The Chronicles Of Pooping

[Homerhurts]

Before I start allow me to first say how utterly embarrassed, humiliated and fearful of writing this I truly am. We should be able to talk about these things with family, friends and doctors how ever in reality

[IrishHeart]

Do not be embarrased about poop. Unfortunately, we all know way too much about it. It was the last thing I expected to become a pseudo- expert on. But I had to because I was wasting away and suffered the big D or C ---all the time---and I was in constant pain and had to figure out what the heck to do about it. I was 225 myself when the celiac triggered and plummeted to 122--not good at all. I was skeletal and my muscles became so weak and malnourished that I could not walk or sit or lie down without extreme pain. I'm still working on getting them back.

I tried juicing to get something to stay in--and all it did was --cause more problems. Immediate evacuation both ways--if you get my drift. Why? Well, because a compromised GI tract cannot DIGEST it.

You may well have some "cleansing" going on from juicing celery, apple and grapefruit juice. You are doing this because you think it will help your weight loss--is that right?

Prolonged cleansing of the bowels is not--contrary to popular belief--(and I am SURE some will argue with me on this )--a good thing at all, especially if you have Celiac or any other inflammatory bowel disease.

Question:

Did this bowel difficulty begin when you started this new addition? Or has it been going on all along during the past year of being gluten free?

You mention you get glutened "every month"--which can also perpetuate the bowel issues.

(I doubt you have suddenly developed an allergy to these three foods so suddenly).

I would suggest you take probiotics every day, if you are not taking them already. They balance the gut flora and help restore natural balance.

To be frank, I will give it to you straight, okay. Since you asked, a healthy BM is one that is not strained, runny or very smelly. It should not be in pieces or like hard little marbles.

It should be formed and come out smoothly. There is disagreement about how often someone should "go", but most people are happy with one a day.

It's kind of sad I know all that info --I swear, I did not study poopology in grad school.

But I made it my mission to stop being so ill and dehydrated so my trips to the ER, heart palpitations and hypoglycemia and everything else would stop.

And they have. And my weight has stabilized at 137. I was overweight for 10 years before I became ill, though.

Here is why you need probiotics:

Open Original Shared Link

For successful weight management and stable blood sugars, I found that eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day works better than 3 big meals

and

that for every carb I eat, I eat lean PROTEIN. Carbs alone--pasta, rice and cheese--should be a smaller portion than the protein and the largest portion of food on your plate should VEGETABLES for fiber. Except for the celery, you have not mentioned them at all. This will also help with the poop factor.

Can you eat gluten-free oatmeal? That is filling, healthy and will firm things up as well. Try other grains besides white rice and rice pasta. Too much cheese can mess up the works as well.

If my humble suggestions do not help, maybe a dietician can help you sort this out?

Best wishes!

[Lori2]

Your morning smoothie would have me on the toilet all day. Please add some protein.

You ask what a normal healthy bowel movement looks like. I happened to find this on the internet. It's a morning talk show on Canadian TV. The topic of discussion is "What your BM says about you!" They discussed seven different types of BM's, then showed what each looked like. Needless to say, it was a very different program, but perhaps it will answer your question.

The next segment of the show, "The natural way to optimal digestion" also had some information about gluten and celiac.

Open Original Shared Link

[giggleburger]

Your morning smoothie would have me on the toilet all day. Please add some protein.

You ask what a normal healthy bowel movement looks like. I happened to find this on the internet. It's a morning talk show on Canadian TV. The topic of discussion is "What your BM says about you!" They discussed seven different types of BM's, then showed what each looked like. Needless to say, it was a very different program, but perhaps it will answer your question.

The next segment of the show, "The natural way to optimal digestion" also had some information about gluten and celiac.

Open Original Shared Link

Wow, that page may not be tons of information, but it is super helpful.

[dilettantesteph]

Open Original Shared Link

Thank-you.

I too spend a lot of time thinking about my poop. It is good to have information from a medical expert.

[sora]

Thanks for posting that link.

My poops have changed a lot in the short time I have been gluten free, it's good to know what 'normal' is.

[Gemini]

Do not be embarrased about poop. Unfortunately, we all know way too much about it. It was the last thing I expected to become a pseudo- expert on. But I had to because I was wasting away and suffered the big D or C ---all the time---and I was in constant pain and had to figure out what the heck to do about it. I was 225 myself when the celiac triggered and plummeted to 122--not good at all. I was skeletal and my muscles became so weak and malnourished that I could not walk or sit or lie down without extreme pain. I'm still working on getting them back.

I tried juicing to get something to stay in--and all it did was --cause more problems. Immediate evacuation both ways--if you get my drift. Why? Well, because a compromised GI tract cannot DIGEST it.

You may well have some "cleansing" going on from juicing celery, apple and grapefruit juice. You are doing this because you think it will help your weight loss--is that right?

