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2 different types of BM in one day!!

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Posted 8/24/2007 6:13 AM (GMT -8)
Hi,

Looking for advice again!

My flare seems to have stablised and I'm doing really good. There seems to be 2 process going on in my intestines. Firstly I'm getting normal BMs once or twice a day. These are quite solid, good texture and colour. When I have stool I have little or no blood.

But I'm also getting gas/mucus/blood attacks now and then. There is no/very very little stool with these attacks nor do I 'feel' that I have stool stored in my rectum when it happens. I just get this weird watery-gurgling sound and I know that I'll get one or two of these attacks over the next few hours. No pain, no cramping, I feel fine. Then the gurgling stops and I know I'll be fine for another day or so. The mucus is 'thin-yellow - runny'

This is really puzzling me. I do get the feeling the 2 types of BM are very different from one another. One is an eilimation of stool, the other is an elimiation of gas/mucus and some blood.

Has anyone experienced this? Any advice or comments would be great.

I'm wondering is their IBS issues / food intolerance here on top of an IBD issue which is nearly healed. I have started a food diary.

I ask a lot of questions on this forum and I'm conscious that I don't answer enough of others peoples. So I'd just like to thank everyone for continually helping me. :-)

Posted 8/24/2007 7:17 AM (GMT -8)
Damo...it's good you ask questions..you keep us challenged. I don't ask very many questions...so, we're even.

What you have to ask yourself is "what are your expections?"

It's not food intolerance, it's your colon healing...but your gut in healing mode might not like certain foods.

A food diary is a good idea, but you'll have to look back about 6 - 24 hours to match the symptoms and/or bms.

Track where in the colon is the symptoms...if it's gas/gurgling on the right side, then it's less time than when you'll be having a bm.

If your symptoms are just before having a bm...I would say it's more sigmoid/rectum inflammation. And if it's during the day...let's say afternoon/evening..you aren't having enough rectal meds..which you aren't by any means from my perspective.

This is what I would do....don't worry about the food (even though you want it to be food). Start using the suppositories 3 times a day. That would bring you up to 1500mg 5ASA rectally...more than you're getting, but still not enough for treatment..especially in the sigmoid.

quincy
Posted 8/24/2007 12:16 PM (GMT -8)
That is awesome that you are stabilizing!!

I never know what I am going to get while going into a flare, during and coming out of a flare.

I can have any number of different types of bm's, you name it, I have it and it can be three different ones before I leave the house......not even in a day.
Posted 8/24/2007 1:42 PM (GMT -8)
Damo - I've more or less had what you've described (the two types of stools) for the last 14 years. The gas/mucus is just how you described. No cramping or pain, just the need to expel. For me, I've never kept a real food diary (although quincy is right and I really should), but it's simply a matter of when I eat the healthiest, I have less mucus. When I eat unhealthy, I have more. I eat everything in moderation. The only thing I don't eat is red meat.

Quincy - I've been on the boards more recently trying to find answers to certain questions I have and notice you always have the best suggestions and are extremely knowledgeable about UC. Do you mind me asking if this is all stuff you've simply learned over the course of having UC or are you trained in the medical profession? Regardless, thank you for your tips and advice.
Posted 8/24/2007 11:27 PM (GMT -8)
LLW...lol! You're welsome.
No, I'm not medicallty trained, just trying to understand and be logical about what I'm dealing with...since for a very long time there were no answere. I'm learning with everyone else.
The internet certainly has opened a few more doors for the availability of information and a way to connect.
I can't help but to suggest something if I think it could be part of a solution or answer...both a help and a pain..depending on one's perspective.

If I didn't as of yet...welcome to the forum!

quincy
Posted 8/25/2007 3:12 AM (GMT -8)
LWW,

Welcome to the forum. I'm new here too and very new to UC.

So you're 2 types of BMs have been like that for 14 years? Has it been manageable? Caused you any other health problems? I'm feeling great myself - I guess just worried whether it was natural and whether I would be able to live with that.

I too have noticed that its food sensitive. I didnt eat any dairy yesterday and had just the normal BM. I then ate a lot of dairy last night and low and behold I has some gas and mucus some hours later.

Do you feel a gurgling water sound in your lower left colon just before you want to expel? Does it give you urgency? My urgency (seems to be) is all but gone.
Posted 8/27/2007 3:40 PM (GMT -8)
damo - Apologies for just getting back to you. Busy rest of the weekend.

