Have you tried marshmallows yet? I was really skeptical since usually eating makes me start outputting like crazy but I ate two marshmallows yesterday afternoon, waited 20 minutes, and then I didn't output at all for about 40 minutes. First time I've seen a perfectly clean bag on my stoma for more than 10 seconds!

I always changed mine in the Mornings before eating anything with the exception of marshmellows and or rice crispy treats. They really helped to slow things down for the wafer change. Not saying nothing at all came out but it was minimal compared to what it was at other times I had to change it without being planned.

The marshmallow trick really works!

Thanks so much..I will try the marshmallow trick. How long does it take after you have eaten them for the output to slow down?

I would say within an hour you should be good to go. I would take my shower and when I noticed things really slowing down to basically stopping I would get out and start drying off. My husband usually walked around the house with the wafer under his arm to warm it up, believe it or not that really helps to get that good seal. Just another little tip we found out on this site.

My doctor and home nurse never understood (when I told them about the marshmallow trick) because your body starts to digest them and makes your small intestine start moving it along to digest. And what you are trying to stop is on the wrong side of the marshmallow. But to each it's own, if it worked for some then great.
This is what I did. The night beige in the bathroom I layed out all the supplies and in the order I needed them and when I got up in the morning I tried not to bed at the waste to get up (so nothing got squished getting up) and went atraight to change mu appliance. before I went to the bathroom, showered or anything. Occassiinaly and rarely it started "talking to me" and you just have to deal with it and move faster. Because of my blood clots I had my ostomy for a year and a half and got very good at changing it. So much so I got it down to 5 minutes.
There's nothing we can tell you that will make your ostomy stop from making a mess. It's doing it's job. Good luck.

I ate marshmallows or circus peanuts at 6:15am and could change the appliance at 6:40am without a mess, so you don't have to wait a really long time. You will know your time frame based on YOUR experiences. There may be emergencies when you have to change your appliance after lunch or dinner. These situations are difficult but keep your head up.

Marshmellows are pretty quick acting for me - 10-15 minutes after eating I can do a change without output.

I was quite stressed and panicked a little while I was changing the wafer. But, in the end it all worked out and I think I did an ok job in putting on the new wafer.

One more silly question...so how many marshmellows do you guys eat to get the stoma to stop outputting?

about 3 big ones or a handful of little ones. You don't want to eat too too many. Just enough to slow output not stop you up. Experiment with a couple at first and see how it goes. And when I traveled I ate a couple of rice crispy treats and that slowed things down also. Plus they are good and sweet to eat!! Got a big box of them from Price Club. Good Luck!

After a while even when my stoma was active I was so quick at changing the bag that I could get it done in 30 seconds. I had everything already laid out, I cut the hole before hand because my stoma was no shrinking anymore, and just in case things got out of hand I did it all over a toilet seat. More practice and experience in changing will pay off!