# Soft stool



## IBSoid (Sep 9, 2002)

I always get really soft stool that takes so long to all come out coz it seems to always be getting stuck. It's not like watery and doesn't shoot right out, so i'm not sure what to consider it. Is this considered having diarrhea, even though it doesn't come right out?


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## Trixyinaz (Oct 28, 2002)

Often wondered the same thing. I haven't been calling my soft, formed stools diarrhea (but it falls apart when I flush the toilet), but maybe it is. Looking forward to someone answering this question that knows the answer.


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## IBSoid (Sep 9, 2002)

yeah mine often falls apart too. i'd love to know this answer coz then at least i could try to follow the treatments for the correct condition! coz so far i've been taking treatments for constipation which i don't think i have


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## IBSoid (Sep 9, 2002)

bump bump bump


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Soft stool is usually not constipation, so treating the constipation will mostly make stool softer (although sometimes added fiber will help with soft stool as well as there is just more stuff there and the water is better absorbed into the stool and not making it so loose).It may be worth thinking about your pelvic floor. Soft stools should be easy to pass (it is usually the hard dry ones that are hard to pass).But some people tighten up when they should relax, and things like that which can make it hard to push out a stool even when the consistancy is good. Basically think of trying to squeeze out something soft through a small diameter hole. If it is stiff enough it may make the hole open enough, but if it is too soft it can take a lot of pressure/time to get anything out through the small hole.K.


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## IBSoid (Sep 9, 2002)

so you think maybe i could have pelvic floor problems? any other possibilities and treatments? i did go to a website about pelvic floor dysfunction, and i dont have any of the symptoms


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## Popeye (Oct 26, 2001)

IBSoid,we have communicated before.I have the EXACT same symptoms that you have.My stool is usually very soft and it also often falls apart when I flush. However, I know it's not diarrhoea and I rarely have a feeling of urgency (the feeling that I won't make it on time). I just have that uncomfortable cramping that tells me I have to go (sometimes even more than 4 times a day). I have a feeling of an incomplete evacuation and sometimes I just can't go (even though I have cramping and soft stool inside). If I can't go, I get a lot of gas, bloating, pain and/or cramping. After meals I often have a lot of gas (that is sometimes very difficult to expel). My mornings are awful and crampy. My stool is sometimes pencil-thin and is almost always irregular looking, strangely shaped, etc.I don't think that we belong to either side of the dichotomy - IBS-D nor IBS-C. We're somewhere in-between and that gets even more frustrating, because, like you, I don't know how to approach my IBS. I call myself IBS-IE/B/P/Cr/G/S/BP/IBM/RH/A/D (incomplete evacuation, bloating, pain, cramping, gas, spasming, back pain, irregular bowel momovement, rectal hypersensitivity, anxiety, depression).


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## JDA (Feb 6, 2002)

IBSoid and Popeye, I'm lumped in with you guys too...same symptoms especially the incomplete evacuation. I don't know whether we are c or d but I think its D. Maybe Jeff would consider and incomplete evacuation forum as it fits somewhere in the middle...just a thought.


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Just FYI on this because it can contribute to the incomplete evacuation problem perhaps in some people. http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/PelvicFloorDys.html


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## plutoren12 (Nov 1, 2002)

ME TOO!!! This is soooooooooo my problem too. So, what have u guys been doing to help it? LET ME KNOW!! My stupid soft but formed stools are driving me crazy worried.


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## JDA (Feb 6, 2002)

Plutoren12, nothing is working for me yet...sorry. I'm currently on effexor but it is making things worse. Thanks for the info Eric...I'm gonna check that out some more.


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