Morning poop

[HayleyR]

Hello all, I'm new here and I'm really just looking for some support! I've had problems with my poop for a while now but honestly just ignored them as really they didn't bother me that much, but I recently I realised that it's not normal! I think I have a sensitivity to lactose which I cut down several month ago but have allowed dairy to sneak back in my diet... but I'm not sure about gluten as well.  Each morning I wake and have a fairly normal if soft poop but it floats, followed later... 30 mins or an hour... by a more or less liquid poop sometimes explosive. I don't go again then until it repeats the next day, I don't have cramping but an urgency to go... I stopped eating gluten for a few days and my poop now sinks rather than floats but I still get the second diarrhea. Is this a symptom anyone else has had and how long until the liquid poop stopped, I think gluten free means less fibre so should I take a supplement... I am anxious basically, waking each morning waiting for a normal bowel movement... 

[GlutenFreeFrizz]

Hi Hayley!

First let me say, I feel your frustration. I was having almost the exact same BM pattern when I was first diagnosed 18 months ago, complete with the classic yellowish narrow stools. My GI and PCP told me that my intestines were so damaged (initial TTG level was 121- yeep!) food was basically going in one end and out the other.

Here are a couple things that have helped for me!

1) Much as it stinks (no pun intended), you may need to eliminate dairy OR switch to lactose-free or Lactaid products. I take a dose of Lactaid with every meal that contains dairy, and my husband and I have converted almost everything in our fridge to Lactaid (milk, sour cream), Lactose-free (creamer), or naturally lactose-free (Cabot makes some cheeses that are naturally lactose free!). This transition has done a lot to help my digestive health and general "Ugh" feelings.

2) When I was diagnosed, my GI recommended I start taking Citrucel caplets (the caplets specifically, not the powder) to help with the IBS-like symptoms I was presenting with. They've done WONDERS for my digestive health in the last 18 months... on the inverse, I definitely feel it when I forget to take them. That might be a good option for you? 

3) don't be afraid to talk poop with your doctor! My GI jokes that he's VERY interested in his patient's poop, because it can tell you a LOT about someone's health. See if talking to them about your troubles leads to some recommendations!

 

Hope this helps, and I hope you feel better!

[Wheatwacked]

6 hours ago, HayleyR said:

I stopped eating gluten for a few days and my poop now sinks rather than floats

6 hours ago, HayleyR said:

I think gluten free means less fibre so should I take a supplement...

Hi @HayleyR. Welcome to Celiac.com. Firstly, in just a few days you have proven to yourself that eating gluten is not good for you. It took some of us years to get to this point. Gluten is not really a great source of fiber. Here is a link to Mayo Clinic list of high fiber foods. Chart of high-fiber foods. A cup of cooked spaghetti has 6 grams of fiber and little other nutrition while a cup of cooked lentils has 15.5 grams of fiber and is a good source of protein.

If you need an official diagnosis, now is the time before starting a gluten free diet because once you take away gluten you will start to heal and the testing results are more accurate the sicker you are.

If you stick to the foods on this website Products allowed/disallowed in the Gluten Contamination Elimination Diet (GCED), targeting the elimination of gluten cross-contamination it will speed up your recovery. Also, get as much vitamin D as you can, it attenuates the autoimmune system. The role of vitamin D in autoimmune diseases. A lifeguard in summer measures around 80 ng/ml blood plasma vitamin D. Doctors are taught that greater than 30 ng/ml, the amount required to protect children from Rickets, is sufficient. They are wrong. 

 Vitamin D Is Not as Toxic as Was Once Thought: "The historical underpinnings of contemporary perspectives on vitamin D toxicity are rarely appreciated, but the concept that vitamin D is one of the most toxic fat-soluble vitamins has been instilled in the psyche of health regulators and the medical community... Dudenkov et al also found that only 1 person with a serum 25(OH)D level of 364 ng/ mL had evidence of clinical toxicity"

 

[trents]

HaleyR, it would be ideal if you were to actually get tested for celiac disease. There are antibodies that can be looked or for after a blood draw that indicated celiac disease if positive. Thing is though, you would need to go back on regular amounts of gluten for 6-8 weeks for the testing to be valid. Sounds like you are not digesting fat properly thus the floating stools. Dairy intolerance is very common with celiac disease. Cutting down on major sources of gluten is not hard but eliminating all gluten is much harder since it finds its way into food in many unexpected ways and many unexpected places. Eating out is one of the surest ways to get unexpected gluten contamination because of how handling practices in restaurant kitchens brings non gluten food into contact with gluten-containing food.

Celiac disease damages the villi that line the small bowel where most of the nutrition from the food we eat is absorbed. This damage almost always results in vitamin and mineral deficiencies over time.

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum!

I could not tell from your post whether or not you've:

1) Been diagnosed with celiac disease;

2) Are on a 100% gluten-free diet;

3) If the answer is yes to either, how long have you been gluten-free?

More info would be helpful.

[Ginger38]

17 hours ago, HayleyR said:

Hello all, I'm new here and I'm really just looking for some support! I've had problems with my poop for a while now but honestly just ignored them as really they didn't bother me that much, but I recently I realised that it's not normal! I think I have a sensitivity to lactose which I cut down several month ago but have allowed dairy to sneak back in my diet... but I'm not sure about gluten as well.  Each morning I wake and have a fairly normal if soft poop but it floats, followed later... 30 mins or an hour... by a more or less liquid poop sometimes explosive. I don't go again then until it repeats the next day, I don't have cramping but an urgency to go... I stopped eating gluten for a few days and my poop now sinks rather than floats but I still get the second diarrhea. Is this a symptom anyone else has had and how long until the liquid poop stopped, I think gluten free means less fibre so should I take a supplement... I am anxious basically, waking each morning waiting for a normal bowel movement... 

Your story sounds like mine. I had poop issues for years, had my gallbladder out and everything. I never thought it was normal but just learned to kind of live with it I guess. I later started having abdominal pain, nausea, reflux… all kinds of stuff. I was tested for celiac and had positive antibodies but was told I didn’t have celiac. It’s been a confusing roller coaster ride since. My poop is almost always yellow orange color, sometimes explosive with urgency that sometimes causes accidents. It’s not formed and floats. It’s extremely stinky and sometimes I have mucous as well. 

The longest I have been successfully gluten free was about 4 Months and I did notice some improvement in my stools, not completely resolved but definitely an improvement. 

I don’t know what to really recommend because I am still trying to figure out my own stuff but wanted to let you know my experience