How many times do you empty your ostomy

Hi all,

How many times do you empty your ostomy bag/ And do you get up many times at night to empty it. Don't know if surgery will do permanent ileo or J pouch, depends on what i am a candidate for.

thanks,
Renee

There are two kinds of stoma, the end ileo and the loop. If you get a 3-step process, then you first get the end ileo. In the beginning you may have to get up a couple of times a night to empty, I did for the first 6 to 8 weeks. After a couple of months I was just emptying about 5-6 times a day, sometimes only 4.
Sicne my 2nd OP I have a loop stoma, which produces much more and much more often, so I am emptying 6-8 times a day, possibly once in the night but it depends on what I ate in the evening and when I ate.
Wiat til you get there, then you will see. Nothing is as bad in reality as it is when you worry about it.

I usually empty once in the night and about six times in the day. Sometimes I empty more because I like to empty before a shower or before going out, even if I wouldn't be ready to empty otherwise.

Emptying is really quick, though. When I was sick, I used to spend a long time in the bathroom, and then I'd think I was done and have to run back a minute later etc..... usually when I empty in the night it takes about 3 minutes total and I go right back to sleep. I keep a little flashlight by my bed so I don't turn on the overhead light and wake up more.

After a while (6 months - 1 year or so) your small intestine starts to absorb more liquid, it learns to behave a bit more like a colon..... and so after some time, you don't need to empty as much as initially.

I chose to have a permanent ileostomy and had my surgery 15 months ago. Emptying 6 times a day is pretty standard for me (when the pouch is about 1/3 full or a little less). I usually do not have to empty at night, though my pouch is about 1/3 full of output and sometimes fully inflated with gas like a balloon in the morning. Once in a while I will get up to empty at night if I have eaten something a little gassy or food that makes more output due to fiber (for instance, salad). I think I subconsciously feel the pouch with my hand occasionally when I sleep because I always wake up when I need to empty it. 6 times a day may sound like a lot, but it is very different than having UC. For instance, today I went snowboarding and I emptied when I got to the resort. The next time I emptied was 5 hours later at lunch time. It wasn't urgent. I could have waited another hour or so and it would have been fine. I can get to it when it is convenient to some degree and it is not uncomfortable because I never feel like I have to go with urgency like I did with UC. It took my body about 6 months to adjust... in the beginning I had much more output and a higher emptying frequency.

I empty first thing in the morning, then just before lunch at work, just before I leave work to go home then 2 or 3 times in the evening - always just before I go to bed so about 5 - 6 times a day, basically, when I urinate (do you ever count how many times you urinate a day?) The great thing is there is NO urgency and I can empty when convenient :)

id say i do about 5 times during the day, but thats not always full.......and 2 maybe three times at night, though again not always full. i tend to eat later in teh evening which obviously contributes to the night frequency......also, i have serious irritation so when im laying down it hurts more so i have to empty