Definition of mushy stool?

Hello everyone. How does one define what mushy stool is? I know of the bristol chart but at what point in time of the bowel movement do you assess the stool for its texture? For example, if a stool were to come out formed and lay in the toilet water formed for say 30 secs - 1 min but disintegrate after into a mushy texture would that bowel movement be defined as formed or mushy?

yeah, I'd say mushy...or is that more like cow plop?

I have that, food related for sure for me anyway, but I'm not flaring.

I don't worry too much about poo texture unless it comes out often or in a hurry with worsening of symptoms.

How many mushy poos a day do you have? Any of those have the purple stuff?

q

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*Heather* I give suggestions, do with them what you will.
Status: ...Asacol 3 @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 3rd night (nightly/ flares, tapered/maintenance)
~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis)
~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Zantac 150mg; Symbicort/Airomir (asthma)
~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care+Primadophilus Reuteri capsules @ bedtime)
~Metamucil capsules 6 twice daily with meals; Vitamin D 4000 IU
~URSO for PSC (or PBC) 500mg X 2 daily (LFTs back to NORMAL!!)
My doc's logic.. "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!!

hi quincy. I have about 2 BMs a day (occassionally 3 but I usually can trace the 3rd BM to something I ate). They vary, most are on the soft mushy side (as I described above) but occassionally I'll have one where it isn't even formed when it comes out and other times it'll be firm and formed (without breaking up in the water at all).

All the BMs are like this with a brown colour (sometimes a slight pale brown but usually brown). The purplish water BM only occurs once a week spontaneously... then the next BM everything is fine again. No constipation or anything. No worsening of symptoms either...

I've been keeping a daily journal of all my symptoms as well as a food diary and I can't seem to find anything that would explain the purplish water. Good thing I have a colonoscopy coming up.

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History:
[1st Oct 2010] First colonoscopy. Diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis with inflammation in rectum.
[30th Nov 2010] Second colonoscopy. Confirmed ulcerative proctitis with mild inflammation in rectum and additional inflammation in cecum.
[10th Jan 2011] Third colonoscopy scheduled.

Current Meds:
- Pentasa suppositories (2 daily)
- Salofalk enemas (1 nightly)

Do you keep a diary of ALL you consume including treats, vitamins, supplements, etc?

I would consider that mushy. It is definitely an improvement over unformed.

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Co-moderator: Ulcerative Colitis
03/07: Mild Proctitis | 08/08: Pancolitis! | 09/08: FLARE & Anemic Asacol (9) + Canasa | 01/10: FLARE AGAIN!! Asacol + Prednisone + Canasa | Currently: doing OK - Asacol + Canasa + Rowasa + 6mp + Allupurinol + Prednisone (tapering again...) + Ponstel + Klonopin + Ambien

Thanks for the input guys. Here is a diary record of my food intake (including all snacks, supplements and vitamins). I sleep very late and wake up late so my days usually start from 1:00pm and end around 5:00am.

2/1/2011

2:00pm:

yum! sounds delicious! Much, however, would cause a more softer stool, for me, anyway. Which is NO problem...just I would expect it.

Maybe add protein at breakfast as well...an egg?

Don't you get tons of gas from eating just a banana and nothing else? When does the gas hit you normally?

What you do have throughout the day is cracked pepper...lots?

What supplements and when?

Thanks for the menu! ;-)
q

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*Heather* I give suggestions, do with them what you will.
Status: ...Asacol 3 @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 3rd night (nightly/ flares, tapered/maintenance)
~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis)
~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Zantac 150mg; Symbicort/Airomir (asthma)
~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care+Primadophilus Reuteri capsules @ bedtime)
~Metamucil capsules 6 twice daily with meals; Vitamin D 4000 IU
~URSO for PSC (or PBC) 500mg X 2 daily (LFTs back to NORMAL!!)
My doc's logic.. "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!!

