# can probiotics cause yellow stool?



## windemere (Sep 25, 2011)

I just started trying out this yogurt that's got probiotics in it. It's not activia but it is an organic greek yogurt with active cultures. This morning i had a very easy to pass, almost loose but still formed bm. Normally I'd be happy with that but i was very alarmed when it was a very light color and was yellow. I'm not sure if it's from the probiotics in the yogurt or from something in my diet. I had a busy day yesterday and had some mac and cheese for dinner and that's all i had eaten yesterday. It just seems like that would be too fast for it to alter the color of my stool but i don't know. I have benign liver hemangiomas that i had an mri to check on in 2014 and they were so small that i didn't require follow ups on them. I know yellow stool can indicate liver issues so this scares me. But I'm hoping it just my stomach adjusting to the probiotics. Has anyone else experienced yellow stools after starting probiotics or even just yellow stools in general?


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

In my experience the color is mostly indicative of how long it spent in my body. Shorter times equals lighter color stools. That being said, probiotics often can speed up my digestive tract so yes my stools are lighter but not necessarily due to the probiotics directly.

Do you eat dairy often? Mac and cheese would definitely contribute to fast stool transit time for me as well.


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## windemere (Sep 25, 2011)

Dairy has never been an issue for me. We have mac and cheese probably every friday because its quick and easy and fridays are our busy days with work and the training class we take our dog to so we keep dinner as easy as possible. I've had normal colored bms until this morning and i originally thought the probiotics were working great because my stools have been formed and not loose or diarrhea like they normally are. I guess if its still yellow the next time i go that i will contact my doctor. I've also been experiencing some symptoms of GERD recently and have been taking zantac to help with it. Not sure if that has anything to do with anything...but the gerd thing has been going on for a couple months now. I'm hoping everything will go back to normal and this was just the probiotics doing their thing and my digestion speeding up in the process.


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## windemere (Sep 25, 2011)

How long should I wait until i contact my doctor about these odd colors? My stool is no longer yellow but has become a light tan color. I've only had 2 days of this stool color, the day i posted this topic (saturday) and now today (Monday). I did not have a bm yesterday (sunday). I feel like my doctor has stopped taking me seriously so I don't want to call about this if i should at least wait a certain amount of time before i worry.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

I wouldn't really worry at all. IBS-d stools have a variety of appearances and textures. It really is a weird condition because things can change a lot it seems and it's still just IBS.


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## windemere (Sep 25, 2011)

'm getting bloodwork tomm so hopefully that will put my mind at ease. The only dietary change i can think of that could be affecting my stool is the green tea I've been drinking a lot of. It's a very light yellow color...can fluids change stool color?


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Green tea likely has some caffeine which will speed up the bowels. I'd avoid it if it were me


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## terrykeithsmom (Aug 29, 2016)

Yellow stools are often a sign of too much bile in your body, either by overproduction of bile or re-cycled bile. For me, the karen hurd bean diet has helped me a lot! http://www.karenhurd.com/pages/healthtopics/specifichealthconcerns/ht-shc-inflammatoryboweldisease


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