Prolonged cleansing of the bowels is not--contrary to popular belief--(and I am SURE some will argue with me on this )--a good thing at all, especially if you have Celiac or any other inflammatory bowel disease.

Question:

Did this bowel difficulty begin when you started this new addition? Or has it been going on all along during the past year of being gluten free?

You mention you get glutened "every month"--which can also perpetuate the bowel issues.

(I doubt you have suddenly developed an allergy to these three foods so suddenly).

I would suggest you take probiotics every day, if you are not taking them already. They balance the gut flora and help restore natural balance.

To be frank, I will give it to you straight, okay. Since you asked, a healthy BM is one that is not strained, runny or very smelly. It should not be in pieces or like hard little marbles.

It should be formed and come out smoothly. There is disagreement about how often someone should "go", but most people are happy with one a day.

It's kind of sad I know all that info --I swear, I did not study poopology in grad school.

But I made it my mission to stop being so ill and dehydrated so my trips to the ER, heart palpitations and hypoglycemia and everything else would stop.

And they have. And my weight has stabilized at 137. I was overweight for 10 years before I became ill, though.

Here is why you need probiotics:

Open Original Shared Link

For successful weight management and stable blood sugars, I found that eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day works better than 3 big meals

and

that for every carb I eat, I eat lean PROTEIN. Carbs alone--pasta, rice and cheese--should be a smaller portion than the protein and the largest portion of food on your plate should VEGETABLES for fiber. Except for the celery, you have not mentioned them at all. This will also help with the poop factor.

Can you eat gluten-free oatmeal? That is filling, healthy and will firm things up as well. Try other grains besides white rice and rice pasta. Too much cheese can mess up the works as well.

If my humble suggestions do not help, maybe a dietician can help you sort this out?

Best wishes!

This is about the most complete and best information I have read on the subject in a long time! Very good, Irishheart, and extremely helpful to those needing information. It's better than what any medical professional will tell you.....they are the people who coined the term "toddler diarrhea" and they think that's normal!

[xjrosie]

I see this has not been mentioned directly, but regardless of what nutrients you're taking in, even in a non-celiac person bowel movements will differ depending on what is eaten.

I don't think you really need any more information on the BM, but if you are having heart irregularities now that your celiac and gall bladder issues are mostly taken care of, it's probably due to your weight (not knowing your height or build, just guessing). I bet once you get that down to a better number you'll have less problems with that too. I used to not only have a racing heart but would get lightheaded and dizzy too. Once I lost weight, it went away.

[Monael]

According to that video, I have never had a normal poop (at least I don't remember one so if I did it was many many years ago...) What does that mean? It has gotten a lot better since going gluten free but it still is not normal.

[KatieCartoon]

Hi I'm 2 months into the land of Celiac. At first I was happy. And I saw some improvement with bloating and diarrhea right away. But now I've plateaued. I'm still pooing too often and too soft. (no TMI amoung celiac friends right?)

I'm doing my best to keep gluten out, I don't know how paranoid I should be. I get very frustrated because I still have problems when I do "right".

How do I figure out what to eat. So far, reading this I'm seeing, keep fiber, veggies, protein, and fat in your diet. (no smoothies?)

I'm also recently pregnant so i can't eat anything that isn't yummy(before I could eat something because it was healthy - now I'll just spit it out). A lot of gluten-free bread is yucky!

And I was looking at a list and seeing all the stuff where gluten hides! So depressing...ice-cream??

I need to find a doctor to help me. I'm tired tired tired (b/c celiac first then b/c pregnancy)

I want just 2 days off from pooping. Puh-leeze!

I find the website here a little overwhelming. I mean I never nearly died or even got all thin. I'm wondering if I could be allergic to other things, and how do I find out? what kind of doc. to I need?

Help!

[Monael]

KatieCartoon, I am in a similar boat... Too soft, at least 2x a day. But it is so much better going gluten free that I am going to wait a while before I pursue other intolerances. It has improved quite a bit, now I never have to run to the bathroom. From what I have seen on here, it takes a while to get back to normal, and it has been less than a year since I went gluten free (gee I can't believe I don't know how long it has been) and since things are improving I am going to give myself time to heal. I have had bathroom issues for over 20 years but I have a horrible memory and poop just isn't one of those things that I try to remember I do know that I have had doctors tell me I have IBS for nearly 30 years.

As far as I know, the only ice creams that we need to worry about are things like chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies and cream because they have chunks of gluten. Just read the ingredients... I am happy to say that my favorite, rocky road, is gluten free YAY!

[dilettantesteph]

Yeah! I finally got a normal one again. I've been trying to figure out what is getting me for ages with careful elimination diets. The symptoms were pretty minor, but even minor symptoms aren't that great. This time I eliminated two things out of desperation to get better, now I need to decide which one to put back in again.

