Weird stuff in our poop...

[genealogy-janet]

Hi ya'all!

O.k., I don't want to gross anyone out, so I'll start with an apology and a bit of a disclaimer. Sorry to have looked , and sorrier to dare talk about it, but aren't we all a bit curious? As a baby nurse one of my jobs was to collect and weigh every diaper charting amts of both urine and stool. Maybe that makes me a bit more comfortable with this messy topic than I might have otherwise been. Still, please forgive me if this is too over the top for the discussion board.

I drank some milk and had an icecream float this last week and am again finding many very small white oval globules in my stool. It reminds me of curdled milk or more specifically what floats to the top of the pot when milk or cream reaches too high a temperature. To me it looks like the milk left me without being digested. Also, I frequently find very small seeds and other food particles like tomatoe peels or corn.

I'd guess these to be signs of malabsorption, but I don't really know. Perhaps it is in the realm of normal.

Here's a link to an artcle entitled "Stools- What's healthy and what's not."
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/getting ... stools.htm
What do you have to say on this subject?

[tex]

Here's my two cents worth:

Any food fragments that you see in a stool are the result of inadequate or faulty digestion, not malabsorption. Undigested food cannot, (or at least should not), be absorbed into the bloodstream. In fact, a digestive problem known as the leaky gut syndrome allows the absorption of longer polymer chains, which are present in the chime, due to insufficient digestion, and this is the cause of various systemic problems, such as joint pain, muscle pain, headaches, etc. This occurs due to a rise in the zonulin level in the blood, causing the tight junctions between the cells in the epithelium of the small intestine, to open excessively wide, and allow insufficiently-digested particles of food to pass through into the bloodstream. Normally, of course food must be broken down to elemental particles, before absorption into the bloodstream can take place, because normally, the tight junctions stay closed.

You can't see nutrients in the stool, therefore you can't see the effects of malabsorption in the stool, except, of course, you can see steatorrhea, (unabsorbed fat), in the stool, since it is greasy. It is quite normal for certain food items to pass through the body in virtually pristine condition, (other than being fragmented by the chewing process, before it is swallowed). These include things such as the pericarp, (outer shell), on some fruit, seeds, (corn, for example), and cellulostic fibers. IOW, anything undigestable by the human digestive system, passes through the body in undigested condition.

I don't have an opinion on the white oval globules that you saw. Normally, when lactose deficiency prevents proper digestion of milk in the small intestine, it is digested by a fermentation process, in the colon. This is what causes the gas and bloating that is so common with lactose deficiency. Maybe some one else has some thoughts on what it might be. (For all I know, it might be curds from the milk, but I don't know enough about it to venture a guess).

Tex

[mle_ii]

Boy, I can't even ponder how dairy would go through the entire digestive system and still show up at the other end as white globules. The only way I could think of is if it went very quickly through your system, but then you'd see other undigested food as well and it'd show up as well. Though given how our bodies can be busted in other ways I suppose it could be possible.

My thoughts on what it might be are either results of a fungus overgrowth (but I would guess this would show up more often than just when you drink milk) or possibly a lot of mucus (which could be the result of a response to the dairy).

Again FWIW the only things that could go undigested like that and show up in the stool would be stuff like fiber (for example the outside bit of corn, fruit and vegetable peels, nuts, etc) as Tex mentioned. Or if the food went through so quickly it didn't have a chance to break down by the digestive system or the bacteria in the colon.

Mike

[tex]

There have been a few posts about "white stuff", or "white globs" in stool, in this thread on the Poop Report:

http://www.poopreport.com/Doctor/Knowle ... stuff.html

The Poop Report is always entertaining, though it doesn't really offer any medical explanations about this issue.

Tex

[Mars]

Janet,
I wouldn't have any idea, except to state the above.

Have you tried NOT drinking milk or milk products to see if the "stuff" is still there? Hmmmmmm, our bodies do some strange things, don't they?

Mars

[genealogy-janet]

Thanks Tex, Mars and Mike,

What excellant answers!!! Tex, you are really up on things, thank you.

I generally avoid dairy and gluten. They've never much appealed to me. They've made their way into my diet over the past ten years because they are a mainstay for my husband and his family.

I did, however take to a nightly bowl of ice cream for a time. I quit when my Raynaud's advanced to white digits and black finger tip pads. Occasional dairy usually doesn't give me much cause for concern unless I have too much as I had this last week.

