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Safe candies / snacks with ostomy?

I recently underwent a resection surgery and now have a temp ileostomy.
Still getting used to it and trying to keep my diet in check to not cause any blockages or start up a flare with the crohns.

I have a pretty bad sweet tooth unfortunately

Are there any candies that I should stay away from? i know all of them is probably the best answer but yea :lol:

Also wondering what others with ostomy / crohns have for snacks that don't seem to bother them
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
I am new to having an ileostomy too but don't see anything about candy being a problem. I read gum can cause gas because you get pockets of air as you chew. I have been eating chips and candy.
 
Thanks, I was just figuring gummy candies (skittles, starburst, gummy bears stuff like that) might not break down if not chewed good enough?
 

annawato

Moderator
Staff member
I think all should be fine. I think the main thing is to start by eating just one or two and see what happens. If they come out whole in the bag then avoid them just in case but I think as most sweets are mainly sugar they will probably dissolve before then or would before they caused a problem. I find most stuff goes thru me pretty quickly and I've yet to see a sweet come out the other end, but I wasn't prone to blockages before either.
Interestingly the hospital I was last in was trialling the use of chewing gum to get the bowels moving after bowel surgery. I wasn't in it since I was getting a stoma and their trial was on full length bowel people but I ate some myself to see if it would help. My bowels did wake up very quickly, but I also had terrible gas pains too so maybe you are right NGNG. I didn't swallow the gum either.
Chocolate is fine although one person on here had problems, ice creams, chips etc all good.
The rule of thumb for me is to try a little bit of something and if it doesn't cause problems try a little bit more. i even eat nuts and a little sweetcorn now though wouldn't recommend them for stoma newbies.
Enjoy those lollies!
 
I chew gum all the time. I don't have problems with gas, but it does get my bowels moving at times when they normally wouldn't. If I overeat, I chew gum because I know it will help clear things out of my stomach. That's a nice side effect of having an ileostomy--Eat too much? Wait about 20-30 minutes and no problem. What used to take hours to feel better now only takes minutes. Go us!! :D
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
Ill just say soda was not a safe fun food last night. My bag became a hot air balloon!! I didn't let the bubbles fizzle, big mistake lol.
 

annawato

Moderator
Staff member
Haha. Yes fizzy drinks do cause gas. I find when i drink alcohol my output is even higher and faster. Not that it stops me when I want to.
I'm also still trying to work out how food that passes thru so quickly and so undigested manages to leave all its calories behind!
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
I know this thread is about safe treats but I ate Halloween candy corn thinking it would be fine but the pieces are in my bag. Big mistake since I have a lot of pain now. I see half chunks of candy corn.
 
Thanks for replies, I had a small pack of gummy snacks.. All went ok but I was sure to chew them really good.

Ill give the marshmallows a try too, and ill pass on the candy corn, never was a fan of that kind lol hope the pain passed, and all is good.
 
In the first months of ileostomies, things pass very quickly through your system, so you are more likely to be seeing undigested food of all sorts. Best advice is to chew everything for what seems like an eternity before swallowing. As more time passes this will change and things like candy corn will not be an issue since it will breakdown fairly easily in the stomach. I eat everything now and am back to my usual not-chewing-food-as-well-as-I-should self.

On the other hand, corn, nuts, lettuce and mushrooms (and other such things) will continue to show up in the bag undigested. It's actually entertaining!
 
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