To answer your questions, yes, for the most part that has been what my bm's have been like for the last 14 years. Sometimes solid and formed without (or with minimal) blood) and usually accompanied with some mucus. When I've been on meds (mainly Asacol, Rowasa, or Canasa) the mucus is thick and light tan with no blood. If it was a period of time when I wasn't taking any medication the mucus may have had a little blood or I may have been perfectly fine (remission?). I often would feel a rumble in my Colon and knew I would have to expel the mucus soon. Sounds like my stomach was hungry, but in fact it was actually my colon. LOL! I always felt like I was able to live a very normal life with it like this and it didn't get in my way of doing things.

That is until this past fall. I had the worst flare since I was diagnosed this past fall right after my daughter was born and have been struggling to get my UC under control since then. Unfortunately, the flare made my UC affect my entire colon instead of just my lower colon liked it had always been up until that point. So now, I do feel that sense of urgency that everyone talks about and need to find a better solution than what I had currently been doing the previous 14 years. I personally am a big believer in food and that a healthful diet can help (not cure, but help) UC and make one feel better.
Posted 8/28/2007 1:07 AM (GMT -8)
LWW,

Again I'm very much like yourself. I had UC for about 2 years but didn't realise it as my symptoms were minimal. I did have the mucus and sometimess loose stools as you describe. Didn't see any blood for most of it but I reckon I lost some. I find my BM are very food sensitive as well. Also had a big flare in May this year affecting my entire colon. Still battliong to get it completely under control but doing well. Would you say that your UC symptoms over last 14 years have been sensitive to the stress in your life?

D
Posted 8/28/2007 3:30 PM (GMT -8)
Yes, I would say stress certainly hasn't helped my UC. When I was diagnosed it was the summer before I left for college. Try being a college freshman on prednisone. Puts a whole new meaning to the freshman 15. After my first year with UC, I was on minimal meds and by the time I graduated and got my first job with my own health insurance, I started looking into alternative therapy (acupuncture, food sensitivity testing). For the next ten years or so I maintained my UC mostly by diet and exercise. I never had a flare that put me out of commission or stopped me from doing something. This last flare, I would say I was very stressed. The first six weeks postpartum I was doing great. Both my baby and myself were healthy and doing great. Right at six weeks my baby started having some health issues and suddenly I wasn't getting any sleep and was scared out of my mind. Was it a coincidence that my UC started acting up right when my baby got sick or would I have had a flare regardless? I believe that me being worried and not sleeping played a big part in flaring. It is possible my postpartum hormones and taking ibuproben (will not do that again) for my pain medicine after birth also contributed to the flare, but I believe it had more to do with my daughter getting sick and the impact that had on me. Unfortunately, the flare got so bad and affected my entire colon that I'm still getting it back under control. I'm afraid my days of having my UC not really impact my life are behind me.

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on your UC too. I think the trick is to not let any flare get to be so bad and out of control that it really takes a toll on your body. Easier said than done, right.
Posted 8/29/2007 1:18 PM (GMT -8)
Again I agree with most of what you said. When I look back on my 2 flares I find that they happened after very stressful events in my life. The first happened immediately after I started a new job in a very different line of work. I'd been worrying about if for a bit. At the same time my mother was diagnosed with a serious illness. I felt fine at the time but I didn't realise the effect these events were having "underneath" my skin. I can trace my first remission back to good things happening in my life - settling into my job and my mother also going into remission with her illness. I was also under pressure back in March and April of this year. Never really saw the flare come on. The signs were there. But when the pressure was over then suddenly 2 days later it went from mild UC to full blown pancolitis.

I too find that sleep affects my UC - espeically when I'm flaring. If I get a good nights rest it is so much easier for me to get through the next day. If my sleep is broken and interrupted then my colitis will be bad the next day. Actually I'm fully convinced I suffer from sleeping sickness. I have since I was a kid. I have had sleep apnea now for some years. My breathing patterns in sleep are really poor. I've often wonder is my UC the result of the pressure that my diaphram is under and the combined effect this has had on my body over the last 15 years. I know there have been a few studies linking UC to sleeping sickness. Though I know that most UCers have no sleeping issues.

Do you find any of your UC flares related to the seasons / or to seasonal events?
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