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How can I thicken-up my out-put please??????????

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Posted 11/1/2009 6:23 AM (GMT 0)
cool  hi to all,

Is there anyone out there that can give me some suggestion's in regard's to my ileostomy?? It started about 2 weeks ago, i had a bit of gastro and since then my out-put is continually like water. I have tried everything imaginable to thicken it up,but to no avail. So every night i'm getting leakage as it's all going under the base plate??? What to do hey, i have no idea. The doctor's have tried to do some blood tests but for the last week they haven't even been able to get blood from me as i've bad veins and they said i'm dehydrated because of this problem.

Does anyone have some suggestions please as i'm going out of my mind. Thankyou,Thankyou,Thankyou.

best wishes,

beverley.c.

blush   blush blush blush

Posted 11/1/2009 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
Beverley,

Foods that thicken are banana, rice, applesause with pectin, dry toast, mashed potato (starchy) etc. Foods that make effluent watery are: alcohol, chocolate, grape juice, caffeine drinks, sugar, sugar substitutes, sherbert and other cold sugary things. A suggestion for appliance that works for me. I use convatec stomahesive wafers and bags. I get the old sticky off with unisolve, use ivory soap to clean (no lotions or perfums just plain soap_), rinse well and pat dry. Put on AllCare Wipe (it puts a layer of shellack on your skin. Then flatten an Eakin seal in your hand. If I don't flatten these, they tend to rise up under the wafer and actually shortens the wear time. This Eakin seal is a solf pliable donut like substance. Make a hole in the center and put it around your stoma. This is very soft so it can touch your stoma and be OK. It actually turtlenecks up and prevents that liquidy stuff from hitting your skin around the stoma. Then put on the wafer with the hole cut for your stoma so you have 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch clearance around the stoma. Put liquid soap around the ring on the bag that makes it so you don't have to press so hard to get the bag to click onto the ring in the wafer that is already on your body. Have done this 2 years and so far no leaks. Give this a try and let me know how you do. Immodium also slows and thickens output, but your doc would need to OK this. Good luck, Rosemary
Posted 11/1/2009 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
Beverly,
I do the same thing as Rosemary except this is the first time I've heard about the soap around the ring. I was having leaks every night and mine wasn't watery it was stool. What a mess I was it seemed like I had sheets in the washer constantly. I have used my 1st Eakin Seal on last Thursday night and I was able to get 72 hours out of it and I changed it because I could tell it was going to leak before I went to bed last night. I used my second one last night and so far so good. I live in rural Kansas and had to look for a Stoma nurse or WOCN that know how this stuff works. She was going out of town last week but hooked me up with a convex wafer before she left. I see her tomorrow and will talk to her about the Eakin seal. I learned about the seal on this site and on C3Life's site. Good luck I know it is very discouraging to leak all the time. I eat what I want and seem to have liquid stool and thick stool at different times of the day no matter what or when I eat.

Cathy
Posted 11/1/2009 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hi rose-bud,

My output also can get very watery, and I tried eating things like bread, potatoes and bananas to thicken it up, but it never worked for me.

One nurse suggested that I eat more FIBER to help thicken stool, and this suggestion actually worked for me. Things like raw carrots, oatmeal, peas (cooked) and grapes (chewed well) are the only types of things that seem to thicken my output. Anything with some fiber in it--salad works for me as well.

Maybe my body is just weird....!

I know some people are afraid to eat some types of fruits and veggies for fear of a blockage---I have had my illeostomy now for over a year and none of these foods have ever given me a problem.

Hope yo find something that works for you. :)
Posted 11/2/2009 4:07 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Beverly I have to make this a quick reply as I am on my way out the door to pick  up my grandkids, but when I saw your post I wanted to chime in and help out as well. I agree with all of what everyone said but I have also found mixing some benefibre in with my cups of tea or my dinner helps heaps. Hope it works for you too. Will come back soon and see how your going. Take care

Doreen :-)

Posted 11/2/2009 7:05 AM (GMT 0)
Foods did not work for me.  My GI put me on 15mg of codeine twice a day but I still ended up in the ER for dehydration two weeks ago.  When I saw my surgeon this Tuesday he doubled the codeine to 30mg twice a day.  I continued to drink my normal large amount of fluids and was madly running for the washroom.  For the first time since May I have a "normal" amount of urine again.  I've been mostly dehydrated this whole time, to varying degrees.

Best wishes to you. If you don't see much improvement with various foods ask your doctor for advice.

