# Obsessed with stool shape



## IPPO (Jul 26, 2009)

I am finding myself constantly obsessing with the shape/size of my stools. I go 2 - 4 times a day and they are normally whole but very soft. I worry because I tend to pass a stool that is not round, can be more of an oval type shape or flatter on the sides. I did pass 3 fuller and rounder stools last week, but when a smaller skinnier one come out I start to worry why. Can it be due to the softness of the stool that it is not pushing my anus fully open when I go, or can the muscles in the bottom push onto it to make it like that?Anyone else find they have this issue?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

We get a few people that obsess about that sort of thing.If the stool is on the soft side it often won't be round and will tend to be thinner. There is nothing sinister about that. There are some widely spread medical myths (even in text books) about stool girth, but they are just myths. They sound logical, but stool variation is due to consistency.I would recommend you try to avoid studying your stools in depth. There isn't any thing to be gained by it and most people end up all freaked out about stuff that happened to them from time to time before they had IBS but they never were worried by it because they just passed the stool and flushed.


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## IPPO (Jul 26, 2009)

Thanks Kathleen for your reply.You are right I know I prob dont help myself by looking at every single stool and then thinking about it until the next one and so on! Hard to say if they are the same as before IBS was mentioned by my GP as I never really looked, they may have been I guess. I did mention my stool shape/size variation/consistency t my GP and he said it nothing to worry about as its different from person to person.I did grin to myself when I passed some more 'normal' looking ones last week. I do drink a lot of water as I want to keep them soft as I know if I dont I may struggle to pass them and that just makes me uncomfortable.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

If you need to keep the soft and easy to pass then you have to accept that the soft stools are going to be squishier than harder stools.Your colon has to squeeze the stool to move it along and if you squeeze soft clay it changes shape while the same clay will hold shape once it has dried out or been fired so it is hard.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

With your anal opening being tighter , it does tend to be on a thinner mushier side.It isn't always rock hard. And it isn't always as wide as your arm.Yes I do notice people tend to be quite alarmed by the shape , size and color.It's just your waste product.As long as their is No Blood in it , don't let it cause you to be alarmed.


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## S_LIne (Jun 26, 2009)

Glenda said:


> As long as their is No Blood in it , don't let it cause you to be alarmed.


Bingo! 100 percent right if there is no blood don't worry. If you keep obsessing over it the stress will just make things worse on you. Do what I believe Kathleen said every time you use the loo just don't look at it it.


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## shyanna von banana (Jun 4, 2009)

yeah sometimes but then i look at them and i find little shapes like i do with clouds and then i flush.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

I use to look at it out of pure curiousity , but quit doing so months ago.If you know there are No infections present , then don't let it enter your mind.Pooh is pooh and it is gonna look different all the time.No Blood , No worrys.


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## IPPO (Jul 26, 2009)

Thank you all for your replies.I will do my best not to freak myself out.Thanks again..


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## Ga. Mike (Aug 5, 2009)

I have been doing the same thing lately.I usually go 2 to 3 times a day.The first one will me like breakfast sausage links and the next 1 a bit smaller and the 3rd one pencil thin.I dont know if this is normal or not.Ive been drinking lots of water and added more fiber to my diet. Is there a reason why the shape would change that much say in 2 hours?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

The later stools probably haven't had the storage time in the rectum/sigmoid that the stool when you haven't gone for several hours.The stool doesn't start out solid and wide, it becomes that over time. It starts out liquidy then goes to soft and thin before ending up wide and firm.


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## Ga. Mike (Aug 5, 2009)

Any idea what would cause this? I also notice that usually the 3rd stool is a little watery with some clear mucus. At least I think its mucus....it also feels urgent.I started taking Align and am now on my 4th day....could this have anything to do with it?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

It is a common pattern for IBS. You go more (or less) than usual and the only thing consistent about the consistency is that it isn't consistent.Trying to overanalyze what every variation in shape or consistency means (and mucus is also a common IBS system) will not get you anywhere.Do a quick check for blood then flush. All you do by trying to use your stools for divination about what is going on inside does is up your anxiety, which will make the stools even more inconsistent than they would be if you were ignoring them.


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## Ga. Mike (Aug 5, 2009)

Great advice.I do tend to over analyze things which causes me a lot of anxiety and does tend to make things worse.


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## IPPO (Jul 26, 2009)

Ga. MikeI know what you mean.. I can really get myself into a panic..


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## AbbyDabbyDoo (Aug 14, 2009)

I've been worrying about skinny stools but now it all makes sense. I'm also developing fissures, could they get int he way & cause skinnier stools?As for the blood, I've had all sorts of different kinds of blood sicne my IBS begun (2 years ago) & doctors still won't offer me an explanation.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Fissures usually don't effect stool shape that much but the explain the blood. We are talking bright red blood, right? Bright blood is almost always from a problem at the outlet like a hemorrhoid or a fissure. If you are talking brown old blood mixed in the stool and no one will give you a colonoscopy you should find someone who will. Stool diameter is a function of consistency, not blockages of any kind. The blockage theory seems logical, and is oft repeated as if it were fact, but the data show that every diameter you can think of is from the consistency of the stool (either too soft so it can't build width or too dried out so it loses all the bulk that water provides).


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## AbbyDabbyDoo (Aug 14, 2009)

I have every type of blood imaginablae from black stools, dark red blood in the stools, bright red blood in the stools & bleeding directly out of my bottom (I think it's inevitable I'll need stitches one day). I can almost predict when I'll get black stools these days from the pain in my tummy.I've had an endoscopy but never the full colonoscopy. Currently waiting for an MRI next week.


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