Spiky Bugger
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 6,201
Newbies...this may clear up rumors...or it may confirm them. Let's see how people answer.
I went to a new gastroenterologist. Short version...this one is a half hour closer to home, I fear my current one will retire, current one didn't do any testing post-transplant, so he doesn't KNOW if he killed all the C Diff (maybe it doesn't matter...maybe symptoms are the most important...I dunno.) Other reasons, but they probably don't matter.
Here's what matters to me at the moment. New doctor seems to believe I have diarrhea and he seems inclined to try to treat and cure it. I think I just have DSer poop. I'd like to compare with y'all, and in the process, we can inform pre-ops.
First...What is diarrhea? It can be defined by counting bowel movements. But, imho, if you do that with a DSer, you're going to be calling a lot of healthy people sick. See?
http://www.medicinenet.com/diarrhea/page2.htm#how_is_diarrhea_defined
My new GI is apparently a Turd Counter. I tend toward the other way of diagnosing, by evaluating the consistency of the stool. So here is too much information:
I get up in the morning and fairly soon, I have a BM. A solid, formed poop. What is NOT "normal" is that it is lighter in color than pre-DS, it floats (because of the malabsorbed fat), it is not the curved shape Dr. Oz told everyone we should have (because my colon is no longer shaped normally...so there are relatively straight turds.). I am not a good judge of odor because I have no sense of small. (Look up anosmia.) Generally, if it irritates or kind of burns on the way out, I have to assume it stinks to high heaven and is evidence of a carb overdose the previous day.
Anyway, then I will have another BM...and maybe even a third one depending on previous day's food consumption. (And I may not even get out of the bathroom between BMs. I sometimes have time to wash my hands, reach for the door and realize I could do that all over again.). And so any BM after that third one equals diarrhea, if your doctor is a, you know, Turd Counter.
Anymore, I usually go all day without needing a bathroom. But come evening, there may be another two or three BMs as described above.
Do I EVEN WANT my doctors to "cure" my "diarrhea?" I don't think so! Because I think it's normal, healthy DS poop.
So, other DS vets...what do you think? Are you Turd Counters? Or Consistency Evaluators? Do YOU feel that anything over three BMs per day constitutes diarrhea? And, if not, how do you convince your doctor that you are just fine?
I went to a new gastroenterologist. Short version...this one is a half hour closer to home, I fear my current one will retire, current one didn't do any testing post-transplant, so he doesn't KNOW if he killed all the C Diff (maybe it doesn't matter...maybe symptoms are the most important...I dunno.) Other reasons, but they probably don't matter.
Here's what matters to me at the moment. New doctor seems to believe I have diarrhea and he seems inclined to try to treat and cure it. I think I just have DSer poop. I'd like to compare with y'all, and in the process, we can inform pre-ops.
First...What is diarrhea? It can be defined by counting bowel movements. But, imho, if you do that with a DSer, you're going to be calling a lot of healthy people sick. See?
http://www.medicinenet.com/diarrhea/page2.htm#how_is_diarrhea_defined
My new GI is apparently a Turd Counter. I tend toward the other way of diagnosing, by evaluating the consistency of the stool. So here is too much information:
I get up in the morning and fairly soon, I have a BM. A solid, formed poop. What is NOT "normal" is that it is lighter in color than pre-DS, it floats (because of the malabsorbed fat), it is not the curved shape Dr. Oz told everyone we should have (because my colon is no longer shaped normally...so there are relatively straight turds.). I am not a good judge of odor because I have no sense of small. (Look up anosmia.) Generally, if it irritates or kind of burns on the way out, I have to assume it stinks to high heaven and is evidence of a carb overdose the previous day.
Anyway, then I will have another BM...and maybe even a third one depending on previous day's food consumption. (And I may not even get out of the bathroom between BMs. I sometimes have time to wash my hands, reach for the door and realize I could do that all over again.). And so any BM after that third one equals diarrhea, if your doctor is a, you know, Turd Counter.
Anymore, I usually go all day without needing a bathroom. But come evening, there may be another two or three BMs as described above.
Do I EVEN WANT my doctors to "cure" my "diarrhea?" I don't think so! Because I think it's normal, healthy DS poop.
So, other DS vets...what do you think? Are you Turd Counters? Or Consistency Evaluators? Do YOU feel that anything over three BMs per day constitutes diarrhea? And, if not, how do you convince your doctor that you are just fine?
