Determining Causes of Soft stool or diarrhea

[kittim]

SCI NUrse.
My husband (C3/4 incomplete Asia D) has close to normal bowel, ie. does not use suppository, digital stim, so has no BP per se. He is usually a little consitipated, but for the most part has a BM at least every other day. Occasionally he gets a soft stool or diarrhea. In the case of the soft stool, it usually comes on quickly and unless he is inches from a toilet, there is an accident. He is really frustrated by this and feels he must be tethered to a toilet. I am always trying to identify what has caused the change in the BM, something he ate, not washing his hands good enough etc. I am wondering if you can tell me how long after ingesting a diarrhea causing bacteria, that diarrhea occurs. For example, he ate lunch from a fast food place yesterday, and a couple of hours later, he had a soft stool. Is there anyway to know or at least take an educated guess?
Thanks...

[luckydog]

I don’t have an answer for you, but I was in the same place your husband was… I decided to go back on a BP to prevent accidents. I hate getting up at 4:30 every morning, but at least I feel safer (never feel safe) when I am out or at work. He might consider it. I have thought about trying to end the BP program to see if I have gained more control, but I am too afraid of accidents.

[GoTWHeeLs]

I just had a couple of these experiences. Sunday night and Monday afternoon, why? Side effects of strong antibiotics for my UTI.

[SCI-Nurse]

Here is the scoop... fast food, usually has a lot of grease in it (or at least more than food you make at home). This can irritate the bowel and cause you to have to go quickly. A couple of pieces of advice- he may want to try a minimal bowel program. By that I mean, not a lot of drugs. You may want to start with a glycerin suppository daily to empty the rectum. If that works and he has less "accidents" or close calls, you can try changing it to every other day, depending on how much food he eats. It generally works best if he knows a pattern that he had before he was injured... for example, if he went to the bathroom after his morning coffee, that would be the best time to do the program.

Diarrhea from food with bacteria in it usually occurs 4-12 hours after the meal. In someone with SCI it may take a little longer, since the intestines don't always work quite as quickly. However, it sounds as though he doesn't have that problem.

Antibiotics, a lot of roughage, like fresh veggies, greasy food and anything that may have given him diarrhea before he was injured can all give him mushy stool or diarrhea.
CKF

[smokymtn memories]

I have the same problem and a daily routine of generic metamucil seems to help me.

[smokey]

kitt, don't exclude some type of food poisoning or colitis. I was shitting myself about 7 years ago.....hung out near the toilet, timid about doing anything at anytime with anyone...it was an awful time in my life. I had cramps, diarrhea, a fever, low RBC and elevated WBC, tons of tests, spent 3 days in the hospital. Had blood transfusions, MRI, CAT scan, xrays, blood tests, upper/lower GI tests, colonoscopy etc. They found nothing. And I kept shitting. A couple months later it just stopped on its own. I got hemmorhoids from shitting so much and the GI doc did a sigmoidoscopy as part of the hemmorhoid ligation process. He said my colon appeared red and irritated so he did a biopsy which turned out to be colitis. Put me on 800mg of Asacol 3x day and all has been well.