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.
WITH IBS - BOWEL MOVEMENTS apparently can take any form possible.
In my case I will have bowel movements then just when I believe I'm okay my stomach will begin to generate gas, bloating & what not. IT IS INCOMPLETE EVACUATION which can go on all day. No matter how much comes out - you still feel you have to go again & again.
Yes. Your stool can change too. You can start out with a hard stool but by the time you are finished it can become very soft. Borderline Diarrhea.
I would go back to taking milk or tea. Sometimes dietary changes can affect IBS. If your recent changes of bowel habit started after you changed your diet, this may be the cause.
Lemons are acidic and may have upset your intestine. Milk is more alkaline and soothes the stomach. I haven't had this type of bowel habit change. With me it is constipation or loose. However, everyone is different.
Thanks for the response. Yes the half normal/half runny stool is what I'm experiencing. I've always had it here and there and have previously heard it's a very typical IBS stool.
Thanks Pippa
I have always had a stool like this now and again but has been a bit more consistent this past month. I'll stop the lemon water and see if it helps. I didn't really want to start milk again, I guess just plain boiled water would be OK.
Was the milk causing a reaction? Taking a lot of water may be softening your stools too much. Maybe cut down on this. I would still just go back to what you were doing before if your stools were not like this previously.
No, nothing that I'd noticed, I just didn't want milk anymore for other reasons. But I think I will just experiment to see what happens.
That being said I have had perfectly normal stools within the time of starting the lemon water, too, so it might just be a coincidense.
When I have an IBS attack this description is very fitting. I remember having to describe it to a doctor and as a walker the only description which sprung to mind was cow pat. I know disgusting. I started having this problem about 5 years ago and never really resolved it. I am better than I was and I think reducing my bread intake helped and I only eat wholemeal bread now. I gave up milk for a while but seemed to make me even worse so I have started having the occasional tea. When I am stressed this is worse so I definitely think for me stress plays a major part and I have been lucky as I have had a temporary contract renewed but I was so bad for a while that every day involved a 3 hour loo break so I obviously had to give up work. I am much better since that time so there is hope. Also if I want a snack I used to biscuits and still like the occasional biscuit but I eat more good stuff like carrots and celery as a snack. I also exercise more and try to walk about 20 miles a week. I think a mixture of all this has helped but definitely avoiding peak traffic jams is much better for me. Also I am never ill at the time of the stress but always a day or 2 days later but I think it must be related. I wish there was one cure but believe it to be more trial and error.
PS I see comments on water. My view on this I am strangely better when I drink more water. When I was at my most ill and suffered terribly with explosive emissions it was before I even realised there were benefits to water as drunk hardly any so for me water is a benefit. Water in those days came from the juice of fruit used in cocktails. Also apart from Christmas I am virtually teetotal now. I break this rule for Christmas but the rest of the year I try to do without it.
This has been me for the past 6 weeks . Last week I had as close to normal bowel movements since everything has started. Went to Gastro he gave me some antibiotics said maybe IBS for couple of weeks haven't started since I got better but today it started again . Grrrrrrrr .
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; )
That's the challenge with IBS; everything is trial and error.
Everyone is different when it comes down to your problem.
Talk to your GP and ask Him for some form of advice
BOB
Thanks for the reply. Sorry to hear about your struggles. As for water, I know people who are constipated need to keep well hydrated to help with smoother bowel movements. I'm not constipated and don't drink in excess of 6-7 200ml glasses of water per day. I am aware though, the lemon water is often recommended to boot a slugglish colon up the bee-hind, and wondered if it is causing this effect on me given that my BM's aren't sluggish to start with.
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.
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.
Good luck with that one. I learned more here than I ever did speaking to doctors and consultants.
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.
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.
Avoid milk for a while to see if you are lactose intolerant.