How does this happen??
#347128 - 06/12/09 06:38 AM
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Ok, colonoscopy was Wednesday so I was completely emptied out of course. For lunch, I had plain turkey on sourdough bread and broth. That night I had plain skinless white chicken breast and sweet potatoes - nothing on them. In the morning I had loose stools. Next morning I had plain oatmeal, lunch I had a plain turkey sandwich on sourdough, organic applesauce for snack, dinner chicken and sweet potatoes again and plain white rice. I also made sure to drink 4 bottles of water throughout the day. This morning I wake up with several hard, round pieces of stool followed by loose stools. Up and around a bit and more loose stools - more watery than the first. Same old cycle - all over again. I have seen everywhere that hard pebbles like that means you are constipated and that the stool has been in your system at least 4 days. Ok, impossible. Whats going on!? And what can I eat? This is absolutely ridiculous! I'm already starving as it is and now oatmeal, turkey, plain chicken and sweet potatoes I cant eat either??
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The consistancy of the stool is not as important as the frequency and pebbled stools does not mean it has been in your body at least 4 days. The pebbles are due to bowel spasms not the lenght of time it stays in the bowel. More than 3 bowel movements a day is D while constipation is defined as having a bowel movement fewer than three times per week. Using these definitions it seems like you are more D than C.
Are you taking a soluble fiber supplement?
You might try removing the applesauce to see if the fructose in the apples is a problem for you.
And it seems like you don't have enough fiber including insoluble fiber in your diet. You might try adding well cooked peeled veggies such as carrots to your diet.
It can take several weeks or months of being on the diet before you see a significant difference. Stick with it and keep asking questions.
Good luck.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Thanks! (again) I guess I'm so confused as to if I even have IBS or what? My dr told me I was constipated, but I had been going every single day. Previous to any problems I went every couple of days. I dont see how I was constipated? I also dont have D after eating or even at all during the day or rushing to the bathroom, just loose stools in the morning. I dont understand why BAM one day this all started..this is frustrating. I'll keep increasing both kinds of fiber. Vacation starts tomorrow - this is going to be tough 
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Okay, you're not eating often enough. Since you're starving, it sounds like you're also not eating enough.
Think of your digestive system like a cranky engine. In the morning, it's shut down, cold. You have to coax it into getting up and running so you need to feed it a little bit and that little bit should be mostly SF to start with. Once it's up and running you need to keep it running smoothly throughout the day. Spacing your food too far apart is going to let your digestive engine shut down again. That means when you start it up by throwing food in there, it will run rough.
Oatmeal is actually kind of strange. It's listed as an SF food and most IBSers do fine with it. But it's half SF and half IF (albeit of a very well tolerated type) and some IBSers have real problems with it. I'm one of them. So my advice would be to try something else for breakfast.
Here's an old post I did about how I ate when I was first starting out: web page. Maybe something in there will help.
I also suggest you use the Search button (between "Message Boards" and "My Home"). Do a Search on the IBS Fitness and Lifestyle Board with no time limit ("All Posts") looking for:
decaf constant comment
You'll see a page of my posts from late 2006. In there, I report everything I ate during the day. This might give you some ideas for other foods so you're not starving. Some of the foods I list are Advanced Eating For IBS and I almost always note that by saying that they may not be safe for everyone. In addition, sometimes other people were reporting what they ate in the same thread so you can check them out, too.
I hope this helps.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I don't think you can expect to feel ok after a colonoscopy. You gotta give it several days.
Doctors always say you are constipated if there is any stool inside you. That was how I got put on Zelnorm even though I have D. Anyway the body is supposed to move stool through slowly and so depending on the time of day there will be stool in you, yet to them that means C.
Definitely get on acacia and tummy teas.
Good luck and have fun on vacation.
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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Cancelled the vacation ...just no way I could go and be on a boat and fishing in the shape I'm in. Interesting info about the doctors...I am wondering though, how do I know if I am constipated? They told me that I had D because I was constipated and the D was working around the constipation. And what causes the small pieces of stool held together by mucus? I have that every morning, followed by loose stools. Previous to the colonoscopy and following as well. Is that constipation? How can it be if I had it right after a fasting and emptying out of a colonoscopy? If it isnt that, what is it? And how can I treat D if I dont know if D is my problem or C is?
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Ok, well the doctor was right. You can be impacted and the watery stool escapes around the impacted stool. That could be why you were D before.
After a colonoscopy, your empty. Your bowels are very sensitive. You might have aggravated them by the oatmeal or like Syl said the fructose in the applesauce. This can cause the gut to seize up and you get a little C but on top of that you have some D because only some of the stool got caught in the colon seize.
I have IBS-C, BUT today I've gone to the bathroom 2 times. First time was well-formed stools but second time was more like a cow patty (graphic sorry I know TMI) Sometimes I get the hard pebbles after having a bad case of D the day before and feeling completely empty.
The more watery the stool is, the worse off you are (in my opinion). When I had my cow patty today, it wasn't really watery, it was just mushy. So gross, sorry!
I'm not necessarily constipated right now or really have bad diarrhea, but it's just the way your bowels work. We are different than "normal" bowel people. (whatever 'normal' means)
I hope that helps, I know it's vague, but everyone is different.
There's not an exact reason for the way our bowels work!
Hugs
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IBS-C, Gas, Bloating, HURTING!
I'm married and it's so wonderful!
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Generally speaking IBS-D is considered to be 3 or more bowel moves a day while IBS-C is considered to be less than 3 bowel movements per week. Here are good explanations of constipation and diarrhea.
D cannot work around constipation unless you have an impacted bowel or the bowel is obstructed. If it obstructed then the water in the colon can seep around the blockage. They would have seen a bowel obstruction in the large intestine when the colonoscopy was done.
After fasting and emptying out for a colonoscopy most of the stool contents are gone. There is nothing left to irritate the colon to cause IBS spasms.
Mucus is excreted from the lining of colon. It protects the lining and helps ease the passage of stool. It is not unusual to find some mucus in the stool.
I am curious to know who 'they' are - doctors, nurses, aids. The comment about D passing around C sounds a bit strange unless you have a bowel obstruction:)
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Yes, it was my doctor who told me I was constipated. She did an abdominal xray and said I had stool throughout my intestines and that I was having D because it's called paradoxial since I am constipated and the D is working itself around the drier/hard stools. I had a hard time believing that though, because I was going every single day and it wasnt watery stool - it was hard pieces covered in mucus followed by hurried loose stools (like you say - cow pies is a very good explanation of it).
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I'm sorry Syl, but yes D can work itself around C. I was impacted before, and this is what my GI told me and these are the symptoms I was having. D everyday, then when I had an X-ray, it showed the impaction. And yes it can be related to IBS (this is how I found out I had IBS). If you are that constipated to have an impaction, you can definitely have D if something else comes through that can pass. It does not necessarily have to be an obstruction to have this happen.
She said she was having the D before the colonoscopy.
I'm not trying to argue. I know you are very well informed and know alot of research, and I envy you because of that.
But when a GI tells me this stuff, I am going to listen.
When my bowels are empty and my stomach is too, almost anything I put in there causes spasms (except SF).
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IBS-C, Gas, Bloating, HURTING!
I'm married and it's so wonderful!
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