Stoma guard for sleeping?

Surprised this has never come up before, but it doesn't seem to have done. Basically, I'm a stomach sleeper and have been ever since I was a child. I can't lie directly on my stomach anymore; well, sometimes I might do it for a minute or two, but if I put all my weight onto the stoma for too long it starts to hurt.

Thing is, I probably roll over onto my stomach while asleep without knowing it. I don't know if that has anything to do with the poor-quality sleep I get, but if it does then I would like to put a stop to it. On top of that, I would just like to go back to being able to lie comfortably on my stomach anyway.

Would a stoma guard, like Ostomy Armor or Stomaplex, work for this purpose? They're expensive enough, god only knows.

It hasn't even been 2 hours since you asked, and it is the middle of the day. In a few hours more people will be logging on and I'm sure at least a few of them will be able to help you. I didn't respond initially because I don't have any knowledge that would help with your question....but I am responding now because I don't want you to feel alone and ignored.

I've never looked into a Stoma Guard, so I don't know much about them. I used to sleep on my stomach from time to time, but haven't really thought about trying it since my surgery. I wasn't able to sleep that way at all while I was sick, and just figure it would be uncomfortable now. There are some exercises I would love to be able to do that involve laying on my stomach though....so maybe I need Stoma Guard info too. Are they really that expensive?

I started sleeping with a body pillow when I was pregnant. I still use one, and it keeps me off of my stomach. They're something like $10, plus a few more for different covers. I have a fleecy cover right now for winter.

At Stomaplex, they cost $172, while Ostomy Armor charge a slightly less outrageous $130. StomaGear comes in at a relatively stingy price of $79.99. Or alternatively, I've just found a cheapo NHS one for £8.38 here. Which I can get for nothing on prescription.

I guess I'll try the Ostomart one first then. Because, ah, it looks like the best one and not because it's basically free. Definitely a premium grade of white plastic there; it probably even beats polystyrene coffee cups.

Anyway, I've partially recovered from my bad mood of an hour ago. Still a bit upset, but... :/

@UCWhat? - Well, I've given some links and prices; the first three are US companies. They all look like they should be able to cope with you lying on your stomach, but none of them actually say, which is a bit annoying.

@Pluot - Yeah, that's what I'm a bit worried about as well, especially as I mainly want one for sleeping at nights at the moment. (Mountain-climbing and black belt karate will just have to wait.)

@Tornado - Not entirely sure what you mean, tbh. Incidentally, don't do an image search for body pillows: I saw things my eyes can never unsee. Tragic things. Eerie, godless, twisted things. Or, alternatively, hentai on pillows. *shakes head* Dear god, the Japanese are so weird....

@halo - I don't really want to 'cure' my stomach sleeping though. My back is all right; I don't have a bad back, touch wood (I know it can be quite a miserable problem, as both my parents suffer with it). I'll try the stoma guard first of all; and if that turns out to be useless maybe I'll try your technique... :-/

So now I've image searched body pillow...

Mine is boring.
madamedeals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/body-pillow1.jpg
Just a regular rectangular deal, about twice the length of a regular pillow. The super nesty one you found looks awesome! I bet if I had that one with a fleecy cover on it, I'd never get out of bed.

@Njjelly - 41 years is a long time. I could only stick it out for 13 years. The only remissions I had were steroid-induced and didn't last 2 seconds. I suppose I just can't stop deluding myself that something else might have worked - cyclosporine, tacrolimus, anti-MAP antibiotics, or some other ghastly drug. Heck, I wish I could have tried a stem cell transplant, which is about as experimental as it gets. I don't know. I haven't seen my GI much since surgery, but every time I have seen him, he kept saying how much better I looked. He even said I should probably have had surgery 2 years earlier; and he was not somebody in favour of surgery before I actually had it. (Like me, he had reservations about the 'permanent ileostomy' aspect of it.)

So yeah, if I'd hung on in there, I'd probably still be ill and stuck on steroids. I probably made the right choice. But I wish I had never had that choice to make, because I'm utterly sick of the doubts which torture me every day about it. Sorry, I'm getting a bit depressed again, so I'll stop there... :-/

Is it too painful for you to sleep on your stomach? It seems a little too long ago to still be post-op pain, although that can linger on surprisingly long (I would say it took about 4 months for my abdominal pain to completely go away; especially at night time).

