G-tube cleaning inquiry

Purplemountain
Purplemountain Member Posts: 119
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hello Everyone.

I have a feeding tube and have been using the bolus to pump the puree into my stomach.  However, recently it has been clog more often than not.  I was told to use Coke.  Is there other alternative beside soft drink to clean the tube?  Carbonate water?  Canada dry?  How often do I clean it...every time after each feeding or when it clogs?

Thank you in advance.

By the way, I am almost two weeks post treatment.  I've gained weight from 104 lbs to 116 lbs.  So my body has made a U turn and going up.  Like to continue the progress and hopefully the G-tube would not be the weakest link.

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #2
    rinse that PEG

    PM,

    Congratulations on completing treatment, I will ring my bell for you today!

    I was told to clean it after every use and I did.  I only dripped Jevity so, ordinary tap water worked fine for me.  You may use virtually any (drinkable) liquid to clean it, but I would finish-up using water.

    Keep drinking and swallowing, it gets easier from here on out.

    Matt

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #3
    Maybe any carbonated drink will

    clean it....I don't know.  When I was told to use Coke, I pictured the old stories about using Coke to remove rust from nails and stuff, and figured it did the same kind of cleaning on the inside of my tube. :)

    Congrats on the weight gain!!!!

    p

  • nick770
    nick770 Member Posts: 195
    #4
    hey i used to you carbonated

    Hi, I used to use carbonated water/stelzer water. If it is clogging alot, then I would clean it everytime.

    Congrats on your weight gain.

  • Purplemountain
    Purplemountain Member Posts: 119
    #5
    CivilMatt said:

    rinse that PEG

    PM,

    Congratulations on completing treatment, I will ring my bell for you today!

    I was told to clean it after every use and I did.  I only dripped Jevity so, ordinary tap water worked fine for me.  You may use virtually any (drinkable) liquid to clean it, but I would finish-up using water.

    Keep drinking and swallowing, it gets easier from here on out.

    Matt

    Bell Ringing

    Thank you for ringing my bell.

  • Ladylacy
    Ladylacy Member Posts: 773 Member
    #6
    Feeding Tube

    My husband flushes his feeding tube with water before each and every use and then flushes with water again when finished.  He has never had a problem.  But he has used coke before to flush it and had no problems.  Just make sure the coke is room temperature so as not to bother your stomach.

     

    Sharon

  • jackflash22
    jackflash22 Member Posts: 524 Member
    #7
    PEG tube

    I use water before and after using my tube. if it looks ,bitty, in the tube I keep squeezing where the bits are till they come loose and then swish with water again. sometimes I use warm water...tepid of course...

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #8
    PEG Tube Cleaning

    Before and after you eat it is a good habit to rinse the tube. I use just plane filtered water about 4oz before eating and after I am finished I try to rinse the tube clean with about 8oz of water. This does two things, it give me a good amount of my daily needed water intake and keeps my tube clean and ready for the next use. I heard some people saying you can use Coke sometimes to help keep it clean but in my 2 years on the PEG I never needed it and never had it get plugged.

    Also you need to remember to keep the Stoma area clean. It is a good habit to clean the Stoma area atlases 3 times a day using clean filtered water or peroxide. Using a Q-tip remove any deposit or build up around the area, check for redness. Keep it dry at all times, if you are working and sweating you might need to clean it more often.   

    Hope this helps

    Hondo

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