# What's meant by voluminous stool?



## adam4little (Feb 10, 2011)

I ask because after my morning cup of coffee I go once a day, and it's probably 3 pieces about 4 inches long normal stool diameter and then probably 5 or so 2 inch pieces a bit thinner. I am completely cleaned out after this and super hungry. I usually feel fine for the day until around five or so when I start to get cramps and gas. I have had this issue on and off (mostly on 75 percent of the time Id say) for 2 years. I was reading today that so called "voluminous stools" are an issue not of the colon but of the small intestine.I guess I'm just confused. I'm not sure how to measure my stools without taking them out and weighing them--which I'm not about to do. Also I'm confused because I've read this once a day clean out in the morning IS NOT typical of IBS-D and that the typical bowel movement of IBS D is frequent smaller movements throughout the day. What do you all think?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

from this: http://en.diagnosispro.com/differential_diagnosis-for/voluminous-liquid-stool/24884-154.html --sounds like they mean watery stools.

Some people with IBS do seem to have problems only in the morning when the colon is most active. You don't need diarrhea all day long.

Small frequent stools (usually solid or loose, not watery) are fairly common in IBS as rectal hypersensitivity (in about 70% of IBSers or so) is one thing that makes you have the "gotta go" signal when you really don't have enough stool in there to set off the "gotta go" signal.

Usually IBS-D runs from 1-3 stools a day. A once morning "clean out"" without any other BM's during the day is what some people aim for as ideal rather than a sure sign something really bad is happening to them, fwiw.

Voluminous if it goes with the diseases I see it connected with is also frequent, but large amounts of watery/unprocessed stool that is coming out about the way it goes into the colon. And most of those diseases are of the even more frequent than IBS-D (so 5-20 BM's a day) rather than just one time per day.


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## IvyWinter (Jun 1, 2013)

I have switched to having mostly morning issues; i tend to not have D all day long. It might hit me once later on, but usually, i have multiple D movements in a couple of hours in the AM, lots of pain, then im fine the rest of the day. My dr is checking for other things but said that still could be just IBS-D so it def doesnt have to be all day long.


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## adam4little (Feb 10, 2011)

Thank you both for your response.

I guess my next (last) question--and please forgive me, I am relatively new to poop talk--is what is watery stool? Is that what it sounds like? Literally unformed water coming out of your rectum?

Also, I haven't cut back on anything which I probably should. I drink 3 cups of coffee a day. But yeah, I have probably eight pieces of formed stool in the bowl. Usually the stuff at the end is the softest. This makes sense to me since the first stuff has been in the colon longer.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_stool_scale

Pretty much water coming out. Type 7 or maybe a mix of Type 6 and 7


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