recurrent stooling, not diarrhea?

Posted by berkhills @berkhills, 1 day ago

Ever since I had diverticulitis several years ago, I developed a pattern of no stooling or minimal stooling for several days followed by a day of constant stooling every few minutes for as many as eight hours. this has worsened in the last year: I now get bad cramping with the stooling and the episodes last longer and occur more frequently. I finally found my way to a motility specialist, but she is just starting with me. what I’m wondering is whether it even makes sense to call my attacks diarrhea since they are never watery. Does anyone else have this problem?

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Janell, Volunteer Mentor | @jlharsh | 1 day ago

@berkhills, your description of going several days with little or no stool and then having bowel movements every few minutes for hours, along with the cramping you’re now experiencing, caught my attention. I can understand why “diarrhea” doesn’t seem to describe what is happening when the stool isn’t watery.

One thing that has helped me communicate more clearly is using the Bristol Stool Chart to describe stool consistency rather than trying to find the right words for it.

While you wait for others to share their experiences, you may also find this stool diary from the National Institutes of Health helpful as you continue working with your motility specialist. It lets you record the time of each bowel movement, stool consistency, urgency, medications and other observations. You could also note when the cramping begins and how it changes during an episode. Having that kind of record may help you show your specialist the pattern you’re experiencing.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/-/media/Files/Weight-Management/Stool_Diary_508.pdf
During one of these episodes when you are having bowel movements every few minutes, does the stool stay about the same consistency throughout, or does it change as the episode continues? What happens with the cramping during that time?

cardigan | @cardigan | 15 hours ago

I have the same problem in so far as I seem to have a hundred and one different types of stool episodes connected to the diverticulitis. At the moment I am finding that if the stool is more solid it is easier to manage.I do not overdo it with roughage.I drink plenty of water and have a mandarin and maybe a peach or whatever I have in house.