# Mushy, messy stool, leakage, incomplete emptying and cramps



## frustratedibser (Dec 24, 2013)

*I'm going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I've had digestive issues my whole life, was born with an "anal shelf" which required an anoplasty operation as a baby. Before the surgery the birth defect caused me to have severe constipation, but once it was fixed I promptly began having chronic diarreah.*



*I also suffered frequent bouts of nausea and vomiting as a child, but thankfully that went away around the time I reached puberty. I actually was sick so much that I missed more days of school each year than I attended and had to recieve homebound education. I saw multiple doctors and had every GI test under the sun, and the best they could come up with was "We don't see anything wrong with the digestive system, must be a problem with the nerves in the intestine". Oh, and they told me I had acid reflux, though I don't ever recall having heartburn.*



*Over the years, my parents and I have discovered certain foods tend to exacerbate my symptoms (fried/high-fat foods, chocolate, certain food dyes and carbonated beverages). Eliminating those items helped somewhat, but I have continued to suffer frequent diarreah.*

*As an adult I've noticed some new symptoms, hard to pinpoint when they started or even be total certain I haven't had them from the beginning, as I am at the age (30) where one's childhood memories are starting to fade a bit. I also have cerebral palsy and was unable to handle my own toileting until my mid-teens, so wasn't really aware of the consistency/appearance of my stools till then.*



* What I have now, is the explosive liquid diarreah I've always had, alternating with soft, mushy stools that resemble a gloopy pile of wet cement and are often sticky and virtually impossible to completely wipe off me, even with wet wipes (I may go thru 20 wipes in a single bathroom session and STILL have them coming up dirty). Two other symptoms that frequently go hand-in-hand are a feeling of incomplete evacuation (feel stool inside me but no matter how I try, only a small amount or none at all comes out) and, ironicaly, involuntary leakage (no real urge to go that can't be controlled, but just a continual sense of vague abdominal discomfort) of small amounts of the mushy stool all thru the day, sometimes for a week or more, requiring me to wear adult diapers or at least an extra-long pad. It's almost like my period, except instead of blood it's stool, that's how continuous it is.*



* Ocassionally I get lucky and have a nice solid, well-formed, non-sticky stool that passes and wipes away easily and completely, but that's rare, most of my BMs are of the sticky wet cement type. Also, I have abdominal cramping, that while intermittent, can be quite bad (it almost feels like someone using a cheese grater on my insides), this seems mostly independent of what type of stool I have and can even occur when my stools are normal, but I still associate the pain with diarreah in my mind and get that sinking, "uh-oh feeling" and anxiety when my stomach starts cramping. I also often have mucus in my stool or orange/yellowish stools, regardless of consistency, my stools almost always float, and when I have diarreah it is sometimes bubbly (and no, not from carbonated drinks). I am literally irregular, in the sense that I may poo (voluntarily) anywhere from once every other day to 3 times a day, at totally random times of day.*



*I've learned to live with plain old diarreah, but this pain, spending over an hour wiping and half a pack of wipes and STILL not getting clean, and the mix of incomplete evacuation and soiling (as if diarreah and constipation got together and had some horrid demon offspring), leaving me feeling constantly dirty inside and out, is driving me nuts! It's to the point where I'm about to say OK, I give up, I don't think I'm crazy but if there's nothing physically wrong all those ppl who say IBS is a mental thing must be right.*


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

I have some similar problems and I will tell you exactly how I deal with them and options for you.

Option 1: Metamucil. Take 1 Tbsp at night to begin. By the 2nd or 3rd day I promise you will be wiping much much less. Some people report that metamucil alone reduces their wiping to almost nothing.

Option 2: When I am at home right after I take a poo, I take one of those disposable enema bottles (which I reuse and leave empty under the sink), fill it with warm water from the tap, and squirt some up in my bum. I then contract my anus once to kind of pull the water in and then immediately poo it out. I do this twice. Then I use the toilet paper and some water to wash off and wipe. It really helps me because I often have very sticky stool and this mini-enema will get out a good amount of stool left inside me that if I don't get out, really irritates and bothers me. I have been doing this for 3 years with no ill-effects. The water is just going a few inches into your anus for a few seconds at most. I just empty the little plastic enema bottles (costs $1) and wipe off the tip and put it under the sink for use later. I've probably used the same one for the past 5 months.


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## tummyrumbles (Aug 14, 2005)

How long do you sit there when you evacuate? I have the same BMs you describe and despite a very good low FODMAP diet IS still can't evacuate less than an hour after breafast and the actual evacuation takes anywhere up to an hour (when I don't eat stupid things). Try the low fodmap diet and no constipating foods like rice, wheat etc and not too much insoluble fibre.


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## frustratedibser (Dec 24, 2013)

*I'll try y'alls suggestions. Having ibs-d almost all my life, I've got a phobia of anything in the laxative catagory, but I guess Metamucil is really just a form of fiber which can be good for c or d. I don't know how well the mini-enema thing will work for me, as I also have cerebral palsy and limited arm reach (as if ibs weren't enough!) and use an extender tool to wipe with. I do something similar with the detachable showerhead in the shower but having to get in the shower after every BM would be a problem. I'll give going a good 20 minutes if I'm having trouble, I'll try waiting longer but I spend so much time in there as it is! The FODMAP diet would definately be a radical change for me (and I still live at home with my Mom, so for her too) but I'm willing to try most anything that can help.*


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