# RED POOP! For the last 3 hours



## MohaimenK (Dec 5, 2007)

Hello, my wife had diarrhea since Wed morning and it was just straight-up water, not solid at all. Today it was pretty much the same thing. 

She drank red Powerade this morning and went to work and drank some red Gatorade and around 8 pm today (Thursday) she's been pooping red poop. It is very dark red. I am thinking it might be from her diarrhea and the Gatorade since it's not been in her stomach for too long. Is this possible??? 

She's been going to the bathroom over and over, every 20-30 mins. I told her not to go too much as she's complaining that it hurts soo much in the anus from pooping but not really her stomach. I also told her to see how it goes tomorrow and if it doesn't get better then it might be something more serious which we hope it's not. 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

You don't mention if she has been diagnosed with IBS (or at least has had months of reoccurring diarrhea) of if this is new. Of course it is possible that this is from the powerade and gatorade today, and everybody's IBS starts on one particular day, but if she has not seen a doctor about this I would start with that, and soon. Hopefully, she is keeping hydrated as well. I think if I were going through this with my wife, I would want to be in an Emergency Room.Mark


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Food dyes can color the stool, and some of them change color a bit with the pH changes in the gut so may not be the same color out as in.That means it can be hard to tell if it is blood.You might pick up a home colon cancer screening thing that usually is something you toss in the toilet that changes color if there is blood, particularly if this lasts after she stops drinking red things. If she starts acting really sick/weak get her to the doctor ASAP (walk in clinic or ER) either dehydration or loss of blood may need medical intervention.Going every 20-30 minutes like that sounds like a GI infection rather than IBS. And some of those can make the colon raw enough to bleed so keep an eye on her (even if it is check in by phone every couple of hours).For the discomfort pick up some baby wipes and any sort of diaper cream (I like A and D ointment but any of them can work). That can soothe the irritated skin and they are really gentle on tender skin.


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## MohaimenK (Dec 5, 2007)

Thank you guys. She doesn't have IBS to my knowledge. I mean at one point I thought I had it as well but it turned out I was more normal than I thought. It was stress related. I have had runny watery stool like her before many times because of bad diarrhea. I am hoping its from the red gatorade/powerade but I haven't spoken to her yet today since I am at work and she's home. Kathleen, I hardly think it's cancer since she's only 23 now and hasn't had any severe issue with her stomach before. She's in good health as well and hardly gets sick, at least what I've seen in the last 6 years of marriage (yes we're young couple and got married really young as well) . I will keep you guys updated on what happens today and if it continues for another day she's going to the doc for sure. Oh and yes she also has the diaper rash creme she's been using but pain there is just too much, even with that on....hopefully she'll wake up better this morning.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Sometimes I found that "powerade" or "gatorades" could make my D worse because of their high sugar content. So what I would do is cut it with water.. half water and half power or gator ade. Maybe she can try that. But serious D like that without an IBS diagnosis or other underlying & known GI problem... if it continues.. you *are* right.. she needs to be seen by a Dr. Here's hoping she is feeling better though today.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I don't think it is cancer, either.But the way the at home colon cancer screening thingies work is they detect blood you can't see in the stool.They don't care if the blood is from cancer, an infection, or chronic inflammatory conditions. If there is blood in the stool (and you can't always see the blood which is why they have the test thing both home and ones they do at the doctor) it will get into the toilet water and effect the test paper you drop in. Doesn't matter why there is blood there, like I said it doesn't understand that the words colon cancer test are on the box. It just turns color whenever there is blood for whatever reason it is there.It could be a quick way to tell if the red is blood or food dye.


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## MohaimenK (Dec 5, 2007)

**UPDATE**It is no longer red, she just woke up and she said it is yellow but stool is not normal yet. She didn't eat much all day yesterday so I told her to get something in her stomach and drink a lot of water. Hopefully she'll get better soon


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Sounds like it was likely from the food coloring.Yellow is pretty normal if things are still moving fast or right after a big flush out. The stool starts out yellow (left over color from bile which can also be greenish) and turns brown only as the bacteria in the colon act on it. Sometimes after a bad bout of watery diarrhea it takes a bit for the bacteria population to bounce back so a combination of the stool likely to be moving too fast still and the likelyhood there may be fewer bacteria in there can easily lead to yellow stool.


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## pewpewlasers (Dec 1, 2009)

Get some Calmoseptine. I swear by this stuff when I have really bad D. Diaper rash cream is only a skin protectant and does not relieve the pain or help heal. Calmoseptine helps the pain and helps the skin heal. I use it for my son when he gets diaper rash too. You can get it at the pharmacy over the counter, you just have to ask for it. I get mine at Walmart.


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## ibs member (Aug 19, 2010)

Guys, the yellow color mentioned before is ok. It is actually a good sign compared to red color. There can be two reasons for yellow color to appear. One of them is harmless and the other isn't terrible as bleeding can be far worse. A helpful breakdown of poop colors is here: http://www.redpoop.com/different_poop_colors/different_colors_of_poop.html and the whole site is helpful in determining and learning about the gastrointestinal tract and problems.


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## QuiQui (Aug 15, 2010)

I see that this is an old topic, but it reminds me an awful lot of something that I saw on Discovery Health a while back. And unfortunately I can't even remember what the diagnosis was, but it definitely wasn't IBS. It might have been a Mystery Diagnosis episode called "Bizarre Visions" in which a patient with constant diarrhea was mistakenly diagnosed with IBS, but it turned out to be caused by an extremely low level of vitamin B12. I can't remember for sure.


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