Gluten and Stool Colour

[Lex-]

Hi everyone, and thanks for having put together such a large body of information on this website.

I am not a diagnosed celiac, but, having studied my symptoms for a while, I decided to go gluten free and see what happens. I started my new gluten free diet precisely a week ago. Within 3 or 4 days I started to feel different. Better bowel movement. More energised. Less irritable.

Today, however, I observed that I had pale (clay coloured) stool. It's the first time in my life that this has happened, and I believe it must have something to do with the change in my diet. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

I apologise if my question is redundant to some.

[Ennis-TX]

44 minutes ago, Lex_ said:

Hi everyone, and thanks for having put together such a large body of information on this website.

I am not a diagnosed celiac, but, having studied my symptoms for a while, I decided to go gluten free and see what happens. I started my new gluten free diet precisely a week ago. Within 3 or 4 days I started to feel different. Better bowel movement. More energised. Less irritable.

Today, however, I observed that I had pale (clay coloured) stool. It's the first time in my life that this has happened, and I believe it must have something to do with the change in my diet. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

I apologise if my question is redundant to some.

First off before going gluten free we always suggest getting tested, the simple blood test can be ordered by any doctor, and there is a follow up endoscope in many cases. Going gluten free now could render the test a false negative if your antibodies go down. You have to be eating gluten for 12 weeks prior to the test, getting off now might cause reintroduction later to have drastic changes and increased symptoms.

As to your stool, what are you eating? The clay like stool is odd, are you eating a varied diet of leafy greens, nuts seeds, eggs, meats etc?

[Lex-]

7 minutes ago, Ennis_TX said:

As to your stool, what are you eating? The clay like stool is odd, are you eating a varied diet of leafy greens, nuts seeds, eggs, meats etc?

Plenty of leafy greens and fruits. Also eggs and meat. Fermented garlic, daily. And some soy milk. There might have been unintentional gluten exposure prior to the stool incidence...

[trents]

If this is a pattern I would see an gastroenterologist but I would not put much emphasis on one incidence of abnormal colored stool.  Many things we eat as well as certain medications can change the color of our stools but so can certain diseases. If this is a pattern I would certainly get liver enzymes checked and gall bladder.

[Lex-]

16 hours ago, trents said:

If this is a pattern I would see an gastroenterologist but I would not put much emphasis on one incidence of abnormal colored stool.  Many things we eat as well as certain medications can change the color of our stools but so can certain diseases. If this is a pattern I would certainly get liver enzymes checked and gall bladder.

Thank you for your response, trents. So far it appears to have been a one time incidence.