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yellow diarrhea

My father has had watery yellow diarrhea now since March 2005 (approx 5 months) He does not have any pain with this.  Both my parents were in Spain for the winter (which is where they have gone now for past6 years) They both had flu in February (all of their friends had this too) my mum recovered but my father could not shake of this constant diarrhea, they returned back to UK early to seek help.  He has sent a total of 9 stool tests to the surgery, he has had 2 lots of antibiotics he is actually taking 'Lomamide tablets' at the moment. He has seen a specialist who said it could be a colon infection.  As they were so worried he had bowell cancer they decided to go for a Bodyscan which came back ok.  He was also treated for Giardia Lamda a couple of months ago as our QC at work said it could be that.  He has had several blood tests which do not pinpoint anything.  They have both been taking Probiotic drinks and acidophilious from the health shop but nothing seems to help. He has lost a stone and half in weight over these past 5 months, his weight fluctates now up and down but he is not losing anymore than this. They have tried all types of diets but nothing seems to control this chronic yellow loose diarrhea.  He has been five times this morning already, it seems to go in cycles as if its every 2 weeks this very yellow diarrhea appears, when this subsides he still goes to the toilet 4-5 times a day which is tinged with yellow but it is not the bright watery diarrhea he has at the moment (apparently it just re-appears every 2 weeks approx)  We tend to think this could be a parasite ??  Nobody has confirmed this but thats what we feel it could be.  He had another stool test done this week (it had traces of yellow in it)and the results have just come back this morning saying it is negative, Nothing wrong apparently!!!  We are now getting to the point here in England that we do not know where to go or who to ask but he can not continue with this watery diarrhea as it is not normal for him and its very worrying.  Please coud someone advise us of any treatment or of where we could go for advise or what to do next??
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233190 tn?1278549801
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Chronic diarrhea needs to be evaluated with a colonoscopy - to determine if there is any inflammation or inflammatory bowel disease.

Routine stool tests can check for infection, ova and parasites - which should have been done already.  

Another consideration if the tests above are non-revealing would be malabsorption.  Stool tests looking for the fecal fat and blood tests looking for celiac disease are more specialized test that you can discuss with your gastroenterologist.  

If the stool becomes increasingly yellow - you can consider an abdominal ultrasound to evaluate the biliary ducts.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
http://www.straightfromthedoc.com
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, Yellow Diarrhea and dizzyness was started.
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Does anyone know if a colonoscopy would show up a parasite in the body????  Would a stool test show if a parasite was still there???
Thanks everyone for your previous comments, my father is still suffering with yellow runs but does not have any pain!
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HI, I'm 35yrs old and I got my gallbladder was remove on 1995 2 weeks after I had my 2nd baby by c-section. I had all my 4 kid this way I could not have them normal so I tried any way right after I got it remove I could not eat cheese or milk not even vitamins with lactose  .I would get cramps so bad I would fall to the ground with pain. Then I would go to the use the bathroom then it would go away. Know it has been like this for many yrs. all thou I try not to have milk and cheese I get yellow diarrhea any way but with out the cramps. Now this past yr. 2004-2005 I have been getting hot pinching feeling in my left back and front shoulder blade the pain goes down my left. I had full long black shinny hair. now I had to cut it very short so it will not look so thin I loose more then 100 strands of hair a day I
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Can yellow diarrhea be caused by alcohol intake?  A couple of glasses of white wine each day?
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Avatar universal
I have posted this comment below for another person, but I'm posting this here in case it would be helpful info for you (I'm not certain if it will apply to your problem)...

I had a colectomy September 2004 (a third of my colon removed) because of a growth in my cecum. It turned out I didn't have cancer but it was TB of the colon. Eversince I had the surgery, I had diarrhea (literally it's like water coming out of me), eating would immediately send me running to the bathroom.

I have recently seen a gastro-enterologist and he wanted me to try this medication which he prescribes to other patients and seem to work for them. What I was prescribed was named pms-CHOLESTYRAMINE, which is in powder form and has to be mixed with water or juice, or a highly fluid juice such as soup, pudding, which I drink twice in a day before meals.

I'm into the second week of taking this and I observed it to be working for me. The urgency to go to the bathroom was minimized. My stool has become semi-formed. Although, I still have the problem of bloating, gas, and constant stomach discomfort, I was sort of relieved that my diarrhea ceased. I still go to the bathroom several times a day (maybe 3-4) but like I mentioned it is no longer runny.

Investigate and ask your own doctor if this would be appropriate for yourself. I just wanted to share this info because I know the pain and discomfort as I am going through it as well.
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Avatar universal
My father has had a Virtual Colonoscopy which had the following results:  Said he had quite extensive diverticular disease involving all of the large bowel although unusually more marked on the right side than the left.  This is a normal age related degenerative change and of no clinical significance usually although it can cause nasty infective exacerbations.  With this exception the large bowel appears normal.  They noted he had been treated for diarrhoea with Metronidazole.  This they said may well have been secondary to Giardia infection which often does give protracted diarrhoea even when the bug is eliminated.  The colonoscopy did not detect or confirm that my father had Giardia Lamda just said they had detected a drug which he had taken which is normally taken for Giardia. Does anybody know if this Giardia is something which takes months to clear up even after being treated with antibiotics?  are there still traces in the body for months?  Could this be the reason for his consistent yellow diarrhoea still??  cDoes it eventually go away all together?  If it is this how do we get confirmation that it is?  My father now has an appointment at the doctors for something to go down his throat.
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Avatar universal
If your father has diverticulitis, he may be helped by an intestinal soother formula, such as Intestinal Soothe and Build, by Nature's Sunshine. I have heard that the medical protocal for parasites is not very good. If your dad took an antibiotic for the giardia, then again I truly believe his diarreah is yeast related. The Garden of Life Fungal Defense will kill the parasites along with the yeast. I also again recommend colonics by a qualified colon hydrotherapist who can tell him exactly what is going on in his colon. It was the only thing that stopped my diarreah. I hope you find out what's going on, but most doctors do not diagnose systemic yeast infections simply because they are not knowledgeable about them or they don't believe yeast can wreak such havoc in the intestinal tract. Please let me know how your dad is doing.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your comments and advise.  Further to the above symptoms my fathers stools are yellow but 'like oil floating on water' globules of oil.  He has again been 4 times this morning and it is only the last time that they are like this.  No blood in the stools and he is not in pain and maybe because of this the doctors here are not really taking this seriously.  If anybody has had any of these symtoms please let us know.  He also has to flush the pan a couple of times as the liquid diarrhea stains the pan!!!
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Avatar universal
You might try a hi lipase digestive enzymes and see if that helps. I have had these same symptoms you are describing and I do what I recommended in previous post. If you try my recommendations, and they don't work, consider more extensive work up of his gallbladder and/or pancreas.
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Avatar universal
My recommendation would be for him to see a qualified colon hydrotherapist who can clean out his colon and tell him what they are seeing. It sounds like a yeast problem to me. I used Garden of Life Fungal Defense for yeast and parasites. Follow the directions and follow up with 3-6 months on a strong biphidipholus. His bowels must move while doing this detox and he must drink LOTS of pure water. My advice would be to do the program first and then get at least 1 set of 3 colonics. Everyone has parasites whether a test shows they do or not. I hope he feels better soon. Keep me posted.
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Avatar universal
Lalal, have they tested him for C. dificile?  This is a bacterial infection that follows on the heels of antibiotic treatment and could cause the symptoms you're describing.  There is a specific stool test for this bug.
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