diarrhea

[crystalcat]

I have chronic diarrhea, once a week it subsides but it always returns. I can't drink milk, only skim milk, I can't touch extreme spices [eg: chilli], fruit, and I can't drink alcohol either for fear of serious diarrhea. Not being able to eat fruit is a serious disadvantage, as it's not healthy for you.

I drink water excessively, I go through 10-15 cups of tea per day, and about 20-30 glasses [500mls] of water per day.

I am a smoker, and I have frequent stomach cramps and migranes/headaches. I do take a lot of Pain killers.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all as to what is wrong with me?

[star queen]

Have you had your gallbladder checked out? What color is your stool?

[crystalcat]

It varies in colour. Yesterday it was like urine, and extremely yellow. Today it's normal in colour.

[spade22]

Hi,

One thing you can try is cutting the tea out of your diet.  Tea is caffeinated and since caffeine is a diuretic it will likely worsen diarrhea and, in some people, it actually causes diarrhea!  This link has some info on this:
http://www.ucheepines.org/caffeine.htm

Since you are drinking 10-15 cups of tea a day I would certainly look at the effects of cutting back.

[crystalcat]

I didnt think tea had caffine in it o.0

[spade22]

It sure does!

This link discusses caffeine in tea:
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/caffeine.html

And this one gives caffeine levels in different beverages:
http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

Based on this information and depending on what kind of tea you are drinking, you are consuming between 2-11 cans of Redbull a day (or 4-23 cans of Pepsi)!  Im guessing you drink a regular brew which probably puts you somewhere in the middle of this range which is a considerable amount of a diuretic!

Good luck!

[star queen]

The color of stool is determined by the amount of bile in the gut. It is also determined by dyes in foods and seasonings.  In the absence of dyes, stool is normal from a mustard yellow to a dark brown. When you eat a fatty meal, the stomach makes more acid to break it down.  When the food leaves the stomach it enters a small section of bowel called the duodenum where messages are sent to the pancreas for insulin and bile.  The pancreas tells the liver to release bile into the gut.  The amount of bile is determined by the amount of fat in the digested food. The more fat, the more bile.  The more bile, the more yellow the resulting stool. When the food enters the large intestine the texture of the stool is determined. The higher the bile content, the more water is released into the bowel and the "wetter" the stool is.  So, if you ate a low fat diet with no or little fiber, drank very little water, or got somewhat dehydrated, the stool will be firmer and darker in color could (you could even be constipated). You may even skip a bowel movement altogether. Tomorrow you eat a high fat meal and get lots of bile to help break it down.  You may get the darker colored dryer "plug" from the firmer stool in the bowel followed by a yellow loose stool or a watery diarrhea afterward. An ultrasound of the gall bladder/liver may find some sandy like stones in the gallbladder sac.  As far as all the tea and drinking, it will not cause diarrhea.  It will cause a lot of urinating, though.  You can decrease your fatty meals and increase your consumption of fiber to help keep your stools firm and soft, which is what you want.  Good luck

[Passionate about Prevention]

Sometimes diarrhea can be caused by lack of good bacteria in the intestines.  You should look into probiotics.  You can get them on line @ www.naturessunshine.com or @ any health food store.

[spade22]

"As far as all the tea and drinking, it will not cause diarrhea"

Tea contains caffeine and caffeine causes diarrhea in some individuals if they consume more than a certain tolerable "threshold".  If someone has chronic diarrhea then cutting out caffeinated beverages would, at least, be an easy modification that could be made to their diet to assess the impact.  Although it may not be the route cause of the diarrhea, it could stilll exhasibate the situation.


Crystalcat:  did you find out the cause of your diarrhea?

[anxiousmomtobe?]

I have irritable bowel syndrome.  I have discovered certain triggers whi are guaranteed to give me the runs.  ( or as I call them, the GRIPPERS, as I can have a lot of pain)

1.  Fried foods (not good for you anyway
2.  Foods prepared with additives
3.  Too much sugar
4.  Too many raw veggies
5.  overeating
6.  Menstruation
7.  Swiss chalet
8.  Too much caffeine.

And sometimes I have NO idea what caused it.  I avoid fried foods and limit raw veggies.  Which is hard because I prefer them raw.

Good luck.

Oh and perhaps you should provide your doc with a stool sample.