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Hello, For Almost A Year Now My Stools Have Not
Question: Hello,
For almost a year now my stools have not been solid but rather soft and smelly. Also, very often after a bowel movement, some of the soft stool will cling to the area near and around my anus and when I wipe it away with toilet paper, my anus will have a burning sensation for several minutes that is very painful, like I have rubbed the area raw. As I wipe to clean the area as best I can, I sometimes see what appears to be blood, although the color is faint and not bright red or obviously identifiable as blood. There are also periods where I have a sort of small amount of watery leakage from my anus which is followed by extreme itching in the area. This is very embarrassing and I am hopeful that something can be done and/or a remedy found.
Any advise/recommendations/information would be greatly appreciated.
For almost a year now my stools have not been solid but rather soft and smelly. Also, very often after a bowel movement, some of the soft stool will cling to the area near and around my anus and when I wipe it away with toilet paper, my anus will have a burning sensation for several minutes that is very painful, like I have rubbed the area raw. As I wipe to clean the area as best I can, I sometimes see what appears to be blood, although the color is faint and not bright red or obviously identifiable as blood. There are also periods where I have a sort of small amount of watery leakage from my anus which is followed by extreme itching in the area. This is very embarrassing and I am hopeful that something can be done and/or a remedy found.
Any advise/recommendations/information would be greatly appreciated.
Brief Answer:
Possible causes explained and further recommendations given below
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to 'Ask a Doctor' service,
I read your query in details and understand your concern.
A common cause of soft smelly stools is malabsorption. This may be due to milk intolerance (if you see it related to milk consumption), or due to gluten intolerance (also called celiac disease) or other food intolerances, or due to reduced pancreatic enzymes, etc.
To identify the cause several stool tests, blood tests and sometimes colonoscopy may be needed.
The in-depth examinations needed are:
- stool test for fat content
- stool microscopy
- stool for ova and parasite, stool Ag for giardia
- stool culture
- blood test for celiac disease
- an abdominal ultrasound
- colonoscopy (this is a routine check-up test after 50 years of age and especially in your case due to change in bowel movement)
To conclude:
- a thorough examination is needed and the above tests are some important ones
- treatment will depend on the cause but avoiding milk for a while should be advisable, avoiding fatty and also very sweet food as well.
- you may use probiotics for a while
- the doctor may also prescribe some pancreatic enzymes to check their effectiveness
I hope this answers your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
Possible causes explained and further recommendations given below
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to 'Ask a Doctor' service,
I read your query in details and understand your concern.
A common cause of soft smelly stools is malabsorption. This may be due to milk intolerance (if you see it related to milk consumption), or due to gluten intolerance (also called celiac disease) or other food intolerances, or due to reduced pancreatic enzymes, etc.
To identify the cause several stool tests, blood tests and sometimes colonoscopy may be needed.
The in-depth examinations needed are:
- stool test for fat content
- stool microscopy
- stool for ova and parasite, stool Ag for giardia
- stool culture
- blood test for celiac disease
- an abdominal ultrasound
- colonoscopy (this is a routine check-up test after 50 years of age and especially in your case due to change in bowel movement)
To conclude:
- a thorough examination is needed and the above tests are some important ones
- treatment will depend on the cause but avoiding milk for a while should be advisable, avoiding fatty and also very sweet food as well.
- you may use probiotics for a while
- the doctor may also prescribe some pancreatic enzymes to check their effectiveness
I hope this answers your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
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