Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Very Unusually Large Stools...

mindyandy420

Recommended Posts

mindyandy420 Apprentice
mindyandy420
Posted

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.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted
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! :huh:

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 Newbie
MrsClaus
Posted

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 Enthusiast
Mother of Jibril
Posted
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 :ph34r: Now that I've been on a gluten-free diet for ten months my toilet is working just fine :lol: I don't even remember the last time I had to use the plunger.

Ahorsesoul Enthusiast
Ahorsesoul
Posted

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

We added beans to our meals which helped this problem.

Michi8 Contributor
Michi8
Posted

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 Contributor
ang1e0251
Posted

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.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Nadia2009 Enthusiast
Nadia2009
Posted

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 Enthusiast
Ahorsesoul
Posted

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 Contributor
Michi8
Posted
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 Enthusiast
Ahorsesoul
Posted

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 Contributor
Michi8
Posted
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 Enthusiast
Nadia2009
Posted
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!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. Scott Adams
      0

      Celiac Disease Beyond the Western World: Hidden Populations, Changing Diets, and Growing Awareness

    2. Wheatwacked
      - Wheatwacked replied to Scott Adams's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      50

      Supplements for those Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

      Raising you vitamin D will increase absorption of calcium automatically without supplementation of calcium. A high PTH can be caused by low D causing poor calcium absorption; not insuffient calcium intake. With low D your body is not absorbing calcium from your food so it steals it from your bones. Heart has priority over bone. I've been taking 1...
    3. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      results from 13 day gluten challenge - does this mean I can't have celiac?

      @catnapt, Wheat germ has very little gluten in it. Gluten is the carbohydrate storage protein, what the flour is made from, the fluffy part. Just like with beans, there's the baby plant that will germinate ("germ"-inate) if sprouted, and the bean part is the carbohydrate storage protein. Wheat germ is the baby plant inside a kernel of wheat...
    4. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Scott Adams's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      50

      Supplements for those Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

      Hello, @asaT, I'm curious to know whether you are taking other B vitamins like Thiamine B1 and Niacin B3. Malabsorption in Celiac disease affects all the water soluble B vitamins and Vitamin C. Thiamine and Niacin are required to produce energy for all the homocysteine lowering reactions provided by Folate, Cobalamine and Pyridoxine. Weight...
    5. Florence Lillian
      - Florence Lillian replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      11

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      Hi Jane: You may want to try the D3 I now take. I have reactions to fillers and many additives. Sports Research, it is based in the USA and I have had no bad reactions with this brand. The D3 does have coconut oil but it is non GMO, it is Gluten free, Soy free, Soybean free and Safflower oil free. I have a cupboard full of supplements that did not agree...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,356
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    JAGAPG
    Newest Member
    JAGAPG
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Wheatwacked
      Supplements for those Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Raising you vitamin D will increase absorption of calcium automatically without supplementation of calcium.  A high PTH can be caused by low D causing poor calcium absorption; not insuffient calcium intake.  With low D your body is not absorbing calcium from your food so it steals it from your bones.  Heart has priority over bone. I've been taking 10,000 IU D3 a day since 2015.  My doctor says to continue. To fix my lactose intolerance, lots of lactobacillus from yogurts, and brine fermented pickles and saurkraut and olives.  We lose much of our ability to make lactase endogenosly with maturity but a healthy colony of lactobacillus in our gut excretes lactase in exchange for room and board. The milk protein in grass fed milk does not bother me. It tastes like the milk I grew up on.  If I drink commercial milk I get heartburn at night. Some experts estimate that 90% of us do not eat Adequite Intake of choline.  Beef and eggs are the principle source. Iodine deficiency is a growing concern.  I take 600 mcg a day of Liquid Iodine.  It and NAC have accelerated my healing all over.  Virtually blind in my right eye after starting antihypertensive medication and vision is slowly coming back.  I had to cut out starches because they drove my glucose up into the 200+ range.  I replaced them with Red Bull for the glucose intake with the vitamins, minerals and Taurine needed to process through the mitochodria Krebs Cycle to create ATP.  Went from A1c 13 down to 7.9.  Work in progress. Also take B1,B2,B3,B5,B6. Liquid Iodine, Phosphatidyl Choline, Q10, Selenium, D and DHEA.     Choline supplemented as phosphatidylcholine decreases fasting and postmethionine-loading plasma homocysteine concentrations in healthy men +    
    • knitty kitty
      results from 13 day gluten challenge - does this mean I can't have celiac?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @catnapt, Wheat germ has very little gluten in it.  Gluten is  the carbohydrate storage protein, what the flour is made from, the fluffy part.  Just like with beans, there's the baby plant that will germinate  ("germ"-inate) if sprouted, and the bean part is the carbohydrate storage protein.   Wheat germ is the baby plant inside a kernel of wheat, and bran is the protective covering of the kernel.   Little to no gluten there.   Large amounts of lectins are in wheat germ and can cause digestive upsets, but not enough Gluten to provoke antibody production in the small intestines. Luckily you still have time to do a proper gluten challenge (10 grams of gluten per day for a minimum of two weeks) before your next appointment when you can be retested.    
    • knitty kitty
      Supplements for those Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Hello, @asaT, I'm curious to know whether you are taking other B vitamins like Thiamine B1 and Niacin B3.  Malabsorption in Celiac disease affects all the water soluble B vitamins and Vitamin C.  Thiamine and Niacin are required to produce energy for all the homocysteine lowering reactions provided by Folate, Cobalamine and Pyridoxine.   Weight gain with a voracious appetite is something I experienced while malnourished.  It's symptomatic of Thiamine B1 deficiency.   Conversely, some people with thiamine deficiency lose their appetite altogether, and suffer from anorexia.  At different periods on my lifelong journey, I suffered this, too.   When the body doesn't have sufficient thiamine to turn food, especially carbohydrates, into energy (for growth and repair), the body rations what little thiamine it has available, and turns the carbs into fat, and stores it mostly in the abdomen.  Consuming a high carbohydrate diet requires additional thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  Simple carbohydrates (sugar, white rice, etc.) don't contain thiamine, so the body easily depletes its stores of Thiamine processing the carbs into fat.  The digestive system communicates with the brain to keep eating in order to consume more thiamine and other nutrients it's not absorbing.   One can have a subclinical thiamine insufficiency for years.  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so the symptoms can wax and wane mysteriously.  Symptoms of Thiamine insufficiency include stunted growth, chronic fatigue, and Gastrointestinal Beriberi (diarrhea, abdominal pain), heart attack, Alzheimer's, stroke, and cancer.   Thiamine improves bone turnover.  Thiamine insufficiency can also affect the thyroid.  The thyroid is important in bone metabolism.  The thyroid also influences hormones, like estrogen and progesterone, and menopause.  Vitamin D, at optimal levels, can act as a hormone and can influence the thyroid, as well as being important to bone health, and regulating the immune system.  Vitamin A is important to bone health, too, and is necessary for intestinal health, as well.   I don't do dairy because I react to Casein, the protein in dairy that resembles gluten and causes a reaction the same as if I'd been exposed to gluten, including high tTg IgA.  I found adding mineral water containing calcium and other minerals helpful in increasing my calcium intake.   Malabsorption of Celiac affects all the vitamins and minerals.  I do hope you'll talk to your doctor and dietician about supplementing all eight B vitamins and the four fat soluble vitamins because they all work together interconnectedly.  
    • Florence Lillian
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Florence Lillian · Posted

