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Avatar universal

Dead tissue in stool?

Hi, I have been chronically constipated for about 3 years(in that time I have had to manually disempact my bowels most of the time, and my frequency of spontaneous bowel movements has decreased significantly). I didn't speak to my doctor about it when it started because 10 years ago I had IBS diagnosed and thought it was just normal for me. About 18 months ago I started having muscle pain in my neck, back, wrists, hips. I have been to orthopaedics and they find nothing wrong with my muscles other than the pain and tension, it has been put down to RSI etc. It had not occurred to me that the constipation and muscle pain were connected until I decided to start concentrating on sorting it out. I have now been using various laxatives most days for the past two months and my muscle pain has almost gone. If I don't take laxatives for a few days then the muscle pain gets worse again. I also have intermittent abdominal pain and my abdominal area is usually tender to the touch. I have had red blood from anal area a few times and I have white and yellow mucus in my stool, sometimes dull orange. I also have what appears to be dead tissue in my stool, sometimes I pass only this dead tissue with mucus (no actual stool), my stools are pencil thin about a third of the time, and often I find that I have long strings of dead tissue with thin stool twisted around it. My history is that I have taken a lot of antibiotics ( ten course over a period of 15 years, that includes 3 course in short succession at age 15 when I had mono that was misdiagnosed as strep throat, one age 25 due to tonsillectomy and six courses between ages 26 to 30 due to infections.)  I was diagnosed with GERD age 22 and took PPI pills for 8 years. I took the contraceptive pill for 8 years. I am 32 now. I also have fatigue, migraines, and other problems too. I wondered if anyone could say whether it is normal for dead tissue to be present in stool or if it is indicative of some disease and what that might be. Thank you
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Avatar universal
I'm really not sure if this is dead tissue or not. I do recommend you see a GI Dr for some testing. It could be that all you need is a few changes in your life to get over this chronic constipation. Are you eating enough fruit and vegetables, are you drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, are you taking any meds that cause constipation? Have you tried probiotics? I would get the combo of pro and pre biotics.
Since you've been on antibiotics many times over the years you be low on good bacteria. That's where the probiotics can help, along with constipation.
Prunes, prune juice and aloe vera juice can really do wonders for constipation. And, they are natural which is a real plus. You can buy aloe vera juice in most any grocery store. Sometimes it's in the pharmacy department.
I really do recommend you see a specialist to find out if something is truly wrong or you just need to make some life style changes.
The bleeding could be from hemorrhoids. You can get them from straining. Mucus can be from constipation.
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Avatar universal
Hi, thank you.

Yes I have been through all the dietary changes and use probiotics. I did try aloe vera juice and prune a few years back, will give them another go. I am not taking any medication and I drink 8 glasses of water a day, zero caffiene, eat between 5-8 servings of fruit and veg per day, take psyllium husks. I saw a hospital doctor just after posting this, I am waiting for an appointment now to be referred for colonoscopy and parasitology tests. I showed a photo of what I think is dead tissue to the emergency doctor and he said he didn't know what it was.

Thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm glad to hear you have an appointment set up. This must be so frustrating for you.
I recommended the prune juice and aloe vera juice because they work great for me. It may take a few days of drinking both everyday but I find it always works.
When you see the Dr  again ask about yeast over growth. This can happen when you've been on antibiotics many times and can really mess with your digestive tract.
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Avatar universal
Hello again I've been to the GP but I didn't tell them what I thought it might be because I didn't want her to think I had been trying to self-diagnose and cause problems, GPs don't seem to like it if you try to do the thinking for them! She says she thinks it could be a parasite, though I do think it is candida but I don't think they test for that, I expect if I ask about it I will be told everyone has candida so no point testing. I will go along playing the 'dumb patient' until she gets to the point of 'there's nothing wrong with you, and then bring up the candida subject. I did point out that I'd taken a lot of antibiotics hoping that might turn a light bulb on, but nope. Have been taking aloe vera juice for a few days now but haven't found prune juice yet. Just waiting for my parasite test results atm, already having nightmares about what's growing in there! thanks for the advice!
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I know this is several years old but I am hoping you will see this and tell me what the outcome was. Mainly, I am wondering if you found out what it was and if you are better. I’m having similar issues.
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