Every sip counts

Clinical Advisor

From A Bigger Life

Keeping hydrated with an ileostomy, colostomy and urostomy

Keeping hydrated is an important aspect of living with a stoma. For many people it is just making sure you are drinking plenty throughout the day. You should try to drink 6-8 glasses of water each day along with any other drinks such as tea or coffee. Top tips to keep hydrated would be:

• In warmer weather if you are perspiring more you will need to drink more water.
• If you experience diarrhea, try to measure you output over 24 hours and within that time try and replace as much as you are losing.
• Fizzy drinks can cause wind, so a good tip would be to open the bottle or can letting some of the fizz go out before drinking it.

If you have a colostomy you can experience episodes of constipation. This can happen if you aren’t drinking well. Try drinking cool, boiled water in the morning with a dash of orange or lemon juice. This will help produce a more normal bowel function.

An indication that you aren’t drinking enough would be your urine becoming cloudy. You should increase your fluid intake if you experience this. Even though you have a stoma there is absolutely no reason why you can’t drink alcohol. However things to note would be:

– Red wine can cause you to have slightly looser bowel motions.

– Some beers and lagers which are fizzy can cause you to have a lot more excess wind in your pouch.

– Drink in moderation and ensure you keep managing your stoma and pouch.

You might be interested in:

• Preventing dehydration during chemotherapy
• Effects alcohol can have on your pouch
• Ways to look after your mental health following ostomy surgery
• Not everyone copes with having an ostomy in the same way
• Possible side effects on your stoma during chemotherapy – Diet