Stool starts OK but then goes mushy?
Posted , 19 users are following.
Hi, just a quick question, hope someone can give an opinion (first got IBS at 15, it continued mildly into my 20's. Almost 40 now and have mild bouts once in a blue moon).
Can you tell me if fairly typical for IBS bowel movements to start out normally (as in shape and consistency) but then get rather runny/mushy for the last portion of the stool?
Essentially, I'm having a stool of two halves. The first half is OK but then I feel as if the rest of it is going to come out like mush, and it does.
The only recent dietary change I've made is that I have started drinking warm water with a tablespoon of lemon juice or a lemon slice before bed. Previously I used to have a small glass of milk or tea.
Thanks for any help.
0 likes, 38 replies
leeniepie sue18123
Posted
This is very common in IBS as the intestine is over reactive. The reason the later half of the stool is runny is because it hasnt had all its water reabsorbed so wasn't 'ready' to come out yet- your intestines just shove it out because peristalsis is not regulated properly in IBS.
nothing you can do about it really unless you know a cure for IBS; )
sue18123 leeniepie
Posted
Thanks for the info. It's possibly the lemon water before bed that is a trigger for me. I remember years ago when I suffered with a bit of constipation I started drinking it first thing of a morning and it shifted me immediately. I'm not at all constipated and wondered if it's that which is causing the half and half poop.
borderriever sue18123
Posted
Talk to your GP and ask Him for some form of advice
BOB
astrozombie borderriever
Posted
chris69676 sue18123
Posted
I have the exact same issue with my bowel problem and it makes managing the problem very diffecult because its mixed. Usually if you eat a lot of soluable fibre and protein to harden the loose part you'll then find the harder part becomes like dropping and then cause pain/bloating. If you eat foods that will loosen you up the hard part becomes normal and the loose part will then turn into diarrhea so you cant win. I'm pretty sure the milk protein in your diet was slowing down the digestion rate i'm pretty sure IBS symtoms are brought on by foods that are fast digesting such as simple carbs and sugars and then the gut gets a sudden over load or rush of food to deal with and then becomes irritated. Milk contains a protein called casein it can stay in your gut for upto 12 hours before being fully digested if milk is taken with other food products it will also slow the digestion rate down, for example i used to take whey protein for the gym which is expecialy made to get into the blood stream within 1-2 hours after a workout, if it was taken with milk it would become useless in terms of getting it into your system fast enough.
sue18123 chris69676
Posted
Thanks Chris, that's really interesting about the milk protein slowing digestion. I haven't been having it regualrly for a while and had swapped to a small cup of tea instead, but previously I would have a small glass each night for several years with something like a piece of toast or crumpet.
When my stool is sloppy, I do tend to see lots and lots of food particles in it, which could, as already mentioned by a sign of my bowel being over-reactive.
I'll leave off the lemon water and see if that was the trigger.
sue18123
Posted
Thought I would just update my OP in case anyone else is having these symptoms.
I stopped taking the lemon water and there did appear to be some improvement. I also started having a small glass of milk in the evening as I used to.
However, over the past couple of months I've been having consitently dodgy stools. As in half normal/half runny. That's even with having milk. I felt like my symptoms were aggravated by my period, but now, that doesn't seem the case. It seems much more random. LIke I'll have a normal stool one day and then the next it will be overly soft/sloppy.
I've also recently noticed that my stools are floating.
Time to go to the doctors I guess.
pippa58442 sue18123
Posted
sue18123 pippa58442
Posted
Hi Pippa
Wouldn't I react quicker to the milk if I was LI? I'm only having one BM per day of a morning but 4/5 times the latter half of the stool is sloppy to quite runny.
chris69676 sue18123
Posted
If you have the same string of symptoms as me maybe the foods to avoid list i use will work for you. I'm about 90% certain your symptoms will ease off if you try to eliminate these foods from your diet. I will put two lists one that has to be avoided under any circumastances even small trace amount and then food that could trigger the same symptoms but in higher ammounts.
No expetions list:
Garlic even trace ammounts of it such as garlic bread or pizza.
Onion even trace ammounts such as in quater pounder beef burgers.
Baked beans
Sprouts
Pea's
Chicken off the carcass as its full of fat. Chicken breast fillets are ok to eat.
Bran
Crunchy nut cornflakes
all oils, olive oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil ect even in small ammounts such as tuna in a can thats soaked in sunflower oil.
Chips from a chippy if they've used dripping or lard to cook them in.
muesli such as crunchy nut clusters.
Mayonaise
minced meat.
stuffing.
Onion rings
Doner meat
Food that has the potential set you off.
Coffee
Tea
Gassy drink in large ammounts.
wheat biscuits..
I'm sure there's more but i can remeber them all off the top of my head, if i remeber soem more i'll update my post. You basically need to avoid fatty foods and fibre. Also try keeping milk contents and
caffeine to a minimum say 200-300ml of milk a day and 2-3 cups of tea or coffee.
chris69676
Posted
pippa58442 sue18123
Posted
sue18123 chris69676
Posted
Thanks for that Chris. I'm looking at my diet now and wonder if a combo of too much fibre and fats are problematic for me. I've cut out (excess) nuts and (excess) milk for the last three days and suddenly I didn't have a BM for two days. Which was good as normally I'm a person who goes 4/5 times per week. Lately I was going every day and they were either sloppy or normal but somewhat sped up as I past them. Alos, floating.
The day fater I stopped the nuts I did have a very sloppy BM but they were probably still in my system from the day before. Stopped the milk the day after and no BM's until this morning, which was very formed and normal, passed at a normal (non sped up rate) and sank.
Thing is, I wasn't having nuts or milk when I was having this issue in Jan, but I was having lemon water.
Starting having extra nuts (for calorie purposed in Apr) with no issues and good BM's, but I wasn;t having milk then. Started the milk about late May. So, it could me the combination perhaps?
astrozombie sue18123
Posted
meg29650 sue18123
Posted
Same thing here, except mine is from taking laxatives. I think this must be fairly normal for IBS - (if anything is 'normal'
. I've had IBS for 3 years now and honestly wish there was a decent diagnosis for it. It hit me all of a sudden (no warning) with pain as if someone had stabbed me. After going through countless tests, the doctors decided it was IBS. I've been put on pain meds, which help to a point, but really just are a 'cover up' for the pain. One doctor told me I was just imagining the pain. (OMG!)
I'm hoping someone out there might have some ideas about this. I'm also taking laxatives, etc. (Lactulose, and in extreme cases, Constella.
pippa58442 meg29650
Posted
I'm on Buscopan and sometimes Nurofen as well for my IBS. They work well for me but they only reduce pain rather than get rid of it entirely. Doctors can't really do much for IBS because everyone is so different. All you can do is to try a combination of things to see what works for you. Some find Fodmap works well while others find a combination of laxatives and imodium helps if they have constipation and diarrhoea.
I have IBS C and find that fruit alone helps constipation and when I have the odd spell of loose stools or diarrhoea, Imodium works along with cutting out fruit. I don't have any IBS food triggers; stress flares up my IBS. I find that diet change also aggravates my symptoms.