Posted 11/2/2009 10:18 AM (GMT 0)
smurf   smurf hello to all,

Thankyou all so very much for ur kind reply's. I'm still having constant leakage and out-put like water?? The Doc's still cant get any blood from me "MAYBE IM NO REALLY HERE" LOL. Anyway today I made some yummy bananna cup cakes with frosting, very nice but since then the output has gotten even worse?? I just dont understand what is going on and I;m getting nowhere with the doc's at this stage. Very frustrated to say the least. Also just letting you all know that i have tried all of those foods but nothing!!! I think there is more going on than i think??

Oh well back to the doc's 2morrow. Will let you know how thing's go ok all.

 

best wishes to all of you,

 

beverley.c. smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf smurf

 

SORRY IM TIRED....................................

Posted 11/2/2009 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
beverley~ I know how frustrating high output must be for you!!! Sugar will INCREASE your liquid output, so as yummy as those cupcakes were, they could be dangerous. If you are drinking A LOT, your body is just flushing it out without really giving you the benefits mad You have to think about what you are eating and adjust to find what is going to work for you.

I would suggest not drinking without eating...that way you might be able to absorb the fluids before they flush out. Pretzels or crackers could help with that. I used Peanut Butter Crackers and the Pretzels have salt on them so that could only help retain water. Do you salt your food? Salt will help with fluid retention :-) I also suggest the increase in fiber (I use Psyllum Caplets) but your body has to adjust to any kind of fiber, so it could take you a couple days to get the right mix for you...and remember, ostomates don't always need as much as the recommended dosage on the bottle.

Does the docs office warm your arms before trying to find a vein? A warm vein tends to be easier to find, maybe bring a heating pad?!!!

Hang in there you'll get through this difficult time!
Posted 11/3/2009 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
cool  hello OHIO76,

How are you? Great i hope. Just responding to ur reply to me. Thankyou very much for your response,and it all makes perfect sense to me,but nothing is working still?? No matter what i try. I'm going to see my doc 2morrow and maybe ask for some codine to bung me up as i just cant go on like this,and it's very depressing as i dont even want to leave my home because i'm to scared it;s just going to leak and SMELL "phew" lol. sorry but have to have some kind of humor about it all hey!!!!!!! The prob's with my veins are at the point where they may have to put another picc line in again,as it's the only venus acess they have exept for my feet but they cant even get it out of them. I tink i dont have any blood left in my body "maybe that's the prob"lol.

So hopefully 2morrow they can try again and if not off to the hospital for a picc line. Oh well that's life.

again thankyou very much for ur kind reply and I hope all is well for you at this time.

best wishes to you,

beverley.c. sad blush rolleyes

Posted 11/3/2009 2:19 PM (GMT 0)
For the leak I use barrier rings that provide an extra seal and paste. It usually gives me a few days.

For thicker stool I have bananas and peanut butter, grits, oat meal, potatoes, french fries... stuff like that through out the day. I have made cookies that were a great thickener. The recipe is on my blog.

Good luck!
Posted 11/3/2009 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
Bev-

In addition to sugar thinning output, fake sugar will also do that: sucralose, sorbitol, high fructose corn syrup. Good luck. I'm supposed to go for a hot air balloon ride in 3 hours and I am having watery output. No out of control, but watery. I just ate applesauce with pectin and baby food banana. Hope it works. Hope you find answers. Docs just get frustrated if they don't know the answer and sometimes blame the patient or write you up as "malingering". This is the worst. Hope it does not happen to you. I think they ought to pass a law that says it's OK if a doc just says "I don't Know, but let continue to try...." WOuld be more comfortable for us with challenging issues. Rosemary
Posted 11/3/2009 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
hello to all,

Just another thankyou for ur reply's. I'm still getting nowhere,last night i tried some mashed bananna and all it did was give me more liquid out-put and the gas was to the extreme. I was up every hour just to let the gas out!!! This is getting beyond a joke,and nothing is changing. I also use a deep convexity baseplate with an eakin seal then i attatch my bag to that then i use the hydroframes around the edges to try and stop the leakage. Maybe i need to try another appliance as at the moment im using mostly hollister!!!! I might get some samples sent out and try other thing's. Again thankyou all for ur input regarding this.

