# Graphic stool question from a concerned newbie--warning about yuccy description.



## Guest (Jan 18, 2000)

After reading some back posts, I think almost anything goes here. So here goes...For a while I've been having irregular bowel habits. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone with IBS! Here is the graphic part--what I see in the toilet afterwards. For a while, on the times when I did not have D, my stool would be sort of normal in color and consistency but very long. It looked as though it was the entire length of half of my colon. Now, something even stranger. For a month or so, when I don't have D, my stool looks kind of like coiled up & impacted worms/cord. Well, not exactly, but it looks like somewhere it has to squeeze through a stricture and then begins to reform to the diameter of a normal colon. The whole thing is connected. Not that I'd ever do this, but it could be stretched out like an accordian many times it's length. At other times it comes out looking like a lumpy corkscrew. It looks as though it is a perfect impression of the inside of my colon that is constricted or clamped down. Can IBS cause the colon to intensely clamp down on stool for a whole section of the colon? Can the colon form a stricture at some point midway for the stool to be forced through before making it to the sigmoid colon or rectum? I get a tightness very low in my abdomen, almost in my groin before a BM, but rarely any serious pain. Sometimes I get a very slight non-specific burning pain in the area of my ascending colon. I am really puzzled by all this. What is going on?CRob


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## sickofsick (Nov 4, 1999)

I'm not to sure I can help but I think the only time you have to worry about stuff like that is if your stools suddenly become very thin (pencil thin) or very dark, I believe what you describe is not all that abnormalbut if it really concerns you It wouln't hurt to ask the doctor. Maybe if the bowels are spasiming or contracting irreguarly(common with IBS) it would cause the stools you describe. As for the burning on your left side thats quite common with IBS. Hope this helps.sickofsick


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2000)

CRob,Welcome to the board, Hope you find the help you need---you are with very helpful and caring folks here.......------------------LET'S ALL PRAY FOR A CURE TO THIS IBS SOON!BETTIE


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

Simplest solution may be not to look at it.


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## sickofsick (Nov 4, 1999)

cRob, Hope flux's answer doesn't keep you from asking questions, he seems to get some preverse thrill out of being rude.sick


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2000)

sickofsick - I took flux's response as humorous, not rude!Maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder ......Julie


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

Crobb--you described my situation perfectly. You'll sometimes see this referenced as "ribbon-shaped" stool. My GI reports that it IS from the clamping-down of the muscles in the intestines.While flux's solution is simple, I prefer the approach taken in the book IBS Relief: A doctor, dietician and a psychologist provide a team approach to manage the irritable bowel.It hasn't proven 100% successful, but it is as good a start as you'll find anywhere.


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## stinky too (May 21, 1999)

Sorry Crob, can't help ya....Me too Julie, I thought flux was showing us his sense of humor again.







My Doctor told me that it didn't hurt to look at it once in awhile to see if there was anything abnormal...... I think it is like lookng in the mailbox, we are always wondering what we will see there and how much.





















------------------Prayer doesn't change God , it changes the one who prays..


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## VegasCinny (Jan 6, 2000)

My friend describes that as "play-doh", like how it comes out of the play-doh machine!







:







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## Katie (Sep 30, 1999)

Crob: Taking a look in the bowl is like taking a look at the tissue after we blow our noses -- just to see what's going on. I have a little look-see just about every time I go and am delighted that it's not as it looked before I found this BB and started taking Caltrate Plus. Prior to that, it was mostly undigested food that had raced through my system in explosive D episodes. I think that's nastier to look at than the shapes you describe. At least the ARE shapes, which in and of itself is a beautiful thing


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## maggiew (Jul 3, 1999)

And I defined mine as rotini, you know, the curly spiral noodles?Nothing out of the ordinary according to my doc.


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2000)

Thought you might be interested, Physicians actually use the "pencil thin" description of stool as an indicator of IBS and not something more serious such as Inflamatory Bowel Disease, Cancer, etc.


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