bowel problem

[bluputty]

What would cause frequent bowel movements consisting only of clear liquid for up to four days then a solid soft bowel movement then the process starting over again?  A colonstrophy and a CT scan came back normal.

[ggreg]

Bluputty,
I'm so glad you wrote back with more details.  This confirms my thinking about getting a new stool sample (or your first one, in this case) and some blood drawn.  But you do not have to wait to see the specialist or a regular appointment to have this done!  You can go to your regular doctor at the VA or their emergency there, or a private doc that perhaps your wife uses or the county clinic in your area, and you do NOT have to produce a stool to have it tested; rather they will stick a lubricated instrument in there and take some of the waste out and then examine it under a microscope.  I do know that some places assume you can just relieve yourself on cue, but this is most defnitely not always the case.  And of course blood draw is simple enough out of your arm.  When I first went to the ER with my explosive endless diarrhea from medication, that's what they did, they did not make me bring in a sample or "go" whilst I was there; they took it by sticking something in there and taking what they got to examine in their ER lab there.  

If you have a dog, this is what the veterinarian does.  Altho one time they tested an older rescue dog I had that way, and the very next time he did his business, I saw a live worm in his stool, and brought the dog straight back (sans sample, didn't want to touch it), and he was treated as tho he had worms, they called him a "wormy" kinda dog.  Smile.  Sorry, I'm getting off track here.  But I'm 62, and so I especially relate to you and your wife's dilemma.

I am almost certain you have a bacteria or... as you suggested a parasite, particularly in view of eating deer meat, altho as long as it is cooked expertly under high temps, you may be saved that particular unusualness.  So, the long and short of it is, please go to your regular doctor at the VA, request a stool sample (tell them you cannot produce a stool so they will have to retrieve it) and ask for a blood draw, which they should be looking for all sorts of gastro bacteria and everything else they can think of that might be in your guts and causing this incredibly draining and unnatural water blast you get every day.  

I really feel for you, as I have had this problem before, and as I said the cause was a medicine.  And now I have it from chemotherapy, for several days after an infusion, I get that, I just hate it, really a strange thing, and then I'll get constipated which causes cramping, it's a digestive misery, to be sure.  And it is of course quite draining, but at least I know what that is.  It returns to normal after a number of days in between chemos.  So, I hope this advice will now lead to you getting a diagnosis.  I am just so sure you have SOMEthing in your gut that shouldn't be there, and when it's so easy to kill it with medicines, it's not fair that you should suffer another moment of another day.  I'll be listening for your next post.
GG

[bluputty]

Dear GG,
I really appreciate your response.  Not certain of a response I made the question a little too simple.  My problem has existed since October 2010.  I have gone to the VA and a number of doctors and now they are sending me to a bowel specialist.  The one test they haven't done is a test of my stool.  They need the sample to be very fresh and I haven't been able to provide it when I am in the doctors office or get it to them because of the distance.  
A virus, parasites, or bacteria seem likely but I have no other symptoms other then bowels that do not behave normally.  No stomach problems, bloating, pain, headaches, fever or pain of any sort except related to the lower bowels. I am 64 years old and never had these symptoms before and currently on no medicines, have not changed my diet, I do not take vitamins, under no particular stress, and I can eat virtually anything without a problem.  I do avoid beans since the gas will cause the liquid to exit with more force.  I sometimes have bowel movements either soft, liquid a dozen or more times a day.  I use a pad to absorb liquid that sometimes uncontrollable forces itself out.  This is fortunately always clear as water and has become a routine I live with.  The colonstrophy came back with no poylps or anything else abnormal including the CAT scan.  The bowel movements when they are semisolid do come out with some discomfort and can take up to an half hour before the movement turns to water again.  My wife thinks I got something from eating deer meat or that I have an undetected cancer somewhere. I am going back to the doctor in June or July and I will post what they find out.   One good thing when I sleep laying horizontally I have no problem so it hasn't affected my sleeping.  Thanks and stay tuned.

bluputty

[ggreg]

Bluputty,  This can be caused by a few things, so I'll run through them until something hits a bell for you.    

One is sometimes medications can do this to a person, even vitamins.  One time I got terrible and constant diarrhea every day, numerous times a day, and this went on for six months despite gastro specialist, colonoscopy, stool samples, etc.  Finally I thought back on when all that started, and it hit me that I had begun taking a tranquilizer that summer it began, and as soon as I weened myself off it, away went the diarrhea.  So, review side effects of anything you take and have your doc change any that have diarrhea or constipation as a side effect, and if you take vitamins then ONLY take them once or twice a week or switch brands, should help digestion since some vits and minerals can clog up a person.  Now, if you just recently finished a round of antibiotics for whatever reason when this started, this can also cause a person to have intermittent constipation followed by lots of diarrhea as you describe, and the solution is to consume "probiotics," which can get from drinking Acidophilus milk or Activia yogurt from the grocery store for two weeks, and even health food stores have it in pill form, "Pearls" I think is one of the names.

Another thing that causes this is an intestinal bacteria or virus.  When they did the colonoscopy, the doc should have taken some samples of the contents in your bowel and checked if you had anything like that, but you CAN and should ask for a new stool sample and blood draw ASAP to make sure you don't have some sort of bacteria that's doing this to you.  Viruses, they run their course in a couple weeks, but bacteria needs medicine to cure it up.  Keep in mind they'll probably give you antibiotics, so in addition to taking those, ramp up the "probiotics" I told you about and continue it two weeks after the last round of antibiotic.

One more thing, let us say you have constipation from "normal" sources, like if you ate out recently and whatever your meal was, it tended to kind of clog up your waste for a few days, or if you recently tried out a new type of soda or food, same thing.  Well, whenever resulting constipation begins to resolve and a little waste finally comes out, then what follows is sometimes buckets of liquid diarrhea, and this might repeat itself a couple times until you finally get back on the road of regular movements.  So, let us say this happened, and you wound up constipated for whatever reason, then the best thing you can do to counteract that is twofold:  First, find an over-the-counter medication that will stop the diarrhea, just take one pill and no more than two... see, diarrhea and its cramping can get going and just won't quit, so you need something to stop the process.  But at the same time, you have to ALSO end the cycle of constipation, so the second thing to do is, drink extra water for a while, eat more fiber foods for a while, and bump up your activity level... all those things make for good regularity in bowel movements.  Fiber foods should be introduced slowly, and they include oat cereal, whole wheat bread, fresh or frozen vegies with brown rice, chili beans.. only eat fruit by itself as a snack.

I will say, above all else, that four days of liquid diarrhea is REALLY not normal and I know you are absolutely upset and exhausted, and altho you've already been to the doc trying to resolve this, could be if NOTHING I have mentioned works to cure you, then you must go back to a doc and start over again with a diagnosis, make sure the doc you choose has a copy faxed to his offices of your scan and colonoscopy report.  Keep in mind that whenever you get lots of liquid diarrhea like you've had, it drains the body of electrolytes and water, so while you're in this condition, drink extra water, get some food in you whether you're hungry or not, which should be bland, soft foods (spagetti, mashed potatoes, that sort of thing) and electrolytes can be replaced from milk, orange juice, V-8 juice, and colorful salads, for example.  If you don't stay hydrated and reestablish electrolytes well enough, you'll have to go to the hospital and get put on an I.V.

Let us know how things go and if you find out what is wrong.  I hope you get well soon.  GG