Best wishes to you all,

beverley.c. :))))
Posted 11/4/2009 5:11 AM (GMT 0)
rose-bud - My husband had his colon removed on October 15th. He had his first follow-up doctor visit last week. The doctor told his that his output was too watery. The doc told him to take Immodium three times a day and take a tablespoon of Metamucil once a day. That worked for him.
Posted 11/4/2009 9:56 AM (GMT 0)
blush  hello BetterHalf,

Thankyou for ur reply to me. When i get to the doc's i will ask about the

imodium and other. Is this ok to use long term or just for a short while?? I've never had this prob with my out-put so watery,as normally it's quite fluid anyway,as ileostomy's are!! Anyway i shall try this and will reply and let u know how it all goes.

best wishes to you,

beverley.c. shakehead eyes mad

Posted 11/5/2009 10:06 AM (GMT 0)
If I didn't take Immodium faithfully, before every time I ate, drank, or even looked at food, I had watery output. I took more than the maximum amount daily, just to keep my output pudding consistency. If I let it get really watery, I was a lot  more likely to have a leak. I don't remember the max number you were supposed to take a day, but I was taking four immodium before every meal, and depending on what I ate, sometimes, more. I have since had my ileostomy reversed.
Posted 11/6/2009 7:08 AM (GMT 0)
Have you tried to take some gas-x, take it before you get gas, like take 2 in the morning then 2 in the afternoon, or before bed, that should help with your gas problem. And you can get these geltabs to put in your bag, that will turn your output thick, which wont solve it coming out that way,but it will keep if from sloshingaround in there, which i cant stand, lol.
Posted 11/6/2009 8:53 AM (GMT 0)
Beverley,
I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. sad I understand how frustrating it is, because I had a temporary jejunostomy (due to a perforated small bowel) for about 10 weeks over the summer, and the output was pure liquid. It didn't matter what I ate or how much fiber or Imodium I took, nothing seemed to thickened it up. Until I started using a convex wafer with an Eakin Seal, I was getting a lot of leaks, too.

Anyway, what helped me was to have a PICC line inserted and get a liter and a half of IV fluids at home every night. The fluids were delivered to my house, and I was trained by a nurse on how to hook myself up to a portable IV pump. It would run for 10 hours overnight while I was asleep, so it didn't interfere with my daytime activities. Getting daily IV fluids saved me from being dehydrated and having to be admitted to the hospital.

Since this is a new problem for you, hopefully the doctors will be able to figure out what is causing this. Best of luck to you, and please continue to keep us posted. I will keep you in my prayers.

smurf Cecilia
Posted 11/8/2009 1:17 AM (GMT 0)
cool  hello to all,

 

Hope your all doing very well with no prob's?? Just letting u all know that ive been to the doc's and they still cant get any blood even with a hot face washer,ect!! They have tried everything but i am to dehydrated aswell. Also i have to see my surgeon about the out-put as it's getting worse. Last night i was up every hour to emptie the rotten thing before i leaked. They have tried me with imodium,codine 30mg 4t.d.s.all i eat is dry foods and food to thicken but still nothing. I only go out of the house now to do my shopping or go to the doc's and that's about it as i'm so scared about havinga leak when i'm out. When i first had it done after i got out of hospital and was able to get out i went to centrelink to get on the disability pension,i was standing in line and had a baggy top on over white legging's,while i waited in line i felt this warm feeling running down my legs and into my shoes,and the SMELL my goodness. Everyone just looked at me said whatever they said and i literally ran out of there and straight home as i was a MESS!! This is what i worrie about and that's why i dont want to go out. So again i'm still at square one with this. Thankyou all again very much for replying to me.

 

best wishes to you all,

 

beverley. blush blush blush blush

Posted 11/10/2009 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Beverly,

I sure hope that the docs have found something to help you by now.  I have not been on the forum much lately, for a variety of reasons, but I really needed to chime in on this one.   Every now and then I get exactly what you are talking about.   If the usual stuff like change in diet and imodium does not work, then I contact my GI doc and he usually prescribes a round of Flagyl.  Sometimes it's just a bug in the digestive tract, and that clears it up for me.  I have pretty high output most of the time anyway, but semi controllable with imodium and diet.  However, when I get these flares, the output is just unrelenting and a real pain to deal with, as well as dangerous if you become dehydrated.  Just another thought for you.... something is causing it..  just got to be a detective to figure it out!!!

Best of luck to you.

Posted 11/12/2009 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
Eat potatoes.... guaranteed to turn a water river into a mudside
Posted 11/13/2009 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Wade,

I love that analogy...so true about potato. Hope it works for Bev. Rosemary
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