Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

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Stomatrooper
Posts: 490
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:56 pm
Location: Auckland New Zealand

Re: Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

Postby Stomatrooper » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:49 pm

TammyLayne

Sorry to hear about your issues - I can relate though my issues got resolved.

You seem to be doing most of the things that I did to sort out my problems.

Bill has made some essential points I believe. I came to the conclusion that the itching was caused by fecal matter getting into the flange area - into any folds in the adhesive face etc.

I made sure that I always used a Barrier spray before applying the flange - but also always made sure that the flange was nice and warm - bear in mind that it has been generally 25 - 30 C daytime here and I still warmed it further (I used to put the bag under the towel on my heated towel rail when I got into the shower) so that it was very pliable when I fitted it - I always paid special attention when fitting the new bag that I worked from the inside to the outside - so that folds - inevitably it would not be a perfect fit - were only on the outer edge of the flange.

The clue that the itch was from ingress of fecal matter was when I examined the flange during removal - you could usually see dicolouration lines where the folds had been - when I eliminated the folds I also eliminated fecal matter ingress and the b......y itch!

Like Bill I had a bit of a 'picture frame' around the stoma - I simply cleaned this up well in the shower and applied the barrier film and things got better and better.

Good Luck



John
John, Diag. 20 5 2010 @55
Rectal, 2cm dia, 3cm from anal verge
T2N0M0
5.5 Wk Chemorad
ULAR Oct 2010
Temp Ileo, infection; blockage; incisional hernia
Takedown Jan 2011
Hernia fix - June 2011
Clean CT 2011; 2012 & 2015
Clean scope May 2013

crockpotgirl
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:29 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

Postby crockpotgirl » Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:59 pm

I had similar symptoms--intense itching everywhere the adhesive touched. I never found an appliance that didn't itch, but Hollister seemed to be the most tolerable. I wish I could offer good advice, but all I can say is that I understand your discomfort and pray that it gets better for you.
T3N0M0 rectal IIa 11/6/09 age 43
5FU and radiation
LAR, BSO, j-pouch, ileostomy 2/12/10 at MD Anderson 0/21 nodes
Folfox4 3/10
Ileostomy takedown 7/21/10
Neuropathy 8/10
Port out 10/29/10
Married, 4 young boys, lots of pets
Thankful to be alive!

tammylayne
Posts: 2177
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:24 am

Re: Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

Postby tammylayne » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:56 am

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and ideas!!!!!! I went to my family doctor yesterday, had a little melt down and before I left, her nurse had called the nursing company that was supposed to send their ET specialist out to see me 7 weeks ago....and had an appointment booked for this Thursday!!! YEAH!!!! Maybe with some help I can get this straightened out!

I used one of the Eakin seal when I did my last change on Sunday from the 4 blow outs, and so far so good. Even the itching seems to have lessened. I did make a call yesterday and got some samples being sent, I will make some more calls today. THANK YOU Bev for offering to make calls for me, you are one of the sweetest people I know.

Wishing everyone a pain free, trouble free, emotionally GOOD DAY...

...Tammylayne
51 F
'06 Stage 1 CC,
'10 Stage 3 Rectal

"You never know how strong you are until you have to become your own hero."

KCK
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:45 pm

Re: Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

Postby KCK » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:30 pm

I developed an allergis dermatis to my appliance within the first week. It was so bad I broke out all over and ended up seeing a dermatologist. I had to postpone insertion of my port - the doctor wouldn't do the surgery with my chest all covered in hives. The ostomy nurse switched products - I ended up with a Convatec one piece appliance and used no pastes or wafers. The absolute best advice was a prescription for Kenalog spray (triamcinolone?). It wasn't cheap but one can of spray lasted the whole 10 months I had my ileostomy. Have the area absolutely dry before using the spray.

Karen
Karen, Orange County, CA
DX rectal cancer 10/2006 T3N1
Radiation & Xeloda 11-12/2006
Low anterior resection with ileostomy 1/2007
6 mos. FOLFOX 2-8/2007
Reversal of ileostomy 11/2007
Mets to lung, VATS resection 5/2009
6 mos. FOLFIRI 2009

keepcalmcarryon
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:34 am
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Location: philadelphia

Re: Anyone been allergic to their ostomy appliance?

Postby keepcalmcarryon » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:33 pm

I didn't have a colostomy because of my skin.
It's a kind of weird story: I was getting 5fu via pump, 2 days on, 5 off as neoadjuvant treatment. AFter the 3rd round I started having a rash where the adhesive went. Tried different adhesives, but the rash got worse and worse each time no matter what, until the onc. described it as 'profound, very painful rash.
so I switched to Xeloda, which solved that problem.
However, after a day or 2 it dawned on me that colostomy appliances are held on via tape.I was supposed to have an APR as my tumor was so low. Me & the ostomy nurse had me try every possible adhesive cut from the appliances. All provoked a reaction. So the nurse thought of a belt style bag with no adhesive. This seemed like a good idea until I got a yeast infection. My skin became hypersensitive and started the rash under my wristwatch and belt! Any area that put consistent pressure on my skin could start the rash.
It was decided that the risk of total skin breakdown and infection around the appliance were too great. As I had a complete clinical response I just had 4 months more chemo, no surgery (my tumor had been removed transanally before any treatment...another long story.).
So finally I developed a recurrence: in my iliac lymph node which would NOT have been removed during the APR surgery.
Therefore, not having the colostomy turned out to be ok, as it would have been for nothing.

From what you describe, your skin doesn't sound anything like mine, and I'm sure you'll find a workable solution. There's a company called Handi-rings that might be useful: http://www.rcscompany.com/ring.html which might be great for you.
hope this helps
9/07 t3 n2
exc. biop, Xelox, Rad
06/08 NED
03/09 PET-pelvic LN
06/09 rad tx
10/09 exp.lap; can't find LN
05/10 Stage IV, lung nodes
04/10 Xeliri, Avastin
06/10 PET-lung ok
11/ 10 failed surg ln
02/11 Proton tx
7/11 failed clin. Trial
10/11- xelox


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