Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Floating Stools?

CantEvenEatRice

By CantEvenEatRice
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

CantEvenEatRice Enthusiast
CantEvenEatRice
Posted

I have been gluten free for over 3 years, but have never felt really great. I am trying to cut out all grains and dairy as well as other foods I think bother me. However, for the past 6 months, I have felt miserable! I am so tired and my stools are just not normal anymore. Before being diagnosed with Celiac, I had chronic constipation for at least 10 years--I mean really constipated ALL the time. That all cleared when I went gluten free. Now I am having problems with diarrhea from EVERYTHING I eat. And, when my stools are more formed, they are always floating. Does that indicate something? I have also been having a lot of pelvic pain so I am scheduled for a pelvic ultrasound next week. I have checked and rechecked for cross contamination and I can't find any. In fact, sometimes I barely eat anything and I still get sick. So frustrated!!!!!!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Kaycee Collaborator
Kaycee
Posted

I have been gluten free for 9 months, and still my stools float. I don'tknow what this indicates, but at least I do not have constant d d like I used too.

Catherine

2kids4me Contributor
2kids4me
Posted

This may help:

Floating stools are seen in a variety of different situations. Most are diet-related, or caused by episodes of diarrhea that accompany an acute gastrointestinal infection. A change in dietary habits can lead to an increase in the amount of gas produced by bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

Similarly, acute gastrointestinal (GI) infections can result in increased gas content in the intestines, due to rapid movement of food through the GI tract. One wrong idea is that floating stools are caused by an increase in the fat content of the stool. In fact, it is increased gas levels in the stool that make it less dense and allow it to float.

Another cause of floating stools is malabsorption. More than two weeks of diarrhea with floating stools is often seen in people suffering from malabsorption, a dysfunction in the GI tract that affects the body's ability to digest and absorb fat and other types of foods.

Increased levels of nutrients in the stool (which have not been absorbed by the GI tract) are supplied to the normal bacteria that live in the gut, which in turn produce more gas. This results in more gas-rich stools that float.

Floating stools alone do not indicate an illness or problem, and they do not require home care. If a change in diet has caused problems, try to find and eliminate the offending food.

Open Original Shared Link

There is a similar thread that may be of interest too:

Open Original Shared Link

lindalee Enthusiast
lindalee
Posted
I have been gluten free for over 3 years, but have never felt really great. I am trying to cut out all grains and dairy as well as other foods I think bother me. However, for the past 6 months, I have felt miserable! I am so tired and my stools are just not normal anymore. Before being diagnosed with Celiac, I had chronic constipation for at least 10 years--I mean really constipated ALL the time. That all cleared when I went gluten free. Now I am having problems with diarrhea from EVERYTHING I eat. And, when my stools are more formed, they are always floating. Does that indicate something? I have also been having a lot of pelvic pain so I am scheduled for a pelvic ultrasound next week. I have checked and rechecked for cross contamination and I can't find any. In fact, sometimes I barely eat anything and I still get sick. So frustrated!!!!!!

Have you tried eating gentle foods like chicken soup? Eliminating corn and corn syrup helped me. Hope you feel better and let us know how the appointment turns out. :)

IrishKelly Contributor
IrishKelly
Posted
I have been gluten free for 9 months, and still my stools float. I don'tknow what this indicates, but at least I do not have constant d d like I used too.

Catherine

How long did it take for the d to go away?...i'm curious because i'm still patientlly waiting.

Kaycee Collaborator
Kaycee
Posted
How long did it take for the d to go away?...i'm curious because i'm still patientlly waiting.

