Need help with pancaking issue

Hi everyone

I have not been on in years. Lately, I am experiencing pancaking where stool is not following completely to the bag but the output is staying around the stoma. My output is thick. Starting to drink a little prune juice which seems to help the output not be so thick. I have had my ileostomy for 11 years but this issue is one that I need to fix. Any suggestions to help would be appreciated.

I'm new and had a colostomy in July. It's been a learning curve. Is pancaking when the poop is flat on the stoma and then I have kinda moved it over to make sure poo can still come out. I had constipation badly before surgery and have a spinal cord injury since 1991. I finally gave in and have a loop colostomy. My surgeon really just did the surgery and I've met with a nurse once or twice since discharge. So when it's all flat and moveable my stoma goes in then it pops back up when I poo again. It's worrisome as I'm nauseated so often and feel like I have to massage it through. Miralax seems to get consistency right but I worry about this pancaking and if I'm missing something.

Hi, I have been having the same problem. I did some research online and found that lubricating the inside of your pouch helps. This is one of the sites I found for more solutions.

https://www.veganostomy.ca/pancaking-ostomy-tips/

It is still better than how I never had a bowel program work right for 27 years. I'd go over a week and feel awful with no bowel movement. Also, I've lost so much weight. I'm only 88 pounds and am 5'9", with a pressure sore on my right hip iliac. Bottom line, I'm scared to eat and have more problems.

Thank you Bearably! I'll try that.

Using a pouch with no filter also seems to help pancaking. You could try that. Good luck to you.

I too have had this problem. I use baby oil in the pouch, but when it's stuck so high up the baby oil can't reach it. I also have a peristomal hernia and wear a hernia belt, so when it's bad I pour a substantial amount of oil into the pouch and lift the bottom up and secure under the belt so the oil flows over the stoma. I leave it there for an hour or so, then empty. Comes right out and the stoma clears. I realize this is a temporary fix, but it does work. If you don't have a belt, most anything secure around your abdomen should work. As for a permanent solution, I wish I knew. I've tried everything, but still pancakes. Good luck.

I know this is a bit late, but there is a spray mist baby oil or regular that can be added to your pouch. I use it at every change and again as needed, when pancaking which is often. I use water and swish it around in my pouch then drain. Also, if stool is thick, use a stool softener once or twice a day, $4.00 at Walmart. Et RN said stool should be the consistency of pudding. I also add water to my pouch at each draining, it helps with the consistency and draining and cleans out my pouch. It will not hurt your stoma.

Good luck.

Hi, you are the only person I have found who, like me, has ended up with all these problems relating to a spinal injury. To cut a long story short, after many struggles because of nerve damage causing my colon, etc., to stop working properly, I had an ileostomy this January that did not go well. From the start, it was overactive with resultant sore skin leaks, hernia, and prolapse, and horrible excessive rectal discharge and discomfort. So, 10 weeks ago, the ileostomy was converted to a colostomy, and the hernia and prolapse, etc., were repaired. I also had my rectum and anus, etc., removed so that the colostomy is the end of the line now.

I had finally gotten all this attended to when last year they found various suspicious polyps adding to my already complicated problems. It seems that some of the recent rectal issues were related to similar growths. Previously, horrible constipation and having to employ digits in a way I will not go into were fobbed off for many uncomfortable years as just another thing I had to come to terms with in conjunction with my back problems. Almost like an accusation, I was blamed that my opiate painkillers were adding to my problems so that they were self-inflicted!!

Anyway, needless to say, it has not been easy. But the main reason I am replying to your post is that I am now dealing with constant pancaking and have tried every trick but with little success. I had a sensible chat with a stoma nurse this week, but it seems that I am likely to be stuck dealing with this now forever. The surgeon did think that because of my long history of constipation due to the nerve damage, going to a colostomy was going to have lots of problems. But my overactive ileostomy was, in his opinion, the greatest threat to my long-term health. I've got to say, though, that I find the colostomy much harder to live with and more offensive than the ileostomy, which could be easily emptied and dealt with, unlike the blocked gooey colostomy and the need for bag changing several times a day and bulky sticky mass protruding in the bag with everything stuck at the top.

I cover the filter, add wet tissue, oil sponge stickers, and all the other tricks, but it still happens. Laxatives make it worse as the consistency just gets stickier! When the pancaking occurs, poo backs up very uncomfortably inside, which worries me. If I have anything on over the bag, the pancaking escalates. And as I really need to have hernia support, I don't know how I am going to deal with this. I think I would have preferred to keep the ileostomy and risk dehydration from it being so overactive, but the hernia and prolapse had to be fixed. No one ever discusses colon problems related to spinal problems, so it is nice to meet someone who understands those for a change! Pancaking just seems a very common side effect of living with a colostomy, not easy to chat about with friends who aren't ostomates!