Just a reminder with an illeostomy you just can't eat anything!

[Shamrock4806]

Sure they like to tell you "you can eat anything" but that's not always true.

You can eat anything but certain things can cause terrible results and even require hospitalization.

1: Do not eat anything that can't be chewed into baby food like consistency, preferably before it enters your mouth...often what occurs is we miss stuff and swallow larger parts of hard nuts, seeds, tough parts of meats, fruits or vegetables (like uncooked carrots, hard parts of potatoes or broccoli) The problem is a illeostomy goes through the skin which doesn't stretch unlike an anus does. So hard indigestible pieces of food or whatever can get clogged in ones intestines.

2: Eat very bland and plain foods without a lot of acid (tomatoes), fat (like fried), salts (brined especially) overly seasoned (like blackened etc) with skins or fibrous membranes (like orange slices, apples, green beans) or a lot of fiber (bananas or yams in excess) or leafy greens like salads which can clump up forming a mass that can clog. Avoid caffeinated, alcohols and anything artificial ingredients including naturally derived ones. See an ostomy nutritionist or my list on this sub here. But usually these items cause people with an illeostomy a lot of problems so go gently at first with small amounts and see what your system will tolerate. You'll know because you'll be running to the bathroom to dump your bag more often (or worse not at all, seek medical attention if no dump for many hours) or walking around disoriented from dehydration.

3: Eat small nutritious meals more often over the course of the day and ensure your getting all your proper nutrients and take supplements to fill in any gaps. One will lose a lot of electrolytes with an illeostomy and try to drink more of anything. What is occuring is ones body is seeking salt (usually just sodium chloride but a small amount of potassium chloride too) along with some magnesium. And by drinking just anything it just gets flushed right out. Ones doctor should be recommending an oral rehydration solution that is sipped regularly throughout the day to not only replace water, but essential electrolytes as well.. unfortunately sports drinks are NOT formulated for illeostomy type needs for rehydration. Regular (sugared, not the sugar free version) Drip Drop works..so does 4.5 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of Lite Salt, two shots of regular sweetened natural red cranberry juice to 64oz of water. So essentially speaking one can't very well drink too much of other type beverages on account they could get immediately flushed out into the bag causing extra headaches. Solids work better than liquids with an illeostomy. Then controlling the protein, fiber or starch amounts of those foods to get consistent output results that let one have a life instead of running to dump the bag every five minutes it can seem like at times.

4: As always listen to ones doctors advice over anything anyone says online because certain people have certain conditions that warrant more attuned advice and treatment.

So they may say you can eat or drink anything and one really always can't, not without a lot of caution or extra preparation.