I did try a cushion after my surgery. I found it worked quite well; so long as I didn't move a millimetre... >.> And that's where my hesitation about a pillow comes in. I shift position regularly in bed, even while awake. The one I posted looks better in the sense you can switch from left to right and still stay on the pillow. (I turn my head left or right and the upper part of my body turns as well to a certain extent.) It also looks extremely cosy >_>.

@LTornado - If you try it, let me know how comfortable it is :p

Edit: @Pro - Ah right. Sorry for a rushed reply; I have read your post, but need to be getting to bed like right this very second... >_>. It was actually very helpful what you said, as the last thing I want to do is add girth to my already distinctly non-flat belly. The cheaper Stoma Gear looked as though it had a lower, more discreet, profile; the other two just look a bit macho and overdone for me, nobody's going to be firing bullets at it.

I will look into a buying a body pillow as well. Goodnight folks :p

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 2/11/2014 8:10:46 PM (GMT-7)

@NCOT - what's up buddy? Wake up from that dream world and come into the real one! It's really not that bad. Everyone has their trials and tribulations and I'm sorry you have such regrets sometimes but as the old saying goes "the grass is always greener on the other side", even when the reality of the situation begs to differ. Either way, I had UC for 4 years and had a combined total of about 6 months of remission, well sort of...more like tolerable symptoms. When I got to the point where I was crapting myself on a regular basis that was my breaking point.

Anyways, concerning your question, I haven't been able to sleep on either side or my stomach since I was diagnosed even when I was in remission as this would cause instant gas/BM and just made me uncomfortable. So I sleep like I'm in a coffin, flat on my back. This seems to help with the ostomy as well since I don't roll over. Ever. I'm also a very light sleeper so I everything little thing wakes me up. I also have anxiety that my bag will have a blow out so I'm aware of that and empty it at least once per night. But I digress. Anyways, I have not heard of those stoma protectors and they might work for what you're doing but they might also feel like you're laying on a rock as well. I don't know. If you do go through with an order post a little review of it, that way people don't ask questions in the dream world and the rest of us can participate and make use of your experience!

Cheer up bud!

Haha, also check the return policy so if you absolutely don't like it you're not stuck with spending the money for something you won't use. Good luck and keep us updated

Wow, sure am wishing i'd known about that StomaShield by StomeGear one before spending the $172. I think I am going to give that one a try. And he lets you return, where the other does not. You might try using his contact form to ask if it would be comfortable enough to sleep on that way - it does say can be used all night, and it does come with 2 different paddings, one thicker, one thinner, but still might be a good idea to ask before buying.

I did go ahead and order the stomagear one last evening and got ship notification this morning, so in less than a week I should have a review for you...and, I stopped sleeping on my stomach over 24 years ago when I was pregnant, but I will lie on my stomach wearing it so I can tell you how it feels. I sure hope this one works out for me, my issue has been the pressure/ pain from having something hanging off me all day.

Are you afraid you are going to hurt your stoma by sleeping on your stomach? You won't. I couldn't sleep on my stomach for the first 3 months or so after my original surgery and 2 months after the surgery for adhesions. But I don't have a problem now. I rarely lay flat on my stomach I usually lay with one knee up just a bit which kind of raises my stomach. But I do sometimes lay flat. A stoma is tougher than people seem to think.

I think the bigger risk with laying on your stomach isn't so much hurting the stoma but either popping the bag or maybe choking the stoma?

@NCOT - did you end up ordering one? If so, which?

Back to being a bit glum again today. Think after this reply I will take a break... :-/

@Rabbit - Not yet. I'm so lazy... >.> I've been comparatively busy the past two days, so it slipped out of my mind for a bit. But I'll try to place an order with Fittleworth today... If they don't have it in their catalogue, I'll ask my stoma nurse to get me one. It's cheap, don't think she'll mind: she may even be able to recommend something in fact.

In fact I might email her anyway, but it's her work email, so she won't get it until Monday now :-/

@Summerstorm - Well, I suppose I am a bit scared of hurting it. I do feel pain if I lie on it for too long; it might not be the actual stoma itself, but something underneath it is hurting, which I'm worried about making worse.

@answers4me2 - Nah, I don't have that particularly, unless the stoma is very active. Then I sort of feel it 'kicking off', like you describe.

@Njjelly - I understand the feeling of not being able to take it anymore. I lasted a year and a half on steroids (with a few hospitalisations during that time) before I lost all patience and booked surgery.

And thank you... >.>