Hi all,
I am a 23-year-old male. My symptoms began in December 2017, and have changed somewhat in the past 5 months. At present, these are my symptoms:
So those are my current symptoms. It all began one day last December when I was at work. Out of nowhere I began to feel as if my anus was soiled. So I went to the bathroom and sure enough, it was - yellow-brown residue on the paper. This began to occur without warning multiple times over the course of a few hours. It occurred totally passively: it wasn't as if I couldn't hold a bowel movement, but rather that for several hours after a bowel movement, after having cleaned thoroughly, when my bowels felt empty and I felt no urge whatsoever, my anus would leak.
At the time, I was very foolishly taking Magnesium Oxide. I had read in some health article about what a key nutrient magnesium is, and that some very large percentage of Americans have a magnesium deficiency - so foolish me figured "why not play it safe and take some for good measure". Little did I know that magnesium oxide causes diarrhea - and it would seem that this is what had triggered my anal leakage. At the time, however, I was also drinking homemade kombucha that my housemates had brewed - this makes it a little bit more difficult to pin the blame fully on the magnesium, but my housemates suffered no ill effects from their kombucha. Needless to say, I stopped taking the magnesium oxide as soon as I discovered its possible connection with my anal leakage. That was in early January. I expected that in a few weeks or months, my leakage would clear up, but it didn't.
In the meantime, based on recommendations I'd read on this forum, I had begun taking Psyllium Husk as described above. The psyllium made my bowel movements fewer and cleaner, and made my stools much more well-formed - for the first time I had begun have the snaky S-shaped stools that indicate "healthy poop". The psyllium began to clear up the fecal matter / color in my leakages as well, but I was still experiencing the clear anal moisture. Without the psyllium, the fecal-tinged leakages would begin again. Sometimes they were mucous-y, sometimes not.
So I began to worry that I had a physical defect of some kind - I became convinced that there was something wrong with my internal sphincter - possibly a defect brought on by my habit of hovering over the toilet rather than sitting during bowel movements (based on a misunderstanding about what it meant to "squat" when pooping - I thought hovering was the healthy thing to do). I went to a gastroenterologist in early March, who put his finger in my anus but couldn't find anything wrong. He told me it was unlikely that I'd messed up my pelvic floor by or sphincter by hovering, but also that it was unlikely that the magnesium I'd stopped taking two months ago could still be having an effect. He referred me to a colon and rectal surgeon for a manometry.
The surgeon put some kind of measuring device in my anus - I couldn't see it, and I should have asked what it was, and what the procedure was. I don't know whether this test was a manometry or not, but at the end he told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my sphincter strength, and that "everything looked good down there". He said the magnesium had probably thrown my system off balance, and recommended a high fiber diet. Since I'm a vegetarian, close to vegan, I already consume a very high-fiber diet - especially when coupled with the psyllium husk I'm taking now.
Since then, I've been taking the psyllium husk and hoping that this moisture would clear up, but it hasn't. When I stop taking the psyllium, my colored leakage begins again. I've developed an increase in gas, wetness when passing gas, and bowel movements.
About a week ago I started taking a Garden of Life RAW Colon Care Probiotic to address the possibility of a bacterial imbalance or yeast infection in my gut - however, this has led to diarrhea and an increase in gas, moisture, and frequency of bowel movements. I stopped taking the probiotic, and after a day (with the help of psyllium) I had a clean, well-formed stool again. Has anyone had this kind of experience with probiotics? Is there anyone who can give me some clues as to what this phenomenon might indicate?
I'm seeing another gastroenterologist in a few days, and getting checked by my primary care doctor for gluten sensitivity and thyroid issues a few days after that.
Does anyone have any ideas about what could be the source of my issues?
Does it make sense that the Magnesium Oxide I stopped taking four months ago could still be having an effect? Does the gut absorb the stuff for a long period of time?
I've heard that Calcium has the opposite effect as magnesium - do you think it's a good idea to try taking some form of Calcium, and that this might reverse the effects of the magnesium?
Does anyone have any recommendations for possible treatments to address my problems? Please feel free to share your own experiences!
Thank you all so much. I know that everyone on this forum is suffering with serious issues, and I wish you all the best of luck and strength.
I am a 23-year-old male. My symptoms began in December 2017, and have changed somewhat in the past 5 months. At present, these are my symptoms:
- My anus frequently becomes moist, especially (but not always) when holding gas or bowel movements, soon after eating, or even while eating. When I take Psyllium Husk (4-5 capsules 2-3x a day with a large mug of water), this moisture is transparent and mostly odorless, like sweat - but I don't know if it's actually sweat, or if it's water leaking from my anus. I haven't always had it, and when I don't take psyllium husk, the moisture is yellow-brownish,apparently a leakage - so I have reason to believe the moisture I'm still dealing with isn't sweat.
- My stools are frequently soft and unformed - not full-blown diarrhea, but something in between. They're yellow-brown in color, and are sometimes mucousy, leaving residue of mucous on the toilet paper. But sometimes they're small, hard, and broken up into pebbly lumps. My psyllium regimen usually but not always helps give me more well-formed, clean stools.
