Ribbon-like Stools From Colon Spasms Or Pellet Stool

[hayley3]

This symptom and the feeling of not being able to evacuate is why the doctor said I have IBS.

I feel like this is my "diarrhea" although it's not diarrhea actually, but looser than normal, and that's why it's flat-like. Otherwise I have clumpy and sometimes pellet stools. When my stomach hurts, I have the flat stool. After it's over, I go back to normal or clumpy.

I have not seen anyone with this particular symptom so I thought I'd ask. So does anyone have this who is diagnosed?

[hayley3]

I figured that. I've always been a medical misfit.

I think it would be a waste of my time to do the enterolab. I'm also not sure I trust them enough to blow $99.00 which is a lot for an unemployed sick person.

[Green12]

It was explained to me that thin, flat, ribbon like stools is a sign of inflammation in the intestinal tract.

Small pellet stool is a sign of dehydration.

[Ursa Major]

I get the ribbon-like stool after being glutened (for a few days after the D is over), and when I eat potatoes or rice (which I shouldn't be eating, either, but do once in a while anyway).

But if I stick to only foods that I am not intolerant to, my stools are perfectly normal.

Oh, and I'll get the pellets also when eating things I shouldn't (when I am constipated, it can go either way).

[hayley3]

Funny thing, is I went off gluten and ate some cheese sticks at White Castle for 2 days in a row and then I had a biscuit the 3rd day, but I was also eating Breyer's Ice Cream. I think one of those two has caused my intestinal distress. Now I just need to figure out which one did it.

Since no one here has those symptoms, I feel like that's a big clue that it's not celiac.

Maybe I have a wheat allergy?

[Ursa Major]

Susie, you may not have seen my response when you replied last. Because I was saying that I DID have ribbonlike stools from being glutened.

By the way, you may need to go dairy free, too.

[hayley3]

No, I didn't see your response. I'm soooo confused.

I'm back and forth, back and forth.

I have a lot to ponder.......

[Nancym]

I get both too. I think the skinny poops are from the intestines contracting and narrowing, probably in reaction to something hurting it. I get the other sort of poops when I am constipated. dairy constipates the heck out of me. Also sometimes after a serious bout of not-quite-diarrhea-but-definitely-something-wrong I'll go to the other extreme of constipation.

[AliB]

Hi Susie. I'm repeating myself so much I'm getting to be a bit boring now!

EVERYONE is gluten intolerant. Gluten has been genetically manipulated into a very complex protein that our stomachs are not capable of dealing with.

Anyone who eats gluten will eventually show a reaction and the longer gluten is consumed, the more damage is done to our gut and the less able it is to absorb the nutrients needed to keep our bodies functioning properly.

If your stools are not 'normal', then you are eating something it can't cope with. Ultimately it will be gluten, but because of the damage it does, causing things like leaky gut syndrome (also compounded by the amount of sugar we go through these days!) which allows toxins through the gut wall into the bloodstream, we can show some kind of reaction of allergic response to any type of food. Many who are gluten intolerant also find, for instance, that they are intolerant of dairy products and other things.

I have dropped not only gluten, but also dairy, most carbohydrate and most sugar. I am really dosing myself up on supplemental vitamins and minerals to try and offset my deficit due to the celiac/GI. I am beginning to see the benefit now, although I have eaten something this evening that my stomach doesn't like - I rather think I might be intolerant of soya, which is also quite common so I will be monitoring that. I too have had peculiar stools, even to the point that my gut stopped digesting fats which was rather frightening as I thought it was my gallbladder.

Now I know differently, and am doing everything I can to tell everyone I can about this evil and insidious poison called gluten that is so deceptively tempting and tasty!

[hayley3]

I agree Nancy, that they are contracting due to pain. Just like if you burnt yourself, you'd pull back, so do they.

And thanks Ali, it's not boring. I sometimes need to hear the same thing over and over, before it sinks in.

I've always believed that sugar can depress your immune system. It makes so much sense, esp. because we eat so much of it. There's a book out called No Flour, No Sugar diet and I'm sure it has helped a lot of people, as there has to be a common factor that is making us all sick. And then the unhealthier we are, the unhealthier our offspring are.

And I wholeheartedly agree with your statement: "If your stools are not 'normal', then you are eating something it can't cope with. "

So true.

[ravenwoodglass]

Susie your not alone, I also get ribbon stools from gluten and for me soy also. I had the 'rabbit turds', my Mom's term, for most of my life until I turned to daily D for 15 years. My poor body tried so hard to draw what it needed from my food, it eventually got so damaged all it could do was run things through. Some of us have abnormal stools for so long we don't even know they aren't normal. Until we have been gluten-free for a few months.

[hayley3]

Thanks ravenwoodglass.

I ate wheat on Sat, Sun and Mon.

I've had bloating, pain, and flat stools since Tuesday, and then I got a migraine on Friday morning.

And the first thing I noticed when I started the diet in November, was my bowels cleared up. I was just bragging the other day I hadn't had a migraine since December 5th, and that was a miracle.

So I figured, if it wasn't gluten, it was definitely wheat doing this to me.

I guess you all are stuck with me!

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks ravenwoodglass.

I ate wheat on Sat, Sun and Mon.

I've had bloating, pain, and flat stools since Tuesday, and then I got a migraine on Friday morning.

And the first thing I noticed when I started the diet in November, was my bowels cleared up. I was just bragging the other day I hadn't had a migraine since December 5th, and that was a miracle.

So I figured, if it wasn't gluten, it was definitely wheat doing this to me.

I guess you all are stuck with me!

Well it sounds like you did a gluten challenge and it was positive. What did you use for the challenge? I wouldn't be so sure it isn't gluten and not just wheat at this point. Exclude gluten in all forms for a bit, to be safe. You could then challenge with a wheat free but not gluten free product AFTER you are healed to confirm the gluten part of the equation.

Your next few weeks may be rough, don't forget that gluten is also a neurotoxin and you may be a bit depressed or irritable for a bit after you first eliminate it completely. Not everyone gets this effect but you should be aware that it can happen.

I hope you feel better soon. I haven't had a migraine since I went gluten free, I hope the same follows for you and that you are feeling better soon.

[hayley3]

I ate 3 cheese sticks at White Castle on Saturday.

On Sunday I ate 3 more cheese sticks and had a vanilla frosty.

On Monday someone took me out for my birthday. And....I just had to eat that biscuit. Funny thing is, I didn't use to eat the biscuits at restaurants, but now that I know I shouldn't, I just HAD to eat it.

By that night my stomach was starting to hurt.

The next day, I had made some sprouted whole wheat pizza and then I ate that. So now I don't know if sprouted wheat flour hurts my stomach or not. Probably so, but I wanted to test it.

And yep I always get irritable before I get that migraine. My migraines last 3 days.

Today it is finally to a point that it's bearable. Hopefully it will be gone tomorrow.

I guess giving up the gluten also made my TSH go back to normal, and it also caused my cornea to heal. I thought it was just a coincidence, but I don't think so anymore. This is really confusing my doctors. :D