# MD appt this week. Terrified about floating stool :(



## Worriedwatcher (Nov 26, 2008)

I am a 44 yo female and generally feel great most of the time -- the only exception being laryngopharyngeal reflux which I am managing with Nexium (and, clearly, anxiety).

I posted a few weeks back about my floating stool fears. For the past 4.5 weeks, my stool has floated 99% of the time and I'm terrified about pancreatic cancer.

I have had IBS-D type symptoms in the past, but there is nothing else odd about my stool right now -- it's always shades of brown, normal shape, normal consistency, normal odor, normal frequency. The floating started suddenly one day last month and has persisted every day with very few (2 or 3) exceptions. I have had loose/unformed stools once or twice during this time (not uncommon for me) and the liquid/loose part always sinks -- but the solid bits float.

From a dietary perspective -- about 3 or so weeks before this started, I stopped using a protein powder that I'd been using for years. The powder contained all sorts of fibers, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and omegas. I had been OK with it for a while, but it started causing gas/diarrhea (a common complaint about this powder). I kept using it despite the GI upset, until I finally figured the side effects weren't worth the benefits. The floating started about 3 weeks after I stopped the powder. Actually --- my stools went from unformed and sinking to formed and floating after stopping the powder (though it was about 3 weeks).

Another possibly noteworthy thing -- I have struggled with yeast infections for years and years. During the 4 - 5 weeks prior to the onset of floating, I took 3 or 4 doses of diflucan. The floating started a few days after my last dose of diflucan (which didn't fully kill the yeast, because I just had another infection). I have been taking multiple types of probiotics.

WTH is going on?? Why did my stool start floating? Is it possible that this is just my new normal? Could it have been stopping the powder -- despite the fact that the floating started 3 weeks later?

I am frantic about pancreatic cancer. I will talk to my doctor, obviously, but I don't want to freak out in her office to the point where she orders unnecessary tests just to appease me. I moved recently, so it's a new practice and she doesn't know me at all.

Help?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

in almost all case the only thing floating stool means is you have enough gas trapped in the stool to make it float and that can be very much in the range of gas normal people have.

Floaters are really not some weird uncommon thing that never happens except in very rare cases with very rare conditions.

Changing your fiber and probiotic intake, could be how the meds are effecting the colon flora, can change your gas and how easy it is for the stool to trap it. The colon flora are going to change over time they don't change overnight if you stop them.


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## Worriedwatcher (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks, Kathleen!

So what you're saying is that removing the protein powder (with 7 grams of fiber/serving, probiotics, and digestive enzymes) could manifest as floating stools 3 weeks later? I started taking oral probiotic supplements shortly after the floating (I was hit or miss with them before). No change from those.

What about the difulcan? The floating started after my 3rd or 4th dose in a 4 - 5 week period. Do you think that could have contributed? It clearly didn't kill enough of the yeast, because I had a yeast infection last week.

Do proton pump inhibitors affect gut flora? I know they can over very long term use, but what about just a few weeks?

Also -- the 2 days last week when I didn't have floating (the only 2 days in the past 4.5 weeks) happened 5 days after I stopped using apple cider vinegar (think pectin). I accidentally had some of the ACV in salad dressing on Wednesday and on Friday -- I wonder if the floating stopped because the ACV had cleared my system and then started again after having it again. If the floating was caused by the ACV, it it possible that it would take 5 days after stopping it to see an effect on stool?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Lots of things determine how much gas you made today and how many bubbles are trapped in the stool. Some change the gut flora over time, some things are short term (like if you eat different amounts of fermentable foods each day).

I always had floaters all my life even as a healthy little kid. They only started sinking after I took a probiotic that actually reduced my fart frequency.

Is the new probiotic a brand that people other than the marketing people on the website say works? (or has a independent lab that says it actually has the right species of live bacteria in it) and then it may need to be a brand that does well in your particular internal ecosystem.

I hope your doc can calm your fears because like I said some people who are quite healthy have floaters (some people say you should have floaters).

Are you losing weight no matter how much you eat? Or have pain so severe you really can't believe you are waiting for the doctor's appointment and really should be calling 911 rather than posting on the internet?


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## Worriedwatcher (Nov 26, 2008)

I have lost about 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks, but I attribute that to giving up my 2 glasses of wine/day (to help with my reflux). I have no significant pain (sometimes I get twinges between my shoulder blades, but they're mild and last about 2 seconds). For the most part, I feel totally fine -- normal energy, active, etc.

I know that pan cancer at my age, with how I am presenting, is probably a 1 in a million shot --- but I just had a friend die of a cancer that also should have been a 1 in a million shot. I also recently had a high school friend (a year older than me) get diagnosed with pan cancer. My anxiety has always manifested in my bowels


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## mahimata (Jan 18, 2015)

In Ayurvedic analysis a floating stool is a good sign. If it's formed, without bad smell, and floats, it's an indicator of LACK of toxins in the body. I am always happy to see my stools float!

It's good that you're headed to the doctor for peace of mind but in the meantime try not to worry too much... this all might actually be a good thing.


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## IBS is BS (Jul 2, 2012)

Worriedwatcher said:


> WTH is going on?? Why did my stool start floating? Is it possible that this is just my new normal? Could it have been stopping the powder -- despite the fact that the floating started 3 weeks later?


Hi Worriedwatcher 

I think you've said it well yourself.

If it coincided with you stopping the use of this supplement (for intestinal reasons, no less) then it is highly likely that it is the cause.

Just want to reduce your worry until you get to the docs


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## Worriedwatcher (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks mahimata and IBS is BS!

I saw the doctor today (it was a new doc, as I recently moved to a new state) and she was not overly concerned, but she was not totally dismissive either. She did think it was due to some dietary changes and suggested adding a high-quality probiotic (as opposed to the drug store brand I'd been using) and told me to keep an eye on it. She said that it was, of course, *possible *that it could be the sign of something bad but the absence of other symptoms made that less likely.

Just seems weird that the change happened 3 weeks after I stopped the powder -- seems like a long time, but maybe the intestinal flora takes a while to change.

Basically she just told me to keep an eye on it and we'd touch base again in several weeks to a month.


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## mahimata (Jan 18, 2015)

That's good news!

It wouldn't surprise me if had to do with the protein powder, a dietary or emotional change. Maybe your body just needed time to flush something out.


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