- I have bowel movements at least 3 times a day - without my psyllium, sometimes 5 or 6 times a day. Between these and having to wipe moisture off or pass gas safely, I'm in the bathroom almost once an hour or more. Ever since high school I've had relatively frequent BMs, sometimes 3 a day, which always led me to believe that I just had a fast metabolism. But since last December, when coupled with all these other irregularities, they've become really concerning.
- Sometimes passing gas makes my anus wet, and sometimes this wetness contains fecal residue / color
- Based on how frequently I have bowel movements, it would seem as if my bowel movements are incomplete
- When pushing out stool / gas, I've noticed that the tissues surrounding my anus bulge out on the left side. I can feel this with my finger (covered in toilet paper) when pushing my anal muscles in this way. I discovered this when attempting to clean my anus more completely by wiping while pushing. It doesn't feel like this bulge is something emerging from my anus, so I don't think it's my small intestine or anything, though I can't see it so I could be wrong. Is it natural for the tissues immediately surrounding the anus to bulge when pushing? My main concern is that the left side bulges so much more than the right side - this makes me wonder whether it's a hemorrhoid or a prolapse of some kind.
So those are my current symptoms. It all began one day last December when I was at work. Out of nowhere I began to feel as if my anus was soiled. So I went to the bathroom and sure enough, it was - yellow-brown residue on the paper. This began to occur without warning multiple times over the course of a few hours. It occurred totally passively: it wasn't as if I couldn't hold a bowel movement, but rather that for several hours after a bowel movement, after having cleaned thoroughly, when my bowels felt empty and I felt no urge whatsoever, my anus would leak.
At the time, I was very foolishly taking Magnesium Oxide. I had read in some health article about what a key nutrient magnesium is, and that some very large percentage of Americans have a magnesium deficiency - so foolish me figured "why not play it safe and take some for good measure". Little did I know that magnesium oxide causes diarrhea - and it would seem that this is what had triggered my anal leakage. At the time, however, I was also drinking homemade kombucha that my housemates had brewed - this makes it a little bit more difficult to pin the blame fully on the magnesium, but my housemates suffered no ill effects from their kombucha. Needless to say, I stopped taking the magnesium oxide as soon as I discovered its possible connection with my anal leakage. That was in early January. I expected that in a few weeks or months, my leakage would clear up, but it didn't.
In the meantime, based on recommendations I'd read on this forum, I had begun taking Psyllium Husk as described above. The psyllium made my bowel movements fewer and cleaner, and made my stools much more well-formed - for the first time I had begun have the snaky S-shaped stools that indicate "healthy poop". The psyllium began to clear up the fecal matter / color in my leakages as well, but I was still experiencing the clear anal moisture. Without the psyllium, the fecal-tinged leakages would begin again. Sometimes they were mucous-y, sometimes not.
So I began to worry that I had a physical defect of some kind - I became convinced that there was something wrong with my internal sphincter - possibly a defect brought on by my habit of hovering over the toilet rather than sitting during bowel movements (based on a misunderstanding about what it meant to "squat" when pooping - I thought hovering was the healthy thing to do). I went to a gastroenterologist in early March, who put his finger in my anus but couldn't find anything wrong. He told me it was unlikely that I'd messed up my pelvic floor by or sphincter by hovering, but also that it was unlikely that the magnesium I'd stopped taking two months ago could still be having an effect. He referred me to a colon and rectal surgeon for a manometry.
The surgeon put some kind of measuring device in my anus - I couldn't see it, and I should have asked what it was, and what the procedure was. I don't know whether this test was a manometry or not, but at the end he told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my sphincter strength, and that "everything looked good down there". He said the magnesium had probably thrown my system off balance, and recommended a high fiber diet. Since I'm a vegetarian, close to vegan, I already consume a very high-fiber diet - especially when coupled with the psyllium husk I'm taking now.
Since then, I've been taking the psyllium husk and hoping that this moisture would clear up, but it hasn't. When I stop taking the psyllium, my colored leakage begins again. I've developed an increase in gas, wetness when passing gas, and bowel movements.
About a week ago I started taking a Garden of Life RAW Colon Care Probiotic to address the possibility of a bacterial imbalance or yeast infection in my gut - however, this has led to diarrhea and an increase in gas, moisture, and frequency of bowel movements. I stopped taking the probiotic, and after a day (with the help of psyllium) I had a clean, well-formed stool again. Has anyone had this kind of experience with probiotics? Is there anyone who can give me some clues as to what this phenomenon might indicate?
I'm seeing another gastroenterologist in a few days, and getting checked by my primary care doctor for gluten sensitivity and thyroid issues a few days after that.
Does anyone have any ideas about what could be the source of my issues?
Does it make sense that the Magnesium Oxide I stopped taking four months ago could still be having an effect? Does the gut absorb the stuff for a long period of time?
I've heard that Calcium has the opposite effect as magnesium - do you think it's a good idea to try taking some form of Calcium, and that this might reverse the effects of the magnesium?
Does anyone have any recommendations for possible treatments to address my problems? Please feel free to share your own experiences!
Thank you all so much. I know that everyone on this forum is suffering with serious issues, and I wish you all the best of luck and strength.