Welcome to the forum, it's a great place for advice and support!

Wow, that's rough.  While I didn't have the Intussusception problem, I ended up needing 3 surgeries before I was finally able to go home back in 2015. I'm guessing the bile is dissolving the bags, and am wondering if trying a bag liner might help? Using a 2 piece system, the liner goes into the bag, which might make things last a bit longer perhaps.

Edit: I'm wondering if an additive to your bag to neutralize the acid might help? Talk to your stoma nurse or doctor about that possibility.

Hello, Alex, and welcome.  The Stoma Society - love that term -  becoming a member involves quite an initiation, doesn’t it?! 😊

Hi Alex, Welcome to the forum. Not sure about the bag problem, but with the barrier ring have you tried trio siltac. It’s designed not to melt. 

Alex

What John has mentioned to is https://trioostomycare.com/ new products they sound interesting they are only UK at the moment but intend to go international. could ask for some samples. I having similar problems and intend speaking with them today.

Loperamide (imodium)and also omeprazole both contain gelatine that can produce a allergic reaction not well publicised but I discovered the hard way!

If you eat porridge you could try adding some chia seeds soaked and Marshmallow (The plant) powder. to see if they will thicken your output. Start slow and liitle

Alex.. welcome to Vo! Thank you for your intro its nice to get to know a not to new newby here.

You can read other members stories by tapping on their name or little corner sticker like what your "Alex" is in. 

I have short, short gut syndrome, yes I said it 2ce & very high output, often back to back & lots of yellow bile as well.  Lots of unremovable scar tissue from about 7 surgeries..  I'm wondering if you've ever tried "not using" a ring.  I don't think you mentioned if your stoma is flat, sticking out or inverted ( some are shy! lol! ) but it will help to get the right tips to try. 

My stoma sticks out about 1 1/2 " all the time unless she's cold then about an inch & has a time or two gone sight seeing to the bottom of my pouch. While thinking what to do about it I layed down & watched her go home all on her own!!!  I use  1 pce Hollister & stopped using the rings a long time ago. If I get a leak its usually because I waited too long & ignored the signs of needing a change or it happened at night. Ugh!!! I hate that!  Hollisters recent changes to a much noisier pouch has meant I'm changing it about every 3 to 4 days now. I actually need a change this a.m. & juussstttt got by on 7 days same pouch, but won't do it again, lol! I prefer the earlier change all around. 

I apply & use the Osto E Z Vents for excess gas. I'm mostly a back sleeper now so I've also found sleeping on a bit of an upward slant helpful to accomp. w/ strategically placed pillows very  helpful.  This is gravity at work.  I eat my biggest meal earlier in the day. Usually before 5 p.m. helpful for less p.m. output. 

I hope its nice that you had time to join is!  Be as well as you can be!  

Welcome to the forum @alexanderuk. 

I do have a few suggestions regarding your bag.

1. Make sure that you're using an extended wear wafer. This is probably one of the most important things if you want your bag to last long. 
2. There are barrier rings (like those from Trio) that will not melt/degrade very quickly or at all, so something along those lines might be worth checking out.
3. I love using gelling products that solidify your output inside of the bag ,which should drastically reduce the chance of liquid output breaching your wafer. In my experience, however, they don't work very well with high-bile output, but you may want to sample several products to see which works best. Trio also carries those as small sachets.
4. Be sure to follow all the general tips for applying a wafer, including making sure your skin is clean and dry (I wipe mine with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils from the skin). It's also very helpful to warm up your wafer and keep firm pressure on it for about a minute after putting it onto your skin. These adhesives are both heat and pressure-sensitive, so that's an important step to ensure you get a good bond from the start. 

Best of luck! 👍

I'll reply to everyone in turn to be polite,

GoatHerder: I'm currently using a one-piece system (SenSura Mio 1-Piece Cut-to-Fit Drainable Bags [10421]) as that's what my stoma nurse recommended. I don't know if a two-piece would make the ileostomy bags last longer or not but maybe that's something to consider.

LLNorth: Absolutely, I nicknamed my stoma the Kraken after that squid monster in folk-law that pokes it's tentacles out of the water and attacked everything that angers it. After all, it pulsates a lot and can jet-stream output like a demon, lol

john68: Not tried trio siltac, I'm looking at their website, I'll definitely check into them as a possibility. Thanks.