Irish Kelly,

For everyone it is different. I think for me, if I am extra extra careful with what I eat, I am usually fine. But being extra extra careful has been the hardest bit. It is not that I am eating gluten, but it occassionally gets in, so that doesn't help. But my biggest problems are other intolerances which seem to keep the D going. I have given away peanuts, and nearly all soy, and have re-introduced milk, which does not seem to be a problem, but then I have to balance that against what else I have been eating. It has been quite hard for me to find out all the ins and outs of the diet, and what else bothers me. I hate to say this, but the more packaged prepared food I seem to add to the diet, the harder it is to manage everything. As a rule if I am careful, the d dissappears, until i have something that is questionable. Thankfully, it has been getting better these last couple of months.

I know I should just go straight, and only eat fruit and veges and meats. But I am afraid I am not as strong on myself as I should be. Not that I would knowingly eat gluten, but there are other things that I should watch out for.

But then, Kelly, have you thought that you might have another intolerance. Something I tried to not think about for the longest time, as I probably knew I would not be able to manage that one as easy as eliminating gluten, as that was a big ask in the first place, and the most necessary thing to eliminate.

Catherine

RiceGuy Collaborator
RiceGuy
Posted

I've been reading lately that B12 deficiency is common among Celiacs, and it does cause the sort of symptoms you describe. Can't hurt to get one of those sublingual supplements and see what happens. Just make certain it says gluten free on the label.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,084
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Toddy
    Newest Member
    Toddy
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.2k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Kathleen JJ
      Options - 7 year old boy - Helicobacter pylori and serology

      By Kathleen JJ · Posted

      @cristiana Do you have any suggestions for the gummy bear type of candy? Because that is what is getting passed around. Someone told me "you will have to read all labels thoroughly from now on" but to be honest: I don't know what I'm looking for that should or should not be there? And is the notion "gluten free" trustable? And what about "may contain residual gluten"? Is that safe?
    • Kathleen JJ
      Options - 7 year old boy - Helicobacter pylori and serology

      By Kathleen JJ · Posted

      @trents The first thought indeed I had was 'thank god it's not cancer' and of course, there are many, many, many worse diagnoses to get. But this doesn't mean it doesn't come as a shock. I read a lot of the time 'the most common symptoms are...' and then all the things he doesn't have, but never do I find a list of less common symptoms (bar @Wheatwackeds examples - and also non of these are present). I get that severe pains can be a symptom, though the fact that they were omnipresent for 10 days (the exact time his viral values were up) and then 6 weeks later 1 episode also when the family was going through a stomach bug, and since then (nor ever before) none, this logically seems more related to a virus then a symptom of Coeliac, as I'd think this would have to be more present on a regular basis? He always has loved gluten-containing food and at that time was rather having less of it (due to the bug and feeling a little under the weather so eating more yoghurt and the likes then cookies) then more of it. It just doesn't sound all that logical. That being said, I comprehend AND accept that things can not always be logical.   I am trying to understand what you are saying about the tolerance - so as long as he eats gluten, he will have some tolerance to it, but when he stops, and say accidentally ingests something, he will react more as the tolerance is lower? It sounds so illogical (hmm, I see a pattern with myself: really looking for logic in a very illogical condition). And how do you interpret the values very 6 months as you maybe don't know there has been an accidental intake?  Do the values ever go down to zero or is it a question of getting them mainly lower and can they never go down to normal rates?   Normally results of his biopsy are coming in on monday, a little chance they come in today. I've been checking my mail every 10 seconds 🤦🏻‍♀️, this will not be a productive working day I fear 🙄. Then we know the values, but we only have an appointment with the specialized pediatrician and dietitian on December 6d (which in Belgium is a children's holiday comparable to Santa Clause). So we'll get the full "introduction" to the disorder and approach then.   I did talk to the pediatrician and gastrointestinal doctor who did the gastroscopy asking their advice about a plan I was having: to wait to start the diet after the holiday season, we will be abroad in a hotel and to start there in this very new world feels quite stressful for us, but even worse: it will start this journey in a lot of negativity. So our plan is to have a "yummy" party after we return from our trip, during Christmas holidays, inviting some of his friends and buying and making a vast array of gluten free goodies and having them sample and score it. This way it feels like a festive thing AND we can immediately find some things (hopefully) he genuinely like.   Both doctors agreed with this approach as this was truly an accidental find and hadn't we tested his blood 2 weeks ago chances were we'd only have found out in a year or 2 so those extra few weeks will not make the difference.   So now I'm gathering information, talking to people to know where there's good stuff...     But what keeps on being quite ununderstandable to me (I hope this will get explained on December 6th) is how it works. So it's auto-immune, meaning gluten trigger an immune response. Is this a black and white thing? Does 1 grain of wheat trigger the same response as a full bowl of spaghetti? And I mean this on a bowel and organs level, not on a symptoms level, as I gather (is this correct?) that not having any symptoms does not mean that his bowel doesn't get attacked?   I know it all could be worse, I truly do, but to be honest, this is the 4th "anvil falling on my head out of a clear blue sky" diagnosis that I got for one of my most loved people. First my mother was diagnosed with presenile dementia without anyone in the family having it. Then my unborn daughter turned out to have a chromosomal defect that made that she could only live inside of me and died when she was born, then my sister turned out to have (a tested non genetic 🤯) form of presenile dementia as well, with me being her only caretaker as my mother passed away a few years ago and she has no family of her own. And now this. And this is absolutely not only the least of this row but of course not even in the same ball park. But for my resilience and bearing capacity this just feels not little as it affects the life of my little boy...    
    • Wheatwacked
      Has anyone found Ozempic affected their symptoms?

