Pancaking?

Well on friday I went away for the first time with my gf to london and stayed over, finally built up the confidence to go in a hotel and share a bed with someone only to wake up in the middle of the night with crap all over the bed with my bag at some point's completely hanging off then came home last night, went to bed, and woke up again with the same thing having happened.

I occasionally get very small noticeable leaks but this was something else, the bag was hanging off completely down one half of the flange, I think what happened is known as pancaking, can this happen with being dehydrated or anything, the out put was quite thick and whilst ive been away I probably wasnt drinking quite as much as i normally would. just trying to figure out what could have caused this to happen because its uncommon for me as it is, let alone 2 nights on the bounce and i certainly dont want it to happen again.

Sorry that this has happened, for some unknown reason most accidents happen at night.
It could be pancaking or due to fluid intake. I make sure that I wear plenty of the flange extenders if staying away from home and also use some extra tape right around the flanges. I also take loperamide with the codeine at regular intervals during the time I am away but clearly you must not self medicate beyond the recommended dosages. It works for me .. sometimes you have to find what works for you as there are not set rules. It is down to damage limitation. You may also be able to obtain a small disposable matress cover which you can use on your side of the bed.. it's not ideal or very romantic but offers a litte extra security with the bedding. If you have a good Stoma Nurse, then ask for some advice. Good luck and remember it happens to all of us at some point but try and find something that works for you..

Do you recall eating more fibers or bigger serving (going to restaurant cause me to eat more and sometime having issues then...). I had that happening to me quite a few times. For me, its when I eat more than the tiny portions I am use to of, let say, pretty much any veggies. It clumps up at the top of the bag during my sleep and triggers a mess... I know how ackward this can be So now I know that when I go out and change my habits, either the food type or quantity and that is even more true when I have few glasses on top, I have conditionned myself with putting an alarm to get up during the night... It sucks to do so, but I am confident it has avoided me accident in the past.
Sorry these are not so miraculous solutions and I hope you will manage finding what your cause is without having to go through this.

well I took all my meds as usual in time before eating, and on the friday night we went to pizza hut, but I had exactly the same as I have had previously at pizza hut, my meal routine was a bit sporadic over the weekend i guess but I didn't eat anything different to what I've previously had, and nothing with extra fibre etc and I'd still been up in the night before this happening to empty and everything was fine, then all of a sudden out of nowhere this happened. I will look into getting some of those mattress covers for the future though. I didn't drink as much as I usually would and I had been doing a lot of walking about which has possibly caused dehydration and led to this happening, that the only explanation I can think of really.

Shit Martin! (not meaning any offence, seriously) I'm gonna say dehydration, but also, a question. Did you use alot more powder or anything as well while you were out wining and dining? I mean on under the flange, to cause a bit more loseness on the appliance?

I only ask because thats just what yours truly did on Friday...the results were the same as what just happened to you. Luckily I was only washing the pup at the time (his first bath!) and only lost it in the loo. Oh, and the pup needed another rinse, but hey, I owed him one!

A lot more powder as in the skin powder stuff? I just used the same as i always use, I did everything as normal even when changing the bag afterwards, when I took the bag off there was a lot of crap all under it so i can only imagine this had pushed between my skin and the flange and forced it off because the barrier ring was still intact aswell, One thing i did notice tho is that my stoma looked very red, not quite sure why. Next time I guess Ill just make sure I keep Hydrated, I was up at around 4 am to empty my bag and everything seemed fine then , then I woke up around 2 or 3 hours later and this had happened, I rushed out of bed , changed and then spent ages scrubbing the sheets in the hotel room, couldnt really get it all out and now im panicking im gonna get sent a bill for the sheets from the hotel!

Oh dear, I dont think the hotel will charge you. Explain to them, they cant hold that against you! (my very first job was at a hotel as a maid, and all the rock bands that played at Red Rocks stayed there...the things we maids have seen!) No need to be embarrassed about that believe me!

Maybe next time you travel around, take a 4 pack of Powerade with you?

We all live and learn the hard way, and I sure hope this doesnt happen again. Dont let it stop you Martin...go out and enjoy!

I've had similar problems - I was having a crazy amount of leaks at different times, no real pattern to when they occurred but I noticed that they all seemed to stem from the same area originally.

When you've had a leak check your bag and your skin to see where your leak originated from and then have a chat with your stoma nurse to see if there is anything she can suggest. It might be that your stoma has changed in size or altered slightly and so is no longer sitting in the same place which will mean your template is wrong. Also be careful that you're not putting your barrier ring directly on the stoma as this can cause issues.

Failing all that I'm sure your stoma nurse will have an idea - I've been through a few different things and have now ended up with convex bags and (touch wood) have not had any leaks for a couple of months.

Keep positive you'll get it sorted.

Hey Martin - Sorry to hear about the weekend's mishap! I find when I am dehydrated that I get really watery stools, not thick stools. When I was having leaks, I did exactly what Pine Barrens suggested above - I noticed that the leaks were always down and to the right. So I left my bag off for a while (over a basin, of course) and saw that when my stoma produced output, it went almost flat to my stomach and dipped down to the right. That's when I decided to switch to convex and haven't had an issue since. I don't use paste, powder, tape - nothing but the bag!

Good luck getting it sorted! - Ames

PS What is pancaking?

I'll have a look at doing that aimes, every time I get a leak it is always starting in the same place, sort of up and to the right of my stoma, although they always happen there when I am lied on my right side at night so I think it's a case of all the stuff finding its way through a crease or something.

Best way I can explain pancaking is when thick output doesnt move down to the bottom of the bag and sticks around the stoma area in a clump so to speak, it then builds up and gets underneath the flange and kinda forces it off.

Dmac i use The salts seal barrier rings, I have tried the dermacol collars but not had much luck mainly because my stoma tends to change shape and size quite a lot so the collar ends up not being a good fit. Although I probably could try giving the smaller size another go, Im just scared of it being to small and squishing my stoma. they do look brilliant though, which is why I'm determined to keep trying them.