ChrisandBagpus: Thanks for the Chia seed suggestion, I'll give anything a try once. Regarding Loperamide, I'm not allergic to gelatin (I can tolerate omeprazole fine), the problem was that on the lowest possible dose it caused my bowels to go into deep ileus and the surgeons had real difficulty reviving them. I ended up having to be aspirated for hours via NG, they gave me meds to get things moving (didn't work), gave me gastrografin via NG (that failed) and finally catheterized my stoma - which released 4L of fluid in under 10mins and came out so quickly that my BP collapsed hard and I came close to cardiac arrest. Bright side, my bowels woke up, lol

LK: Yes I don't use a ring currently. I tried them previously and they just dissolved under the output (got eaten away by the contents) so I'm Currently just using my one-piece mio bags (and a barrier wipe which aids adhesion). I'll only use Powder if the skin is wet from a sore patch, and I'll only use paste on a dry red patch if I think it needs to let the skin heal further. As for my stoma, it very much sticks out (though the shape and size varies day by day, even after three years).

VeganOstomy: Thanks for the advice, I hadn't heard about the gelling products so I'll look into those and that tip on the rubbing alcohol might be useful as I have particularly naturally oily skin (though I'll need to be careful with eczema). I'm good about my process though, I always apply the bag to a dry surface and if my hands are cold I'll use a hairdryer to ensure a solid seal while I'm pressing with the other hand.

Thanks for the replies!

"Luckily I was sensible enough to realize that it wasn't an ordinary prolapse"

Oh damn, my ass fell out again! Hang on...?!

Not to minimize how terrible the situation was, but it is a bit of a thing that only us bunch, particularly me (black humorous) might find a dark chuckle in.

"food takes about 20mins from mouth to bag."

Interesting. My surgeon says I have most of my small intestine intact and looking pretty good. But I also have a very fast transit time. Most of the time. Some foods take more time and seem fully liquefied. Processed carbs and unprocessed meat seems best for me to fully digest. Apologies to the Vegan folks for mentioning that. White, instant rice, seems to digest very well. 

"bags are degrading fairly quickly (daily or less) from the center out (multi-brands tried but settled on Coloplast Sensura Mio"

I am also using these. I use the two piece system. I am supposing that the rigid bag attachment ring may lessen the bending and folding of the skin round the stoma. I have tried some variations of ring / no ring.

I think I have been cutting too large a hole. I tried putting the ring on top of the base. That seemed to work better. Solid 7 day wear time. But that may have been due to it being free to more tightly snug up to the stoma. Not trapped under the base. My last 3 changes I trimmed the hole very tight to the stoma. The very base width of the stoma. Not it's full diameter. No ring. Again I had 7 day wear time. When applying it, it looks like it is too small a hole. My stoma is usually expanded above it's attachment point by quite a bit. At first I cut it to 25mm diameter. But at it's base, it is actually 20mm. Trimming to this size maximizes wear time. The base material puffs out and seals up quite well.

I was concerned about cutting so tight. Didn't want to choke the little squirt. But the material quickly absorbs the juices and softens. I have a little gadget to press down close and hard to the edge of the stoma.

Your juices may be more vigorous at attacking the base material. Maybe there is a diet or medication to mediate that?

I am lucky to have a nice flat area round the stoma and dry skin there. I do find skin barrier product helps. The Coloplast adhesive itself irritates me quite a bit. The skin barrier helps. Eczema is an added pain in this. Very difficult to find out what irritates that condition. A past girlfriend had it to a moderate degree.

Maybe try applying skin barrier. Then a skin barrier sheet. This will keep skin oils from coming in direct contact with the base. This might allow the base materials to do their job without the added skin oils foiling them? But I have not tried skin barrier sheets.

Still trying various things. But I have got to 7 day wear time. Lucky to have good basics though.

I did all the reading about what could go wrong prior to me choosing to have the surgery (it was elective though necessary), so when I suffered the prolapse I knew what one technically should look like, which is why when it was all warped and my stoma stopped working and I suffered crippling abdo pain I knew something wasn't right. So I got to the hospital right as it turned black and started bleeding, lol

My diet is mostly carbs and protein (I'm not entirely vegan either but getting better at it - I think the term is flexitarian) and Pasta, Noodles, Rice, even the usual Bananas and Marshmallow mix don't slow my gut down much. The trouble is I have a fair few anaphylaxis allergies to throw into the usual stoma avoidance food mix so it would be tricky being totally vegan with the restrictive diet I already have!

I'll definitely enquire about any meds to reduce the juices from flowing. Thanks.

@alexanderuk 

Reading peoples posts here really drives home how incredibly lucky I have been with this disease. In spite of all my bad habits and odd life, aside from Crohn's I am stupidly healthy. Sixty four now and about forty four of those years with Crohn's. I do hope things improve for you.