I really appreciate your time and knowledge,

Janet

[harvest_table]

I generally avoid dairy and gluten. They've never much appealed to me. They've made their way into my diet over the past ten years because they are a mainstay for my husband and his family.

Hi Janet,

It's has not been too hard for me, somehow I'm managing to follow a diet that works well for me without diary and gluten after three years and my family is still eating a diet full of most things I avoid. It's not tempting for me anymore, although I worry about their health long term because it's in the genes. Family controvery, big time.

If dairy and gluten is a problem for you like many of us, it's hard to just "generally" avoid it and be okay in the long run. Gluten is danger, and the bottom rung of the ladder which can trigger other problems with dairy, in my opionion.

Be sure to read the labels on your ice cream- many have wheat, especially those that are like cookies and cream and such.

Nice to hear from you.

Love,
Joanna

[Liz]

Hello Janet,

I relate to your experience with white lumps in the stool. I do not have that experience now but in the past I did quite often get these white lumps, usually after having a fair amount of milk or cream so I supposed that it was not digested fully & came through in that form. I still at times get undigested food, especially seeds, as Tex mentioned, & some salad stuff such as lettuce. I can't eat corn at all as it causes all sorts of problems but when I did it used to come out looking exactly as it went in.

And no, you will not gross anyone out on this board. No one here would take offence at all at your discussing these things. We all have experienced these sorts of problems & it helps to talk about it with people who know just what you are going through.

Love

Liz

[genealogy-janet]

Thanks for all the nice responses,

Yes the GI tract as well as this whole Temple that houses my spirit is a wonderful thing. Tex, Mars, Mike, Joanna, Liz, thanks!

I saw my gastroenterologist today and told him of all the autoimmune issues I've had since last seeing him and asked abt the possibility of enteropathic Ankylosing Spondylarthropathy. He says we could look into it should I get a Ulcerative Colitis dx or Chrones. I was interested in Sulfasalamide (sp.?) to halt this flare that started in March. No go there. Not w/o a Rheumy's backing to tx systemic disease or dx of ulc. colitis.

dx=diagnosis
tx=treatment


He says the white ovals could very well be dairy.

Waving the white flag to the docs. Guess I'll start taking all those pills they want me to put in for reflux, low vit. D, joint pain, and low thyroid. Personally, I'd prefer not to take any. But after talking with three doctors and a pharmacist in a six hour time-block it seems the best course of action. It's 0430 and I've woken in a sweat, forced my body to turn in bed (stiff and painful hips and lower spine), hobbled off to the kitchen on sore feet and legs to take the Levothyroxine (grateful for soft shoes to pad those tender heels.) I'll wait an hour then take the Omnepresnal (Prilosec). Then, up to twice a day with meaIs an NSAID. I need to go to the store and buy a calcium and vit D supplement. This will be day one with modern medicine, lets see if it helps.

Had three appts today (internist to review x-rays low vit. D & hypothyroid results, podiatrist for bilat. plantar fasciitis, and GI doc to try to make sense of it all) with a sick 7 yo in tow) , Poor kid. She got lots of holding. Sarah fell to sleep in my arms at the G. I.'s office. Dr. Harmston really had a great bedside manner and said that the acid blocker will buffer my stomach from the harmful effects of the NSAID's. I'd hoped not to be a pill popper, but Doc Harston pointed out that people live longer these days. Maybe pills aren't such a bad thing, afterall.

Janet

[genealogy-janet]

Wanted to bump edited post to top. Thanks for your wonderful support.

At 46 I'm feeling like I've climbed over a fence to give in to taking pills. LOL!!!



This is my 7 year old daughter, Sarah, watching the 24th of July Pioneer parade in SLC.

A newspaper photographer was very kind to e-mail these photos to me. Sarah was sitting with my husband, Nathan and son, Cooper under my friend's tarp at the parade. I had pushed the walker I had borrowed from my Father-in-law to try to find and help a friend on the other end of the parade route while these pics were taken. Jennifer Kunzler had sick 3 yo twins and her seven yo daughter in tow and was looking for her husband, Jed who had run the associated marathon. When I returned, and I took my time because of the pain, the parade had ended and my friend, Teddi Van Leeuwan told me of all the time Rick Egan took to capture these. I feel blessed! I have heard that God will bless us for all the good we do. I know this to be true.

Janet