Does anyone else have dreams that they forgot to change the bag or the flange? I have had a J-pouch for over 15 years yet I still have frantic dreams out the Ileostomy I had. I wake up in a cold sweat frantically checking my abdomen to see if the bag is still there. I panic thinking it has been YEARS since I changed the backing. Then I relax realizing it was just a dream.
I have a few other recurring dreams (regarding surgeries ) but was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I have this dream about 3 times a month.

Yes, I have very strange reoccurring dreams. My nights are wild, so much so I have stopped sharing my dreams because friends look at me in disbelief. Dreaming is good for you; sometimes the content can be frightening or foretelling.

Sue

Rarely.. But it does happen. Strangely these dreams aren't that nightmarish in any way besides content. I might not be able to change or empty the bag, I might find I'm not even wearing a bag when I should, or worse yet my intestines are falling out.

It feels dreadful but for some reason I don't panic, I just wake up, realize I'm fine and go

I had my takedown in 2009. Even if they are rare I still hope these dreams will eventually go away completely.

I have dreams that I have the bag and will wake up and put my hand where it used to be just to check...

I tend to dream about prolapses of the valve...and leakage...although I haven't had either in over 6 months...they wake me up in a panic but I also dream about being constipated and sitting and Shi-ing like I used to for hours at a time (I had my colon/rectum removed over 30 yrs ago)...you mind never forgets anything and in my dreams I can still feel the sensation of having a colon. I tend to have these dreams in times of stress so I know that it is just a mental escape hatch.
No harm, no foul.
Sharon

I used to have bag dreams. My first surgery was very sudden and we never knew I had UC before then, so for me it turned out to be PTSD. Like someone who had been to war or something!

Over time, I stopped having them. I realized it was because of the trauma of so much illness and surgery and eventually worked past it.

The only really neat thing about it is when I wake up and realize it was all a dream! Thank goodness!!!

I still have them to this day, and it has been 13 years since I had mine. It's pretty crazy how vivid they can be.

Lina, I also have PTSD. Though I also had a very traumatic experience happen in between surgery 1 and surgery 2 that made it really bad. Without the bag freaking the person out, I'd be dead....I'll put it that way. :\

I still have my bag (takedown is in April). End ileo for 7 months, now the loop. I have had around 5-10 nightmares where I am being disemboweled or someone pulls my small intestine out of my abdomen. So scary and makes me feel sad/panicked.

Tough Dreams! Have any of you tried to meditate before you go to sleep and tell yourself "I'm in control of my dreams..they are mine..and, I can do what I will in them..." Easier said than done but try if for a couple of weeks.....it helps in my "fight" dreams...I pull out a light saber and conquer the world...

I don't tell too many people about my dreams either, because the content is almost always about toilets and sh!t.
I dream about filthy toilets with faeces smeared all over the seat, and in the dream I am dying to use the toilet, but obviously can't with such dirty toilets.
I also dream I am exposed on the toilet, the doors won't close, or are very low. Usually they are public toilets and there are people everywhere.
It is always distasteful and revolting.
Swimming in a lake of faeces,
shirtless workmen with hard hats making a huge phallic statue from faeces in the backyard.
Very Freudian stuff.

I always wake up with a painful full pouch and need to run to use the bathroom.

I have had my pouch since 1998.

I have had those dreams too and I am 23 years post take down. I also have awful bathroom dreams where the only available bathroom doesn't have a door, or is horribly disgusting, or is out of toilet paper. Sometimes all three things are happening. Yikes!
Theresa

My takedown surgery was May 26th of last year, and I still have nightmares too. About a week ago I fell asleep on my couch. I dreamt I had my bag back, and I could feel it pressed against my stomach, full and about ready to explode! I panicked, jolted awake and immediately clasped my hand to my stomach -- only to find that my puppy had decided to sleep on top of me, right where my bag used to be! I guess her warmth and weight freaked out my brain hahaha.

It's funny you should mention this. I've had my j-pouch for over 3 years now. While I don't really dream about the bag, I've had a few dreams before where the stoma suddenly pops up again or stool starts leaking out of my stomach. They aren't really nightmares in that I'm not upset by them, but it's definitely an interesting phenomenon.

Very-Unique, I have those same dreams - dirty toilets so can't use them, exposed loos, etc so I run around trying to find one that's decent but can't - don't know why cos I can empty my ileo standing up so people can't really see anything if I'm facing the loo. Usually, when I wake up I'm dieing to pee though!

I have "poop dreams" all the time. Last night I dreamed I was in prison surrounded by guards. Asked them if they ever had a prisoner with an ileostomy. Of course they'd never heard of it and I went into freak-out mode.

Can you imagine being in prison with an ileostomy or jpouch? Another reason to stay on the straight and narrow. Off track here ...