      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Could be the Ozampic is masking your expected symptoms.  Like an analgesic masks pain.  Qzampic slows digestion to lower the rate glucose enters the intestine to slow its effect on glucose level.  It seems it might also slow down the gluten entry into the intestine, reducing its trigger level for the antibodies.  Ultimately the damage from gluten is the same, just not as fast so the pain is less.  Sourdough bread has less gluten.  Ozampic siows its entry.
    • Wheatwacked
      Options - 7 year old boy - Helicobacter pylori and serology

      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      You can sell it better if the whole family does gluten free.  If he does have Celiac Diease, it is genetic so either you, your spouse, or both have a 40% chance of also having Celiac.  There are over 200 non classic symptoms also caused by celiac disease not often considered by doctors. Joint pain, muscle pain, muscle cramps, osteoporosis, and allergies for starters.  
    • Wheatwacked
      On the cusp of facing a new life of managing a life with Celiac Disease

      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Hello @MHavoc, thank you for your question and welcome to the clinic. First, has the contstipation abated with the GFD? If your are pursuing further diagnostics you must continue to eat gluten. Each lab has their own reference range for their test, but they indicate an H for high.  Typically anything above 11 is considered positive. Mild chronic inflammation (gastritis) can interfere with intrinsic factor for B12 leading to low B12 causing low MCHC (anemia). So what is causing your gastritis?  A high tTG IgA level generally indicates potential gastrointestinal problems most commonly associated with celiac disease.  Although the biopsy is the Gold Standard for diagnosis, not finding damage in the biopsy does not rule out Celiac Disease. It means they did not find damage where they looked.  The small intestine is over 20 feet long. Many here have been blood positive and biopsy negative, it just delays the diagnosis until you have enough damage to find and fit their diagnostic profile. The Ttg-iga is not only sensitive (90%) but highly specific (98%) and won’t show positive until the damage is severe.  It is estimated that 40% of first degree relatives of diagnosed Celiacs have undiagnosed Celiac Disease, so your sister is a big risk factor in whether you have it. Are You Confused About Your Celiac Disease Lab Results?  This article explains it better and is quite readable. Celiac Disease can cause deficient vitamin D.  Low vitamin D compromises the immune system.  Any other symptoms? liver enzymes?  Recent cold or flue? Celiac Disease and the malabsorption it causes through vitamin and mineral deficiencies can elicit symptoms not usually associated with Celiac Disease. Case in point maybe your gastritis and anemia.  
×
×
  • Create New...