      Hi Jane: You may want to try the D3 I now take. I have reactions to fillers and many additives. Sports Research, it is based in the USA and I have had no bad reactions with this brand. The D3 does have coconut oil but it is non GMO, it is Gluten free, Soy free, Soybean free and Safflower oil free.  I have a cupboard full of supplements that did not agree with me -  I just keep trying and have finally settled on Sports Research. I take NAKA Women's Multi full spectrum, and have not felt sick after taking 2 capsules per day -  it is a Canadian company. I buy both from Amazon. I wish you well in your searching, I know how discouraging it all is. Florence.  
    • catnapt
      results from 13 day gluten challenge - does this mean I can't have celiac?

      By catnapt · Posted

      highly unlikely  NOTHING and I mean NOTHING else has ever caused me these kinds of symptoms I have no problem with dates, they are a large part of my diet In fact, I eat a very high fiber, very high vegetable and bean diet and have for many years now. It's considered a whole foods plant based or plant forward diet (I do now eat some lean ground turkey but not much) I was off dairy for years but recently had to add back plain yogurt to meet calcium needs that I am not allowed to get from supplements (I have not had any problem with the yogurt)   I eat almost no processed foods. I don't eat out. almost everything I eat, I cook myself I am going to keep a food diary but to be honest, I already know that it's wheat products and also barley that are the problem, which is why I gradually stopped eating and buying them. When I was eating them, like back in early 2024, when I was in the middle of moving and ate out (always had bread or toast or rolls or a sub or pizza) I felt terrible but at that time was so busy and exhausted that I never stopped to think it was the food. Once I was in my new place, I continued to have bread from time to time and had such horrible joint pain that I was preparing for 2 total knee replacements as well as one hip! The surgery could not go forward as I was (and still am) actively losing calcium from my bones. That problem has yet to be properly diagnosed and treated   anyway over time I realized that I felt better when I stopped eating bread. Back at least 3 yrs ago I noticed that regular pasta made me sick so I switched to brown rice pasta and even though it costs a lot more, I really like it.   so gradually I just stopped buying and eating foods with gluten. I stopped getting raisin bran when I was constipated because it made me bloated and it didn't help the constipation any more (used to be a sure bet that it would in the past)   I made cookies and brownies using beans and rolled oats and dates and tahini and I LOVE them and have zero issues eating those I eat 1 or more cans of beans per day easily can eat a pound of broccoli - no problem! Brussels sprouts the same thing.   so yeh it's bread and related foods that are clearly the problem  there is zero doubt in my mind    
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.