4 replies to this topic

[Alfred001]

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I just had a BM that consisted of one normally shaped and healthy looking one and another that was a roundish, maybe half size of a tennis ball and it looked very odd. It looked like it was a composite of many small pieces of BM. It also floated.When it passed it passed like one piece, I was expecting to see one perfectly shaped piece.Does anyone know what this could indicate??Some time ago (maybe week or two) I had a series of BMs where a larger normal shaped stool was accompanied with small ball shaped ones (much smaller than this one). One of them looked sort of like this one, a composite of smaller pieces.The odd thing about these small ones was that they were VERY hard. When I have BMs i sometimes, to inspect them, have to poke at them with a toothpick (sorry for the revolting image, but I guess you understand) and these were extremely hard to pierce (again, sorry for the image). When they hit against the bowl there was a click, rather than the kind of sound you'd expect from a normal stool.To give my story in brief, I've had problems with my BMs for about a year now, first six months was pretty consistently unformed stools, then started improving progressively. Now it's a mix of normal and unformed stools, with more of the former. Recently I had two that were brown mixed with something dark green sort of clinging to it.I saw a doctor a few times but he was useless and I've no idea what could be causing the symptoms. I posted a fuller, more detailed story here:http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/150518-please-help-with-my-diagnosis/page__p__858389#entry858389

[Kathleen M.]

Other than with IBS you get all kinds of weird stools sometimes all in the same movement....it isn't like this is a sign of something worse or deadly. Just part of IBS.Sometimes constipated stools can get small and hard (rabbit pellet poo) and often that gets out when another stool comes along to push it out.With IBS generally, just be happy you poo, and don't poo too much, and stop with the over-analyzing everything that comes out. It won't tell you anything other than you still have IBS and can often just add a lot of stress and worry. Believe it or not it takes a lot of coordination to get the stool to the end of the gut at just the right time to have it come out in the perfect form once a day at the same time every day. Even most healthy people can't do that all the time. With IBS the coordination can be just a bit off and lead to all kinds of weird things in the toilet. A quick check to see if you passed a bunch of blood with the stool is all you need if you even look at all. I recommend not even looking, just be happy it came out and flush it away. With IBS you could drive yourself insane trying to figure out what each and every different consistency and color mean. And it won't give you anything that really guides what you should eat or what meds you should take.

[Linda46]

My BM's are never the same. On any given day, I can have up to 6 BM's and they will all look different. Many times, I will have varying degress of shapes, sizes and colours within the same BM. Prior to my colonoscopy/gastroscopy, I was terrified of this. Once I was given the all clear, I just accept that this is now "normal" for me. If you are really concerned, you should be asking for a referal to a gastroenterologist. He/she will make the appropriate decisions on what steps or tests to run on you. Most doctors these days will order a gastroscopy/colonoscopy, especially if you are over 40 years of age. Mine also ran a vast series of blood tests.Linda

[Alfred001]

Other than with IBS you get all kinds of weird stools sometimes all in the same movement....it isn't like this is a sign of something worse or deadly. Just part of IBS.Sometimes constipated stools can get small and hard (rabbit pellet poo) and often that gets out when another stool comes along to push it out.With IBS generally, just be happy you poo, and don't poo too much, and stop with the over-analyzing everything that comes out. It won't tell you anything other than you still have IBS and can often just add a lot of stress and worry. Believe it or not it takes a lot of coordination to get the stool to the end of the gut at just the right time to have it come out in the perfect form once a day at the same time every day. Even most healthy people can't do that all the time. With IBS the coordination can be just a bit off and lead to all kinds of weird things in the toilet. A quick check to see if you passed a bunch of blood with the stool is all you need if you even look at all. I recommend not even looking, just be happy it came out and flush it away. With IBS you could drive yourself insane trying to figure out what each and every different consistency and color mean. And it won't give you anything that really guides what you should eat or what meds you should take.

Yeah, I figured out a while back that that kind of attitude is very important.Regarding the blood. I found in this bigger piece a few tiny specks of red (maybe three) and I chose to believe it wasn't blood, because I'm terrified of that.Is that something I should worry about?How exactly does blood show up? Is it liquid or coagulated? Is it that if there is blood I can't miss it or would it require examination?

[Kathleen M.]

A few specks usually is a hemorrhoid that got irritated as the stool came out, especially common if part of the stool was hard and dry, or if you had to strain.That kind of blood isn't really a big worry most of the time (as long as you are getting regular check ups with your doctor, no need for an appointment every single time).The really concerning blood that you can see on your own (why regular check ups are important, your doctor will deal with the stuff that really you can't see) would be obvious with a quick glance.