23 yr old worried about Bowel movements

[oodareyou2moveoo]

I am a healthy 23 year old lady. I work in a hospital. This past two weeks or so i have found myself having odd bowel movements. My bowel movements use to happen every day or once every other day. they were a little harder than what they 'should' be and always floated, and about 3-4 inches long. note they ALWAYS float so im not worried about that ever since growing up they did.

Over the past 6 months I noticed that I am alot more gassy than normal. Then recently in the past about week and a half I have been having irregular bowel movements. they are Larger much softer and sometimes float and sometimes sink. no mucus or blood, i cant tell if they are greasy? whats the difference between being greasy and soft? they dont smell horrindious or anything... My main concern ist hat now they only happen once every about three days. & they are really soft like toothpaste/peanutbutter soft. but they are larger/softer/and dont happen as often. they are from medium brown to a normal brown color

I just moved into a new apartment when they just started happening. at first I didnt have a bowel movement for 3 days and then when I did it was large and soft. the next BM was diarhhea and now i am having soft stools about 7 inches long about once every 3 days. is this a concern? I still notice that I am gassy as always.

my meals havent changed much. I have added more fish into my diet and a high fiber cerieal the pat maybe 5 days but that is all . please  help , ive been a little stressed lately and my job is also pretty new....

I have a general doctors appointment on September 16th. but till then I want to try to figure this out.


thank you

[jbabe3]

it might be the high fiber cerial! i have UC i had my colon removed yrs ago, now if i eat high fiber its suppose to bulk up my stools cuz i have an internal pouch that acts as a colon, but no actual colon any more. but for some one with a regualr colon, Naturally i beliee fiber is suppose to make you go to bathroom more or like more liquidy stools. maybe this helps some?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

There can be a variety of reasons for the change in bowel habits, including, infection, malabsorption or inflammatory bowel disease.

I would suggest sending the stool off for culture and analysis, to ensure there is no infection.  Blood tests should also be considered to exclude celiac disease.

If the symptoms continue, an endoscopy, either a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy, can be performed to exclude inflammatory bowel disease.

A GI referral would be reasonable to discuss these options.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin Pho, M.D.

KevinMD.com
Twitter.com/kevinmd