Haha I hope others would like my cooking... I like it but that's because I cook it. Yer I forgot to mention that I do normally take a probiotic capsule, I just forgot to write it down yesterday. I normally take it at night (before bed) as I remember you said doing so would cause less gas in the day and less cramping (interestingly today I took the capsule in the morning and I have been feeling a little urgency during the entire day. Not sure if it is related). I normally also take a multivitamin (Centrum) in the morning but I temporarily stopped that because I noticed it had lactose. I am in the middle of trying to find a lactose and gluten free multivitamin.

Yer I am a fan of cracked pepper. It's very versatile. Is it bad to use a lot?

The banana does give a tiny bit of bloating but not always. Normally I am fine especially if the banana is fully ripe with black dots. If there is any gas it is probably an hour or so later. I am trying to add more protein in my diet so more eggs sounds like a good idea.

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History:
[1st Oct 2010] First colonoscopy. Diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis with inflammation in rectum.
[30th Nov 2010] Second colonoscopy. Confirmed ulcerative proctitis with mild inflammation in rectum and additional inflammation in cecum.
[10th Jan 2011] Third colonoscopy scheduled.

Current Meds:
- Pentasa suppositories (2 daily)
- Salofalk enemas (1 nightly)

The pepper isn't "bad"...just that you use it and maybe you could see if it bothers you.

The banana...maybe save it for nighttime snacks?

Maybe try a rice bread with your egg in the morning. There's also rice dream, soy milk and now coconut milk..all you can have with coffee or whatever you drink in the morning.

I had a banana with peanut butter on toast the past few nights...OMG, 6 hours later and OWWW. It's a specific type of gas, and I enjoyed my pb toast w banana, but that's it for a long while.

I've eaten lots of "fibrous" foods as of late...my stool is definitely mushy and twice a day.

Just saying that your food will impact how fast it goes through your system and how it looks coming out. If your inflammation is good...and you don't want to go as often, make some changes.
That could include not as much fruit, or in smaller portions. And maybe the black pepper is annoying to your gut. Either use smaller grind, less or none to see if that improves.

What are you going to do about the scope?

q

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*Heather* I give suggestions, do with them what you will.
Status: ...Asacol 3 @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 3rd night (nightly/ flares, tapered/maintenance)
~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis)
~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Zantac 150mg; Symbicort/Airomir (asthma)
~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care+Primadophilus Reuteri capsules @ bedtime)
~Metamucil capsules 6 twice daily with meals; Vitamin D 4000 IU
~URSO for PSC (or PBC) 500mg X 2 daily (LFTs back to NORMAL!!)
My doc's logic.. "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!!

I see, that makes sense. I had 3 eggs this morning and my stomach was cramping the entire day. Probably will stop the eggs to see what happens.

In regards to the c-scope we decided to go ahead with it for several reasons:
- the scope is in less than a week so cancelling now would be a little awkward
- since I am going abroad for such a long time I might as well have a look see to determine if anything has gotten worse
- I would also like to see how effective the rectal meds have been since lately I have been hitting the inflammation pretty hard so I am hoping the scope will show that it has cleared (though I doubt so).
- I would like to see if the scope can explain that purple water stuff I have had once every week (I mentioned this in a separate thread a few days ago)

Main reason for the scope is because I am going abroad soon to a place I don't speak the language of. Furthermore I don't have easy access to medical treatment over there (nor do I really trust their medical treatment) (no offence to any native Chinese).

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History:
[1st Oct 2010] First colonoscopy. Diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis with inflammation in rectum.
[30th Nov 2010] Second colonoscopy. Confirmed ulcerative proctitis with mild inflammation in rectum and additional inflammation in cecum.
[10th Jan 2011] Third colonoscopy scheduled.

Current Meds:
- Pentasa suppositories (2 daily)
- Salofalk enemas (1 nightly)

3 eggs? how did you make them? and what did you have them with?
Three...interesting..lol.

