I have an ileostomy and Crohns disease. For over a year now I've been struggling with excessive gas (especially in the afternoon/evening). I've been on antibiotics to help control it for a long time but now they're not working as well and I've had to stop using one of them because of a side effect. I just started using pro-biotics again but so far this has not helped.

Is there anyone here who has experienced anything similar? any advice? do pro-biotics tend to take a while before they start working? I feel like I'm running out of options and am just about ready to dig a hole for myself and stay there for the rest of my life.

Hey Jeremy, Have you tried to experiment with your diet at all? Maybe you're eating certain foods that don't really agree with you. I had a loop ileo for a bit and noticed that certain foods made me pass more gas thru my stoma, and also if I went to long without eating then I'd get a lot of gas going thru my gut as well.

I can feel for you, man; I've been dealing with gas noises for almost 6 years and let me tell ya'll: it ain't pleasant.

I never really found a solution to gas problems. One day I can eat one food and it won't bother me and the next I'll be in the bathroom all day.

I sugesst GAS-X, and certain foods you realize that work with you because what might work with someone, might not work with someone else.

Another little tip I find useful is when you feel any gas that's about to come out, or right in the middle of the noise, make any kind of sound to distract people from the gas such as coughing, clearing your throat, shuffling pages around, pretend to drop your pen on the ground, stuff like that. Yes, I know it may not sound very effective, but it's helped me A LOT during classes and Church.

Good luck.


xo♥,
Win

Yeah, I'm sure diet is a part of it. I'm already off wheat, dairy, and eggs. It seems the more I try to avoid foods, the more weight I lose because I'm not finding enough alternatives. Even rice seems to be giving me problems these days. I just read that drinking more water can help, so I'm going to try that.

And, yeah, I use all the "tricks" in the bag to try to muffle or disguise the sounds, but sometimes it's just not that effective.

It would be great if I could just tell everyone about my ostomy so that people would have a degree of understanding, but I find that's hard to do right after you've been completely embarrassed and are trying to make yourself disappear.
...and in Church, yeah, tell me about it.

thanks for the advice and encouragement.

I don't know much about Chrons but sure a good diet well help.

but a general tips which reduces the gas to minimums is to Chew the food very well

and not to drink water or juice while you eat wait from 10 to 15 min after finishing your meal

Hope this could help

This might be worth a try. When I know know I'm going to be in one of those "quiet" situations I wear a binder. It's a 7" wide piece of stretchy material that has velcro on one end to secure one end to the other (they made me wear on for the first month after my colectomy - that's how found out it works for the gas thing). You wrap it around your waist right over your pouch. The slight pressure from the binder allow the stool to pass into the pouch but keeps the gas from making noise. It's been a life saver for me as I fly every week and meet with customers one on one regularly. They should be available wherever you get you osty supplies. Definitely worth a try.

I think I’ve got an answer for you.

One reason for trapped gas is your food not being properly or fully digested at the best part of your digestive system. After you eat food it needs to hang out in the stomach and upper intestines for a while. If the food is still being digested in the lower intestine you are going to have a bad time. You will hear a lot of gurgling and gas bubbles will be floating around all over the place.

This is what you need to do I think:
1) Don’t **** too much!! This will encourage partially undigested food to progress too quickly in your digestive tract. Pretty much once a day should be good enough. A few hours after waking up is a good time often. This is the best single suggestion I have. Although it is almost counterintuitive because as soon as undigested food is hanging out in the lower intestines expelling it does seem like the thing to do and does bring temporary relief.

2) Then you should try to eat only during meal times (say 9am 1pm 6pm) and then give it a break for the rest of the time.

3) And then a bunch of little hints are important like don’t eat too much, and yogurt helps complete digestion, and junk food maybe isn’t good for you, and stuff like that.

I hope this helps!

**** it looks like ive been censored!!

when I say **** I mean doing a poo or having a bowel movement etc

Hi Jeremy and welcome to the site.

I think you need to give the probiotics a bit longer to colonise before dismissing them. I would say 2-4 weeks. Start on a low dose and gradually build up to the recommended dose. This will get your gut acclimatised to it's new colonisation. I have a perminent ileostomy also and I almost never get noisy gas, which I'm sure is down to the probiotics. I also think that diet has something to do with it. I have to limit my intake of wholegrains and pulses because of other problems. However, I do eat lots of fresh cooked veg including cauliflower, which is usually a major contributor to gas so I'm pretty sure the probiotics play a big role in keeping my gas emissions limited.

Viv's advice about the binder is a good one too. I always wear good quality lycra underwear to keep my appliance close to my body and well supported and it does seem to muffle any noises that may escape.

Also, Simply Me's advice about not drinking while you are eating should help as a lot of us swallow more air when we drink and chew at the same time. Another thing to avoid would be fizzy drinks and chewing gum.

Sclause, if you have an ileostomy you have no control over when you pass stool. It will just happen when it reaches the end of your intestine (ie: your bag) you cannot hold it in nor can you decide when to "go".

Hope this helps.

Take care

Shell

I just say excuse me.

..and I like to show everybody what I've got underneath- it's a good conversation piece.

//Todd

I have found that for me, the best solution is charcoal pills. They're coated (almost like a candy coating) but I actually bite them to break the shell. I believe they're made to disolve in the colon of "normal" people and they're to reduce gas and odor. Since I don't have a colon I break them to get it started earlier. I usually eat two when I know I will be in a situation where I need to muffle the stoma noises. If I have a meeting during the day, I take two with breakfast, sometimes even again right before my meeting. I don't think you can have too many. Just make sure you don't take them around the time you take any other medication. Because it absorbs stuff it can interfere with the amount of the other medicine that your body absorbs.

I swear by the charcoal pills.

Erin