How do you sleep with an ileostomy!?

I am a new ostomate—3 weeks out from surgery. I've been having a hard time adjusting to this massive lifestyle change, and I'm having difficulties finding the right appliance and technique to get a good seal and allow my peristomal skin, which is raw and weeping in some spots, to heal.

But perhaps my biggest difficulty is in getting good sleep! I'm naturally a side sleeper, or sometimes I sleep on my back. But I'm nervous to sleep on my side now because the pouch feels like it's pulling and I'm afraid that doing so will lead to a leak. And if I sleep flat on my back, then my output, which is rather watery, sits on top of my stoma and the wafer, which I'm pretty sure will cause the seal to erode and the wafer to stop sticking pretty quickly. So I've been sleeping in a reclined position so that gravity will move the output to the bottom of the pouch—but I don't find that comfortable at all.

I've also been setting an alarm for every few hours throughout the night so that I can get up to empty the pouch. So I'm sleeping only for short periods at a time and am uncomfortable the whole time. I'm exhausted!

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions that might help? What positions work for you? Does the kind of pouch you use make a difference?

Thanks in advance!

Since my surgery, I've only slept on my back. At first it was due to abdominal pain. Then it became more of fear of rolling over on my right side (stoma side). I have a body pillow on my right side just in case. I also stay up late so I don't have to set an alarm in the middle of night to empty my pouch. On average I get 4-5 hours of sleep or even push it 6 hours at times. I do limit food and liquids a few hours before I go to bed to reduce the amount of output and/or gas I have overnight and tend to eat more thickening foods as well. I've also made a pouch cover for my ostomy bag using those bed liners for kids that may still wet the bed. I put it on every night before bed. That way, if I ever do have a leak (which luckily I've never had) while I sleep, it will go into the absorbant pouch cover and not over me or anything else.

I hope this information helps.

cmfdrama

I can commiserate with you. I haven't slept through the night in the last year because of my ileostomy. I am a stomach sleeper so it's difficult not being able to sleep that way. I have had leaks, explosions, ballooned pouches, everything. The only time I was able to be comfortable was when a changed my eating habits and ate many small snacks throughout the day rather than 3 larger meals.

I have recently been taking metamucil- two heaping teaspoons, and it bulks up the stool quite a bit- I always take 2 right before bed- and it really cuts down o nthe liquid-

Also- have you tried using eakin seal? They might help stick the pouch a bit better while you heal- Karaya seals are also very healing- but lately the hollister karaya pouches are made kinda terrible- they sometimes have very little glue holdign hte karaya to the plastic ring- and they leak between the karaya and ring- but ones that are sealed good really help the skin to heal- it';s got healiong properties i nthe karaya-