# Narrow Stools



## Guest (Mar 5, 2000)

I was wondering if anyone else with IBS has experienced narrow stool? Alternating between "normal" and somewhat ribbon like?


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## NewForMe (Mar 5, 2000)

I am always ribbon like - I had D all the time so I am thankful it has turned to this. Fiber would probably make things a little more normal - like Citracil or Metamucil, at least thats what my Dr. suggested. Welcome to the board by the way.Dee


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

I also have the problem of narrow stools. It doesn't happen all the time, but of late it has.My doctor says that it is caused by the IBS and spastic colon. I tend to have IBS constipation.I assume that you have gone through tests to rule out other things.I am just glad that I am able to go.


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## KristiLynn (Jul 21, 2002)

hi, when my bowels are acting up i get stools like that. my doc. said it is because your bowels are spasming so bad it can only squeeze out a little like that at time. so when my stools are big i know i'm doing good! not to be gross-sorry


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2000)

Yes, mine are sometimes as thin as a pencil. (sorry to gross you out, but it's true.) Been that way off and on for years, but alternates with normal and then D. My doctor said it is caused by spasms, and also by abdominal adhesions that I have, due to two separate surgeries on my gut. I don't know if you have ever had surgery, but for some people (especially women) adhesions form in the abdominal cavity, and can sometimes cause intestinal obstruction. This just ads to the fun---when you already have IBS.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2000)

Same here. I went from c to this. Along with alot of mucus. But the stool is not usually completly evacuated in one bowel movement. I usually have to go again in an hour, sometimes more than once. Brian


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## gilda (Jul 5, 2000)

I too tend to get the ribbon type. I usually have it if I don't go for a day or 2 and then have spasms when my system decides its ready to evacuate


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2000)

I read that it is an abundance of yeast in your system that is a main problem for this. I will be researching this more after this weekend (going camping). There is alot about yeast and its problems. This is for men and women. My husband and I both have a problem with it. If you have taken antibiotic as a youth or an adult you could very well have this problem. If you find it hard to lose weight even after eating healthy and low calorie or low carb, you almost certainly have this problem. There is a product called SR-722 that you can buy over the internet that kills the yeast in your body. It is not a pleasant treatment for the first few days because the yeast is dying off in your system but after that people have said they have never in their life felt better.  I'll try to find out more if anyone else is interested.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2000)

Here is a website to see if you have problems with an abundance of yeast in your blood or muscle. http://bodyecologydiet.com/candi/html after you see if that is your problem you may want to look at http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/4966/


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2000)

sorry thats: http://bodyecologydiet.com/candi.html


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

The yeast condition mentioned above is not real.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2000)

This is interesting. I'm consulting some medical professionals about that questionare.Flux, why do you say this is false?Brian


