Irrigation Issues After Colostomy Surgery

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This topic discusses common problems and solutions related to colostomy irrigation after surgery.
tkargo

I have been irrigating for over 8 years. It has worked without any issues up until now. It has changed. I have been experiencing issues where the water just won't go in. One day it will work just fine and the next day, I can't get the water to go in. I had a colostomy a few days ago and everything checked out fine. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue.

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Puppyluv56

Sometimes my cone will not go in as far as other days, but I think that may be due to solid poop being just inside the stoma! I have to take it out and start over. I always use my finger to be sure the colon opens right up, and even with this, I have to breathe deep and make it relax, then everything seems to work well!

Puppyluv

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veejay

It is quite possible you have developed a parastomal hernia.

Does your stomach seem to bulge where your stoma is?

As you would know, for the evacuation to be completely successful all the water must go in.

I have a parastomal hernia and it definitely interferes with the water flow.

To get past this I extended the cone with a hollow plastic tube rounded at one end.

Always irrigate at the same time every day. Do not miss a day.

It can be frustrating... good luck!

V.J.

Bill

Hello tkargo. This definitely sounds like a blockage of some sort. Have you tried putting a finger in your stoma to feel what it might be. If it is poo, then it should be easy enough to release as you irrigate. Sometimes it is worth doing it in two stages. The first to get rid of the blockage and the second,  to irrigate as normal. However, if it is a parastomal hernia, then Veejay's idea is a good one.   I have a parastomal hernia so I made a similar device to his  but dispensed with the cone and adapted an anal catheta to do the job. (There is a picture of my device on my profile if you are interested) I also found it useful to use a battery powered portable shower pump along with a 3 litre water container. ( which is a plastic cereal container - useful to store the equipment when the procedure is finished- and for travelling) The water under pressure helps to get the  end of the tube past the hernia. However, there is a fair amount of splashback (prevented from going everywhere by a rubber washer on the tube rather than a cone). The advantages of this method is that I can push the tube in to about 6- 8 inches and past the hernia and any residual poo. The first few minutes is taken with expelling all the poo that wasn't fully expelled the night before. ( It gets pushed up and out alongside the tube, which is where the rubber stop is useful to direct it down the sleeve rather than further up the tube towards the top of the sleeve, Which I bend over and seal just in case.)  I estimate that with all the backsplash, I probably get about 1.5 litres into the stoma past the hernia to do the job  and this  method has been okay for me for many years. However, I should mention that I was offered the opportuntity to have more surgery to fix it. Given all the problems other people have had with trying to fix hernias via the surgical route, I felt that I would hold off until it became impossible for me to irrigate using gadgetry.  As with Veejay, I (nearly) always irrigate at the same time everyday - but I won't let irrigation interfere too much with other stuff I want to do, so I sometimes alter the timing and it doesn't seem to have too much of a detrimental effect.

I hope you find something to help with this problem. It is all part of the learning process we go through on our stomatic journeys.  Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes 

Bill 

Lmnman

Hello Tkargo.

I realize that I am a little late on the topic here but I thought I would share my somewhat recent discovery. I know every person is different and what works for one may not help another, that being said.

I have been irrigating for going on 2 years. Everything was going pretty well. I started having some issues, sometimes I would have some difficulty starting the water. I believe that it was compacted fecal matter. I also started having issues with little to no output for 2 or 3 irrigations then all at once with the help of Miralax. I would also have occasional output between irrigations, sometimes a lot. BTW I irrigate every 48 hours. I was getting extremely frustrated and wanted to try new things. I got Triphala powder (an Ayurvedic concoction) I started slowly, not knowing what to expect. After a couple of irrigation days, the output was a huge amount. Sorry for being gross! Now I take it every day, I have not been this regular since I started this. I have basically no output between irrigations now and I have been using it for over a month now. I wear an Ampatch cover over the Stoma and it is so clean I can reuse if I choose. I plan on continuing the triphala unless something goes wrong. Also, I have not taken any laxative since starting and my diet is the same.

I hope this helps anyone who is having similar issues.

Best of luck! Clint

 
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Puppyluv56


Hey, nbsp;

How many mg do you take of the Triphala and how often?

I too irrigate every other day but often have output in between. Frustrating! Maybe this will be helpful to me as well. I have days where output at irrigation is low but I know to expect lots more  later. Strange! Better than not irrigating but still frustrating sometimes. And always when I would not want to have to deal with it! Lol

 Puppyluv 

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