Floating stools

[emoryU]

I'm a 23 year old male, with no previous medical problems.  I've been active all my life and have pretty much maintained a clean bill of health, that is until my most recent incident.  For the last couple of months, I've continually produced floating stools.  I don't know why I'm all of sudden producing them and I have no idea as to the origin of the problem.  I knew floating stool was a problem when it initially started, but I told myself that hopefully it would pass within a couple of weeks.  Unfortunatley, it has only gotten worse, I usually have a bowel movement once daily, but I feel the urge to go numerous times within the day.  In addition to my floating stools, I frequently have flatulence and I belch all day; on top of that, the noises that come from my mid-section (GI area) are disturbing and they've reached a point where they not only disturb me, but other people who may be within close proximity of me as well.  The stench that is produced from my stools as well as when I pass-gas is also unbearable.  I don't necessarily feel any pain, but if my level of discomfort had to graded on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most discomfort), I would rate my level of discomfort an 11.  The last symptom to me which is most alarming is that fact that my weight has remained pretty steady throughout this whole ordeal, but I've lost some girth and muscle mass within my wrists.  I'm worried that it may be a problem with my pancreas or liver, because I know that the exocrine activity of the pancreas is essential for breaking down fats and I also know that the liver produces bile which is essential for triglyceride break down as well.  I've searched and searched and searched for solutions, but I don't know what the problem could be.  The only thing that I could think of is the fact that I ate few products before the incident started which contained olestra, which is fat substitute too big to be absorbed into the intestinal wall from the intestinal lumen.  Any help or that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.  

[Tatin109]

Hey, did you ever figure out your issue?

[Niffer991]

Think of oil in water; the oil floats on top and water is heavier which is the lower layer. Floating stools usually means you are releasing fats in your BM. This is normal if you take calcium supplements as calcium prevents the body of absorbing fats from foods helping people with weight loss. Or even if you are just eating fats in your diet ill produce foating stools.

Hope this helps