What I do is keep a food journal, do elimination diets, and don't add more than one new thing a week.

[IrishHeart]

I'm doing my best to keep gluten out, I don't know how paranoid I should be. I get very frustrated because I still have problems when I do "right".

How do I figure out what to eat. So far, reading this I'm seeing, keep fiber, veggies, protein, and fat in your diet. (no smoothies?)

I find the website here a little overwhelming. I mean I never nearly died or even got all thin. I'm wondering if I could be allergic to other things, and how do I find out? what kind of doc. to I need?

Help!

You should not be paranoid at all, hon! This is nothing to be worried about.

Everyone is different and healing occurs at different rates.

Healthy Smoothies are all right!! Cleansing diets are not a good idea--that was a response to the original poster who was not feeling well. The one she talks of has minimal nutrition and is keeping her bowels running. How is that nutritious??

Not everyone gets "thin or nearly dies" from celiac. This disease process is so variable.

You are new to the diet. Just eat well, avoid gluten and dairy, if it bothers you ---and take some probiotics.

Drink water. Relax. Let your body heal.

There is no need to become paranoid or start worrying that every food is an "allergen". That is not the norm. okay? okay!

Best wishes.

[IrishHeart]

If you are newly DXed, dairy may be the issue. Ice cream could well cause you

the big D. Secondary lactose intolerance is common in celiac and is often a temporary issue --lactase is produced in the tips of the villi--and once the villi grow back, you can tolerate dairy once more.

If you experience bloating, D, nausea and you are sure it's not gluten getting in--this could be the culprit.

Lay off dairy for a few months. When the villi heal, you should be okay with dairy products. (Some people do not, but the majority of celiacs can "do dairy" just fine.)

[BeFree]

"According to that video, I have never had a normal poop (at least I don't remember one so if I did it was many many years ago...) What does that mean? It has gotten a lot better since going gluten free but it still is not normal."

I never had a normal poop either...until now!!!! I've been gluten-free for 6 months and I'm finally starting to have healthy poops, completely different from anything I've ever had in my whole 39 years of life. It's so crazy that for most of my life, I had no idea that my "bathroom habits" were so abnormal. More people need to talk about this!!! I'm glad that people like Marilyn and Dr. Oz are doing shows about it!

[RuskitD]

We all poop. Yes, we were raised that proper people do not discuss such private matters. Though if you share home with someone, and get emergency "D", it makes it quite difficult to keep private matters private!!!! LOL

I agree with the logging diary of foods and how you feel each day. This has totally helped me in tracking down repeat offenders, and NEVER eating THAT again!

Lactose has been suggested. I thank the Powers That Be that I don't have that issue! I would be whiny! However, you do need to assess that for yourself.

I would like to offer to you also, corn and soy!

I was FINE with them when I quit gluten. A month in, suddenly I had been 'glutened', but I knew I hadn't had gluten!!! Watching my diary, I knew the common denominator was corn in some form. I cut that out, and I was fine.

Corn is hidden everywhere! I was in shock to find this out! Citric acid should be citrus, not corn! Store brand Granulated sugar is corn? really? I thought it was beet or cane!

I have learned more about the American way of processing natural foods than I ever wanted to!!!

Your raw veggies could be sprayed with a corn based citric acid, your chicken (meat) also! Without it being labeled as such! I read that most of our foods are either bathed in it or sprayed with it, as a preservative.

Great!

Oh, and the little moisture absorbing pad in the meat package can contain corn!

Washing veggies, and soaking and rinsing our meat can help.

I was doing better again and got "glutened" (all my symptoms again!) it was happening once a week. Thanks to my diary I traced it to canned tuna. Soy based vegetable broth in water packed tuna.

Who would have thought of soy being in a can of tuna? Well, it is.

No more canned tuna for me. No more soy.

My mental state was good when going gluten free, but I somewhat 'lost it' when the corn sensitivity hit me. (It is so easy to not be your normal self when you are suffering the symptoms!) Reading all the labels and realizing its in nearly EVERYTHING we eat.

I had a tantrum in front of my pantry cabinet as I began tossing out foods that were offenders.

It is hard when you are being so diligent, and then the symptoms hit you! Knowing you are setting back your healing process! You thought you were doing everything right, and then BAM! something 'got' you!

Keep a diary of every food, including brand if you can't remember that. Also list how you felt that day, several times a day. It really will help you look back and trace the offender!

Oh, and keep that sense of humor! Its the best thing for healing!

[Chad Sines]

The low sodium tuna does not include the vegetable broth aka no soy. Soy hits me harder and faster than gluten.

I think one of the most helpful pieces of advice I heard was that many go through, at least temporarily, a phase where they are intolerant of multiple things. Not figuring out what those things are can cause one to believe they are not "gluten free" when in fact they have simply not identified all their issues.