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Have you tuned your stool from light to dark successfully?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/10/2022 4:14 PM (GMT -8)
Looking for help on how to fix what I assume are some problems relating to bile.

Stool is never normal brown. Always light brown, cardboard, yellow, etc.

Sometimes ox bile doesn’t even help. I had an ultrasound and it didn’t show any stones or anything, so I don’t think flow of bile is being blocked…

I just don’t know what to try. Have tried TUDCA, ox bile, taurine, glycine, etc. and no success at fixing this…

If there is no stones preventing bile from flowing, what else could be the issue? Lazy gallbladder? Some sort of nerve dysfunction? Microbial imbalance?

My history is salmonella to ulcerative colitis diagnosis… and Lyme long before that. But ever since the antibiotics for salmonella (cipro and others) things have never been the same.

I’m afraid it caused some sort of microbial imbalance or mitochondrial damage.

Ox bile and TUDCA should turn my stool brown (they have before) but not always.

Maybe there’s sludge or the quality of the bile is not ideal. I’m not sure.

What else should I try or have a doctor look for because basic tests never find anything majorly wrong… other than high calprotectin and CRP.

I feel like if I could successfully fix the color, and bile issue, everything else would correct itself.
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/10/2022 4:17 PM (GMT -8)
Really looking for novel ideas, I’ve tried lots of herbs as well—artichoke, dandelion, beets, radishes, milk thistle, gentian, etc…

Hard to figure out
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poopydoop
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 1757
Posted 10/10/2022 5:38 PM (GMT -8)
You can turn your poop darker by eating blueberries and black beans but that won't solve your problem. High calprotectin means you have bowel inflammation. Stronger medication than whatever you're currently taking would probably help.
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/10/2022 6:14 PM (GMT -8)

poopydoop said...
You can turn your poop darker by eating blueberries and black beans but that won't solve your problem. High calprotectin means you have bowel inflammation. Stronger medication than whatever you're currently taking would probably help.

You’re right I have noticed that about black beans and blueberries. And it doesn’t really solve the problem.

Bile is what causes the stool to darken. It can not have the opportunity to darken if moving too quickly. However even when my digestion is slow, it still won’t be brown. This tells me that there is an issue purely upstream from the colon. My hypothesis is that the small intestine microbial balance isn’t right, causing bile reabsorption to not happen. Or that even earlier upstream, the gallbladder/liver is not producing enough bile and/or not ejecting it into the small intestine in sufficient quantity.

I think an anti inflammatory would maybe reduce inflammation (maybe) but would likely not solve this upstream issue. By the time food enters the colon, it should have already been treated by the bile, darkened, and the bile is reabsorbed and recycled.

Since the stool is light colored, in my understanding, there is still bile or fat in the stool, so some sort of that bile/fat absorption process was hindered.

I know that when my liver/gallbladder is working better (there are times this is the case), my upper GI symptoms disappear and my stool is much better quality and dark. So therefore, my hypothesis is that there is an issue upstream from the colon, where food is not being delivered into the colon in a satisfactory condition for it to be processed there, and it is likely irritating the colon.

Therefore, an anti-inflammatory will never solve the issue.
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Lynnwood
Forum Moderator
Joined : May 2005
Posts : 8105
Posted 10/10/2022 7:57 PM (GMT -8)
Lazy gallbladder? Then why is my stool a normal brown but my gallbladder was removed over 10 years ago and I don't have any issues eating anything I want?

I'm thinking there is a flaw in your reasoning somewhere.
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/10/2022 8:58 PM (GMT -8)

Lynnwood said...
Lazy gallbladder? Then why is my stool a normal brown but my gallbladder was removed over 10 years ago and I don't have any issues eating anything I want?

I'm thinking there is a flaw in your reasoning somewhere.

Interesting. Well, even without a gallbladder your liver still produces bile, and so it will still drip into the intestine, even without a gallbladder.

The gallbladder concentrates the bile, though, and squeezes the bile out into the intestine when there is a demand with it.

Without a gallbladder, assuming your liver is producing bile still, you would still have bile entering the intestine. It just wouldn’t be controlled by the gallbladder.

Do you take anything medication or supplement wise now that you had your gallbladder removed? Or is your digestion normal without taking anything? No diarrhea or anything?
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Lynnwood
Forum Moderator
Joined : May 2005
Posts : 8105
Posted 10/11/2022 10:24 AM (GMT -8)
My digestion is normal without taking anything. Regular normal stools.

Unless I eat multiple super-rich meals in a row, then I get a loose, greasy-like stool. But that's like 6-8 fatty, greasy, rich meals in a row, and who does that?

I know that in some ways I'm lucky, I have friends who still have tons of food & digestion issues after gallbladder removal.

Hope you can solve your mystery!
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CCinPA
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2014
Posts : 2469
Posted 10/11/2022 10:46 AM (GMT -8)
Are you having any problems other than the color of your stool? The color of my stool often varies depending on what I eat so I have no idea what a "normal" color would be. If the color is your only concern, I'm not sure it's worth worrying about.
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MeByTheSea
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2015
Posts : 176
Posted 10/11/2022 6:19 PM (GMT -8)
Hi Another direction to consider. Before I was diagnosed with UC my first sign that something was off was the color of stools that you are describing. I was taking a lot of ibuprofen for headaches at the time and it damaged my gut flora. Found out this color change can also be an indication that the flora in the gut is messed up or has been compromised somehow. Maybe try a quality probiotic? See if that improves things? Just giving you more ideas. Hope you figure this out.
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quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 33488
Posted 10/11/2022 8:08 PM (GMT -8)
NC...have you had blood testing done...liver, kidney, pancreas ?
q
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/11/2022 8:28 PM (GMT -8)

quincy said...
NC...have you had blood testing done...liver, kidney, pancreas ?
q

standard blood work has always generally been normal or close to normal, with exception of elevated CRP and Calprotectin
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ks1905
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2005
Posts : 6331
Posted 10/11/2022 8:29 PM (GMT -8)
I’d get your liver tested if it is pale/putty color.

Pepto Bismol will turn it black.
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/11/2022 8:30 PM (GMT -8)

MeByTheSea said...
Hi Another direction to consider. Before I was diagnosed with UC my first sign that something was off was the color of stools that you are describing. I was taking a lot of ibuprofen for headaches at the time and it damaged my gut flora. Found out this color change can also be an indication that the flora in the gut is messed up or has been compromised somehow. Maybe try a quality probiotic? See if that improves things? Just giving you more ideas. Hope you figure this out.

Yeah I may have to try probiotics again. Thanks for the reminder. I’d been taking culturelle (lactobacillus GG) occasionally but maybe I need to try more strains again. May have done too much killing as of late
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NorthCountry
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2021
Posts : 83
Posted 10/11/2022 8:31 PM (GMT -8)

ks1905 said...
I’d get your liver tested if it is pale/putty color.

Pepto Bismol will turn it black.

Right bis-muth (why does the site block bi****h from being written?) will do that. Just a chemical interaction though I think
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poopydoop
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 1757
Posted 10/12/2022 2:07 AM (GMT -8)
How high is your calprotectin? E.g. are we talking 200 or 2000? Elevated calprotectin usually indicates inflammation located in the bowel (regardless of what is happening higher up), but it can also become elevated by taking ibuprofen.
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quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 33488
Posted 10/12/2022 9:04 AM (GMT -8)
Question still...have you had liver, pancreas, etc...not talking crp or calprotectin. And have you discussed this with your doctor?

Re ****... s m u t 🙄

q
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