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

This is my (still draft) essay on the subject of candidiasis:Some years ago, Dr. Orian Truss proposed that the yeast Candida albicans, could make people sick all over. Shortly after that, William G. Crook popularized this notion in a book called The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough. In it, he explains that many nonspecific symptoms (included in his list are a dizzying array of symptoms including common ones like headache, fatigue, and insomnia) are the result of a chronic, often systemic infec-tion by this yeast, a condition commonly referred to as Candida-related complex (CRC). According to his hypothesis, the problem starts from faulty dietary habits (e.g., diets high in refined sugars, alcohol) and consumption of antibiotics and birth control pills. These allow Candida to take hold in the body, producing toxins, which in turn weaken the immune system, causing symptoms. Rather than providing scientific evidence (such as a demonstration of Kochï¿½s postulates, a set of requirements considered the gold standard for demonstrating the infectious origin of a condition), he provides anecdotes, especially from patients who have improved on anti-fungal therapies (some of his own devising) ( ).Aside from this flimsy evidence, his proposed relationship to Candida and body symptoms is inconsistent with the medical literature on real candidiasis. According to that, only a select group of individuals, namely those whose immune systems are compromised, such as those with AIDS or those with cancer on chemotherapy, or those on long-term antibiotics are at significant risk of acquiring candidiasis ( ). In addition, when it strikes these individuals systemically, they become very ill requiring hospitalization ( ). Often, the infection is limited to the mouth and esophagus of the GI tract ( ). When infecting the mouth, it is called thrush. (It is important to distinguish this from another common condition called hairy tongue. The latter condition is a manifestation of an overgrowth of the filliform papillae of the tongue ( ) and is often due to either local ir-ritation, such as smoking or to a systemic cause, such as antibi-otics [though antibiotics can cause thrush as well]. The actual mechanism that brings a hairy tongue about is unknown, although Candida is not involved.)Despite this discrepancy, a few studies have examined CRC hy-pothesis directly. In a study of 100 persons suffering from chronic fatigue, ( )[to be filled in]. Concerning IBS, there was an interesting study in the journal Mycosis where thirteen people who believed they suffered from therapy-resistant intestinal can-didiasis were carefully tested ( ). Only three had Candida albi-cans in their guts, but in none was there any infection present. One of the glaring inconsistencies with the CRC diagnosis is the rationale behind the now famous anti-Candida diet. This diet is specifically geared to withholding food that the yeast depend upon for survival, specifically simple sugars. It seems based on a super-simplified premise that the body is nothing more than a simple box with yeast sitting at the bottom and ingested food simply falls upon the yeast for their consumption. Were it so the case, then virtually all bacterial infections could be treated in the same way as virtually all life depends upon simple sugars for survival. Of course, it is not that way at all. Consumed food is digested and absorbed. Simple sugars are the first ones to get in the bloodstream so that they can supply the body cells, which re-quire them to survive. Thus unless a person is malabsorbing sugars (see food malabsorption), very little sugar will reach whatever yeast there are living in the distal intestine. And were it the case that the yeast were systemic, it is physically impossible that any diet could limit the amount of sugars reaching them as the body must maintain blood glucose levels within a limited range; otherwise, the body cells themselves would quickly starve and die. Ironically, simple organisms, like yeast and bacteria are hardy creatures able to withstand environmental extremes, such as being starved, far more easily than the cells of complex organisms, so even if it were possible to starve a pathogen without starving the host simultaneously, that would not necessarily affect kill them.In addition, the manufacturer of the liquid form of the common anti-fungal drug Nystatin is in a 50% sugar solution ( ) and that is one of therapies Crook recommends for treating the condi-tion, an apparent contradiction of his own anti-Candida diet.A logical question following this is how those claiming to suffer from this condition actually find relief from the anti-Candida diet. As previously mentioned, there are a number of ways that questionable medical practices work; however, in this case, changing oneï¿½s diet is a standard practice in IBS therapy, and the anti-Candida diet may coincidentally achieve that effect. In-cidentally, it does not necessarily follow that this particular diet is wise in IBS therapy, for it is not really well balanced.


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2000)

interestingI don't have enough info on this to know how accurate flux's "facts" are, but I think it can be agreed that this is something most of us don't need to worry about.The symptoms in the questionare can be related to so many different ilnesses. I for one had ibs before I was in a position to be infected, namely "sexually active".Brian[This message has been edited by BKRitter (edited 03-10-2000).]


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2000)

I remember when the book, "The Yeast Connection", first came out. Everyone was reading it and blaming all of their ailmemts on yeast. I mentioned it to my gastroenterologist, and he started LAUGHING, and said it was the biggest bunch of nonsense he had ever heard of. He told me to take the book, and throw it in the trash bin where it belonged. Another doctor that agrees with him, is Dean Edell, the radio doctor. Every so often, someone will still call him about the yeast connection, and he also calls it rubbish.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2000)

It has always been my experience that most doctors are only interested in what they can make money from, namely perscriptions. Most of the thousands of people that are helped by ridding their body of yeast will tell you that a doctor was consulted and claimed it was phony. Their are alot of people that will tell you through the years that many of their ailments were first considered phony or in their heads by their so called concerned doctors. Doctors are not God, they are only men and they make a large number of assumptions and mistakes. Most are not on purpose but assumptions just the same. Most people would do better to consider what a doctor has said but go with their own research as well.


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