One boiled egg...is what I was thinking....:-b

Do you have a copy of the biopsies results from your other scopes?
Tell me again why you had a scope in Oct and then in Nov?

Looking forward to the results of your scope....will you be staying awake to enjoy the show? It would be good for you to actually see what's going on in there and ask questions as you go along for the incredible journey..lol.

What clean-out will you have?

q

---

*Heather* I give suggestions, do with them what you will.
Status: ...Asacol 3 @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 3rd night (nightly/ flares, tapered/maintenance)
~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis)
~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Zantac 150mg; Symbicort/Airomir (asthma)
~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care+Primadophilus Reuteri capsules @ bedtime)
~Metamucil capsules 6 twice daily with meals; Vitamin D 4000 IU
~URSO for PSC (or PBC) 500mg X 2 daily (LFTs back to NORMAL!!)
My doc's logic.. "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!!

Haha I scrambled the eggs but instead of milk I used water (so it was basically water, eggs, sea salt and cracked pepper). I still had cramping afterwards though.

The biopsy results from the November colonoscopy basically said everything was fine except for mild rectal inflammation (5cm) and cecum inflammation. The October colonoscopy was done to actually diagnose my UC (after bleeding for about 6 months). The problem was that the biopsies taken from that colonoscopy were inconclusive (as they said everything was normal) so I was confused as to whether I actually had UC but the biopsies were a fluke, or whether I had something else. Hence I went for another colonoscopy (which took around 12 biopsies instead of just 3) in November which conclusively said I had UC.

I will be sedated for this next colonoscopy. I probably don't want to be awake as I heard it can hurt... either way, I am dreading the 10th at the moment... I just want to get the procedure over and done with.

I'll post the results once I get them. Fingers crossed everything will be ok...

---

History:
[1st Oct 2010] First colonoscopy. Diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis with inflammation in rectum.
[30th Nov 2010] Second colonoscopy. Confirmed ulcerative proctitis with mild inflammation in rectum and additional inflammation in cecum.
[10th Jan 2011] Third colonoscopy scheduled.

Current Meds:
- Pentasa suppositories (2 daily)
- Salofalk enemas (1 nightly)

cracked black pepper again? hmm..lol.

The c-scope can be done with nice mellow meds and a good show on the monitor. Why do I suggest it you ask? Because you don't really know what's going on and I think you should SEE the inflammation and have it explained so that you can picture it.

It "hurts" no more that a really bad poo with cramps...and the pain meds help.

You seem to want to have lots of answers and ask lots of questions...so that's how I think you will at least have some...rather than the doc saying "all looks good", etc.

q

---

*Heather* I give suggestions, do with them what you will.
Status: ...Asacol 3 @ 2x daily; Salofalk enema @ 3rd night (nightly/ flares, tapered/maintenance)
~diagnosed January 1989 UC (proctosigmoiditis)
~Bentylol 20mg as needed; Zantac 150mg; Symbicort/Airomir (asthma)
~vitamins/minerals/supplements; Probiotics....(RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care+Primadophilus Reuteri capsules @ bedtime)
~Metamucil capsules 6 twice daily with meals; Vitamin D 4000 IU
~URSO for PSC (or PBC) 500mg X 2 daily (LFTs back to NORMAL!!)
My doc's logic.. "TREAT (FROM)BOTH ENDS" worth it !!!

I was diagnosed with UC at age 5 and had my ileostomy surgery at 10 years of age. I have to say that I had no idea that stool was meant to look anything but mushy until I hit my late teens/early 20's and studied some biology. Prior to that my only experience had been the bloody mushy stools of UC and the slushy pasty stools that were normal after I'd my ileo. I even had to ask a friend how many times 'bowel intact' people 'went' a day in regards to pooping (I was in my late 20's at this stage).

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Ileostomy for 34 years due to UC. I had my surgery at 10 years of age.

Moderator of the Ostomy and Psoriasis Forums
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I'm not a complete idiot - some parts of me are missing!