Very Unusually Large Stools...

[mindyandy420]

When I was younger I remember my brother having unusually LARGE stools. So big that they would clog the toilet and you wonder how he passed something that BIG. I'm talking large....

What is that all about? Does anybody know. Would it have anything to do with celiac?

When my parents brought him to the dr they just said take in more fiber....it never worked. I dont know if he still has this problem. We are adults now and its something you just dont ask.

[Gemini]

When I was younger I remember my brother having unusually LARGE stools. So big that they would clog the toilet and you wonder how he passed something that BIG. I'm talking large....

What is that all about? Does anybody know. Would it have anything to do with celiac?

When my parents brought him to the dr they just said take in more fiber....it never worked. I dont know if he still has this problem. We are adults now and its something you just dont ask.

If you suffer from mal-absorption, then food will pass through and not much of it will be absorbed. This will result in larger stool volume or more numerous bowel movements. It's another one of those clues people do not recognize as being tied to mal-absorption and doctors ignore and tell you to eat more fiber!

My niece had the same problem. I am a diagnosed Celiac and she was not tested. My sister put her on a gluten-free diet after I was diagnosed and she responded beautifully. She had numerous symptoms of celiac disease and this was one of them.

[MrsClaus]

My adult son has had that problem and the blood test came back neg. he doesn't have insurance for an endoscopy and is not convienced he needs to follow that diet.

[Mother of Jibril]

When I was younger I remember my brother having unusually LARGE stools. So big that they would clog the toilet and you wonder how he passed something that BIG. I'm talking large....

I used to clog the toilets a LOT Now that I've been on a gluten-free diet for ten months my toilet is working just fine I don't even remember the last time I had to use the plunger.

[Ahorsesoul]

My dd has this problem even on a gluten-free diet.

We added beans to our meals which helped this problem.

[Michi8]

This has been the GI issue my son has dealt with since toddlerhood (he is now 11yo). Essentially the stool moves very slowly, and the bowel stretches out rather than moving the stool along. When the stool is finally eliminated, it is very large, dry and clogs the toilet...and is very painful to pass. For my son, the celiac panel came back negative, and other tests showed no other health issues. So, for the last 3 years we've given a daily dose of PEG 3350 (MiraLAX in the US) which pulls water into the bowels to soften the stool and make it easier to pass. Doing this has given his body a chance to shrink the stretched bowel back down to normal size. It's not habit-forming, but he returns to being "backed-up" fairly easily if we go without the PEG a day or two. Adding fibre to the diet, BTW, would make this GI issues worse...more bulk would just stretch the bowel out more. I suspect the stretchy bowel may be an Ehlers Danlos Syndrome issue (connective tissue disorder), as EDS is genetic and I've was diagnosed last year (with different symptoms than my son.)

We have figured out too, that he is lactose intolerant. Taking lactaid helped significantly with the frequent upset tummy problems. These issues may very well be due to gluten-intolerance or celiac, but the pediatrician won't entertain testing again at this point. So we'll just watch carefully...and may try the gluten free diet again this summer to see if it helps.

Michelle

[ang1e0251]

Magnesium can help constipation and large stools. For me, it seemed improve my stools. It seemed to me I was extracting more liquid from my stools and making them normal rather than loose and poorly colored.

[Nadia2009]

What is the normal number of bowel movements? I have about 3 a day and a friend told me it wasn't normal. I do feel my food has a quick transit time now than it used to be. I also know that a hyper working thyroid gland makes you go to the washroom often but once that was cleared I didnt worry about my BM. Should I? I also have large stools for the amount of food I eat not every single time but often.

[Ahorsesoul]

I think normal is different for each person depending on eating habits. I had a doctor tell me to try for three a day. The idea was to have one for each time you ate instead of waiting to have one movement a day.

[Michi8]

I think normal is different for each person depending on eating habits. I had a doctor tell me to try for three a day. The idea was to have one for each time you ate instead of waiting to have one movement a day.

There is some variation of "normal", but I believe 3 per day, everyday, is probably excessive. The body doesn't process food quickly enough to have a movement for each meal. AFAIK, one a day would be ideal, but it can be very normal to skip a day too. My son, OTOH, would go days in between. That was not healthy for him at all.

Michelle

Edit: After a quick google search, apparently 3 times per day can be normal for some...the rule of thumb appears to be anywhere from 3 per day to 3 per week.

[Ahorsesoul]

The doctor who told me 3 times a day explained that if we eat three times a day our body does not put a hold on the meals and process all at once. It processes as it comes in. The sooner it goes out the less time our bodies have to reabsorb the toxins.

[Michi8]

The doctor who told me 3 times a day explained that if we eat three times a day our body does not put a hold on the meals and process all at once. It processes as it comes in. The sooner it goes out the less time our bodies have to reabsorb the toxins.

I would expect the flip side to that would be, the faster our body moves food/waste through our bodies, the less time we have to absorb nutrients as well.

Michelle

[Nadia2009]

I think normal is different for each person depending on eating habits. I had a doctor tell me to try for three a day. The idea was to have one for each time you ate instead of waiting to have one movement a day.

Thanks for answering. Well, when I started going 3 times I was happy until a friend of mine burst my bubble telling me it wasn't good. I think what your doctor says about no absorbing toxins and what Michelle is saying could both be true. In my case, this is actually very interesting. I have been looking to notice any digestive issue and I always thought I had very few but this is one of them. I haven't been always like this only recently. But I thought it was due to the colon cleanse I did a year ago and that I was just eliminating properly and better than others.

I think it is kinda strange because I sometimes go to the washroom (BM) 3 times by 2-3pm if I have certain foods. It is like I am eliminating the slightest thing I that enters my estomach. But I almost never had diarhea so I didn't worry about it. I think this is a symptom my doctor will be interested in knowing.

Thanks to the original poster!