Anal Leakage/Grease

Okay. I have always had "anal leakage", meaning that my butt is typically moist & has a bad smell. I call this my “butt juice”. Usually there is no fecal matter in this though I have had "Hershey squirts".  This is nothing I have ever been alarmed about or seen a doctor regarding even if it is an annoyance and embarrassing. But I was shocked the other day when I went to the bathroom and had large yellow/orange stain on my underwear. I had to continuously wipe to clean myself and it had a greasy feel to it. This leakage continued most of the day then stopped.  When I woke the next morning I was still clean til I had my morning bowel movement. When I wiped it was back, and when I looked in the toilet there was this stuff floating in the toilet like grease or oil. It looked like the grease that is on top of a pizza. So much so that it left a ring in the toilet. It continued again for most of the day but has since stopped and not come back. There was no blood nor mucus and nothing appeared to be in the stool itself. I have not taken any diet pills nor eaten low fat food that apparently contains a grease substitute. Sorry, the name of it has slipped my mind at this time. Nothing has changed about what I eat, medications I am taking or my bowel movements.  I do suffer from GERD and take medication for that daily which controls it. I did have my Gallbladder removed about 7 years ago. I have daily stomach pains that are mainly on the lower right side, occasionally they kinda go up the right side and mid right side of my back. These are not excruciating pains, but more annoying pains though once in while I will get one that makes me double over for a second.  I have not seen my doctor for these either. I am over weight, smoke, drink coffee like there’s no tomorrow and do not eat a “balance diet”. I do not do drugs nor drink. I do have an annual physical, which I just had a month ago.  Everything came back good. So what could cause this? Does anyone have any ideas?

[CalGal]

It sounds like you're experiencing fat malabsorption. You need to contact your doc and get to the cause of the problem. Issues that can cause fat malabsorption include pancreatic problems and celiac disease. It could be tied in with the pains you're having and possibly the 'long-gone' gallbladder.

[dtownsley]

Thank you for your response.  I did go see my personal physician however he did not know what the issue was so he is sending me to a Gastroenterologist. The leakage stopped that night though I did have a small drop a week later when I had a bowel movement and it looked as though there was a streak in the stool. I have not had any since though. I am contemplating canceling this appointment. I’m am not a big person for going to doctors, especially when they just want me to change my diet or try something for a month then go back. I just can’t see having to keep paying that co-payment every month.  My question is do you think or know if I just ignore this issue would everything will be all right? What could go wrong if I don't go? I did just have my physical and everything came back good from that. I ‘m not loosing weight; unfortunately it’s the opposite. I’ve actually gained 5lbs since my physical a month ago. I guess I’m putting on my winter weight.  I do still have my stomach pains, but like I said before these are not excruciating pains. Any thoughts you have I would appreciate.

[CalGal]

Dtownsley, if there is an underlying organic cause for the issue, such as celiac or pancreatic issues, then it's just not going to go away and things will not be all right.

If you're looking at the 'odds' of whether to go to the doc or not you've got to weigh a couple of options. If you've had this condition for a long time, and there is something that is slowly going wrong, at some point in time a full-scale 'condition' is going to show up and it may be difficult to correct. On the other hand it may be easier to actually find the cause since many GI issues can be difficult to pin down in the early stages. So you'd at least know what the cause is (but can you 'fix it' at that point?).

But you're saying you've got stomach pains? Are you really going to wait until they're excruciating to find out what's going on there? If you're physical was okay, but you've got stomach pains and you've got leakage 'something' is going on. You're the one who has to make the decision as to whether or not to follow-up.