposable insert style for colostomy or just ileostomy bags? My kids say it's not that noticeable, and it just seems that way to me since I have to handle the bag and I am self-conscious about it. Thanks for all your help. I did get a sample of a small cap to use while showering; they work great at helping to keep the flange from coming off and not having to dry a bag. I just keep it in a zip lock bag between showers. Thanks again. Oh... I passed a milestone... my daughter took me to a club last night to hear a band... 1st time out for me since May. Got all dressed up and passed for a normal person (whatever that is).

junopete
Faith,

A couple of things I did not say that I meant to. I used to use Hollister M-9 odor drops.
One of the things I ran into using the drops was that I had to use about 20 drops instead of the recommended 4 to 12 drops.

I have two very close friends who both have colostomies. They swear up and down that a squirt or two of Joy dishwashing soap does wonders. I asked them if they get any kind of stoma irritation, and they said no. They also added that when it came time to empty the bag, the contents came out very easily. I myself did not try the Joy.

Back to the M-9, one big problem I found was that if you are using a drainable bag, all of the M-9 ends up in the bottom of the drain. If you are using a roll-up bag with a Velcro seal, the M-9 can at times slip by the folds in the roll-up, even if you roll the bag very tight.

I have found many of the ostomy products not to be well thought out or tested. I think the filters are the worst.
I ended up using osto-vents. You install them yourself. What's great about them is that if you put them as high as you can on the bag, there is little chance of getting liquid out.
All of us have had to burp the bag. Every time when I did, I was ever so careful to just barely break the seal.
However, having said that, nowadays there is just about anything a person might need for an ostomy. I was talking to an old-timer at the VA about 10 months ago. He has worn a colostomy for over 60 years. He told me that in the old days there was nothing available, you had to make your own. He said he would fashion a bag out of rubber and use a wide belt with a hole in it made from a truck inner tube to hold it to his stoma. He said he would use plumber's putty as a seal.
I have to tell you, that guy was a lot tougher than I will ever be.

Rick.....
facingmyfears

Oh man, Junopete,

after that description of the 'home made' appliance, I will never even mutter the slightest complaint about Hollister or Coloplast products!

Kinda reminds me of grandma's stories: 'When I was your age, we didn't have ........ we had to ......'.

Tee hee heeee

Sharon

Faith4Today

Thanks for the laugh, woke up this morning and someone has wiped out my bank account paying their bills to Wells Fargo and PayPal. I should have listened to my gut and kept banking offline. Guess my gut instinct got muffled by the bag. Well, God bless the little devil at least he pays his bills on time. Something I won't be doing.
So... about the drops.. when they are submerged in diarrhea from the senna, they don't have a chance, neither does the filter. Guess I have to go back to closed disposable Convatec. Till I get some sort of regularity between 4 bags of liquid in a day and the 3 days of nothing. I'll sort it out... Thanks for letting me ramble.

Past Member
Yes they do, why not request a few samples and try them.          http://www.colostomymajic.com/
Past Member
Oh gosh...now I'm gonna be asking my friends to sniff me LOL... I now wear Hollister's Premier one piece #88730
http://www.hollister.com/us/products/product_series.asp?id=1&family=66&series=910
and it has a little filter thingy on the top BUT I was always wondering about this very issue so I keep the tape (tape/stickers come with to put over the filter part for when you're swimming or in the shower)... anyway, I keep the tape over that part. I'm told I usually smell like cotton candy but now I'm paranoid hehee. I haven't noticed a problem... yet... sure hope I'm ok because I love the small discreet pouch so much and it's so comfortable... but yikes!

flipflopgal

I use M9 deodorizer drops. It is great. A few drops after emptying the bag and no smell the next time you empty. Actually, I have found that sometimes it lasts longer than one empty. I really think this is a product everyone should have. I am a nurse on a surgical floor and I have told my patients who are post-op ostomies about it. Also, if I'm at home and have forgotten to drop some in, the next time I empty into the toilet I sometimes drop a few onto the stool and it helps that way too!

Indian

I have been developing homemade stuff for almost six to eight months and for some reason, I was not a regular user of the same until about 3 months back. Now, I do not buy any ready-made stuff but use only what I make. The advantages are: 1. These are very comfortable, 2. I change pouches every day, occasionally twice, and rarely thrice a day because I am still adjusting to food and 3. these are very low-cost stuff - costs less than 15 cents each. I make my own irrigation sleeves - disposable ones, that too costs about 10 cents.

I have now started distributing to known ostomates and it is slowly spreading. Next month, I plan to offer these to a cancer hospital.

Those heavy bags with those clamps, clips, and taps, etc., are being done away with. Urostomy products are in the development stage. I have been catering to stoma sizes up to about 35 mm. Beyond this size of stoma, I may have to do a special job, and that may not be very cost-effective. If I get volume, I may go commercial.

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