Poop Question

[Anteau25]

I've been gluten free for a little over three months. My symptoms for the most part went away quickly, but it took a little longer to have a normal bowel movement. After about 3-4 weeks I did, but now I only go every couple of days or just a little bit at a time. After I go, I don't feel relieved. I feel like there's some left in my intestines or something. After about 4 days, I suddenly have to go-- ALOT. Then the cycle begins again. I've been taking stool softeners a few times a week. It's getting worse, and I've had a stomach ache and bloating since Friday. I've only gone a little bit three times in almost a week. Last night I took two stool softeners. I went this morning, but not enough. My poop isn't hard, the stool softeners just seem to help me go. Does anyone else have this problem or know how to help? PLEASE let me know. Thanks.

[Guest Villanfam]

I can't believe that we are talking about POOP . Well anyways, I have always had problems going to the bathroom before going gluten free. In high school I went like once very 5 days or so, but so did my sister so i thought it was normal. It wasn't until I met my husband that I found out that it wasn't LOL.

I have been gluten free for about 3 months now and am still only going like every 2 days or something and then sometimes a lot all of a sudden. I think the length of time for your intestines to heal varies from person to person depending on the amount of damage, age, how long they've had celiacs ect.

Also you have to really careful that you are not getting accidentally glutenated by food, soap, or contamination.

[azmom3]

My son is only 2 and was going about every 4-5 days (for a year and a half) and/or in cycles like you mentioned, but he was very constipated...just wouldn't go for days and then all of a sudden have 3-5 very large BM's in one day, then the cycle would start agian. His GI dr. had us start him on miralax twice a day and it has done wonders. He's still not "normal" but much improved, probably going every 2 days and it varies between very runny to soft, with an occasional "normal" poop. (We get so darned excited when we see one of these....it's all our family talks about the rest of the day! ) I'm not sure if it works for adults, but I would highly recommend it based on our experiences.

[Nantzie]

Poop is always a reasonable topic here.

Are you sure you've got all gluten out of your diet? It sounds like a food reaction to me. All the places gluten can hide take a while to find. Soy sauce and salad dressings are two places I never suspected at first. Also, guarding against cross contamination can't be emphasized enough. Same with personal care products such as haircare products, soaps, cosmetics, lotions, etc.

Many, if not most, people with gluten issues also have issues with dairy at first. The intestinal villi, which are damaged as part of the celiac disease process, also make the enzymes that digest dairy at the very tips of the villi. So until your body is healed many people have a dairy intolerance as well.

Since you're relatively recently diagnosed, you may also be having other food intolerances, which may or may not go away. I had almost as many problems with soy as I did with gluten for the first few months I was gluten-free.

The first thing I would do is to look for the hidden gluten.

Nancy

[zansu]

It's also possible that you're not getting enough fiber.

[Anteau25]

Hey thanks for the responses. I am getting enough fiber. At first I was thinking that maybe I wasn't drinking enough water with the amount of fiber I eat, so I started drinking more water. I've already checked my lotion, soap, makeup etc. I am so careful about cc that I feel like I have OCD lol. I didn't have a problem having a BM before being gluten free. It alternated between D and soft poop that broke apart like crumbs when I flushed. It seems that over the three months it's been getting worse. I don't know. Maybe my body is just adjusting.