When you get an ostomy, you suddenly become acutely aware of how you sleep. On top of this, you're unlikely to get a full nights sleep because you have to empty your bag in the night. For me, I don't mind too much and after a year (!!) of having my stoma, I've gotten used to it.
There are ways to reduce the amount in your bag in the night, the main one being not eating late, which is easier said than done in certain cases! I try and have my tea between 6 - 7pm and I've found that lately, my bag doesn't fill up anywhere need as much and I don't have to get up till 4am - which anyone with a stoma or IBD will probably agree isn't too shabby! I also empty my bag straight before bed, which definitely helps!
Before my stoma, I slept on my stomach and it wasn't till a few weeks after I came out of hospital that I was going to have to completely rethink that!
The first few weeks out of hospital, I slept on my back purely because I couldn't really move too easily. I hated sleeping on my back! I just don't like it at all. I then tried sleeping on my side, which isn't too bad, and then slowly I started curly up into a ball and after a few months post surgery that's quite comfy and didn't hurt! I sometimes now sleep half on my tummy, on the mucus fiscula side, and it doesn't hurt but I'm always so aware of going completely on my stomach!
Let me know in the comments how you sleep with your ostomy and leave your sleeping tips!
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