Monster Poops

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Mehita

Mehita

Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Messages
2,412
Some of you know I've been keeping an eye on DS #2 (non-IBD) who has been complaining about stomach aches for awhile. Admittedly, I still haven't taken him to see anyone about it. We do test him every 2-3 years for Celiac though and that appt is in June. Depending how things are going, we may or may not ask for extra labs. We'll see.

BUT... he was pooping the other day and I asked to take a peek. Wow! It was a perfect #4 on the Bristol Stool Chart, except it was like twelve inches long and I'm not exaggerating. I asked him if his poops are always that long and he said yes. He also poops one like that every day. He's not a big kid - 10 years old, 75% height, 45% weight, so on the skinny side. To me that seemed like a monster poop for his thin little body.

So, here's my question. Could having that large of a stool sitting in his colon (every day!) possibly be blocking things up so that when he eats/drinks, things are backing up into his small intestine and causing his stomach aches? His stomach aches are usually below the belly button, on both side, and painful in a bloated/gassy sort of way. Most of the time they're related to eating/drinking.

Next question, what can we do about it? He's not constipated because he is going and going easily every day, he just seems to have super large stools. More water? Less fiber?

???

I almost took a picture for you guys :)
 
I bet it doesn't have anything to do with the size of his stool. I bet he just eats a lot (most teen boys do, but maybe this isn't the case). When I was his age I ate a lot and had huge stools... I'd ask the GI but long poops maybe a variant of normal?
 
Gee..IDK...Some weird BM's over here but then again they both have Crohn's.

After what we just went through, I would say run a simple Fecal Calprotectin test to see if there is any cause for concern.
 
My none ibd kiddo has huge poops, like clog the toilet size. He clogs the toilet about once a week goes once a day. He used to have stomach aches often, went poo and was fine. We ran the panel of tests and all came back normal except lactose intolerance. Stomach aches are rare now; still clogs the toilet but he is 5'7.5" and 120 pounds.
Hope it's nothing and just gets everything out at once :)
 
OMGosh. I'm writing the same post as the two ladies above me. NonIBD kid, 12yo boy 5'7 120lbs, gigantic poops, clogs toilet regularly. Poops every other day.

Biggest diameter poops that I've ever seen in my whole life. The kid should bring a plunger to other people's homes.
 
Thanks, everyone :)

This was not the response I expected, but I'll take it. Monster poops seem to be fairly common. Yeah!

I've said it before and I'll say it again... as a society, we really need to talk about poop more!
 
I find this whole thread interesting. We're currently testing my non-IBD 8 year old dd for lactose intolerance (first step after a slighlty elevated calprotectin test) and she has in her lifetime had some monster poops. When she was younger and in need of help, dh used to say it was like a shetland pony had visited. :ylol2:
 
My Crohn's kid has always had the biggest poops I have seen in my life. He suffers from constipation, but even though that is now relatively under control, they are still far too big for any 10 yr old boy. Any human, really. Malorymug, I know what you're saying about diameter! We replaced our toilets with a fancy, unclogable kind because I was so disgusted with all the plunging!
 
2nd time this week I've come home and run into the bathroom because I had to pee like a race horse only to find the toilet clogged and a sheepish sorry mom for the younger son.
 
Hi! My little guy is just under 9th centile for height and just under 25th for weight he is dairy and gluten intolerant, eats more than my other two healthy children put together and OMG the amount of poo he produces you would not believe could come out of such a tiny human being! Just thought I'd share! He has lots of tummy pains and although he has never been constipated he is now on 20mls senna daily to 'help clear him out' so perhaps something to help clear out your guy might do some good? Maybe discuss it at your next appointment?
 
'kay this is just out of curiosity... and, where else could I ask this type of question! :lol:

What causes the size of the stool (if constipation is not an issue) - would malabsorption leave more matter to be expelled? Would some problem in how food is broken down leave a greater amount of stool? And, if so, why? What could cause a child to have larger stools than some adults??
 
Tesscorm said:
'kay this is just out of curiosity... and, where else could I ask this type of question! :lol:

What causes the size of the stool (if constipation is not an issue) - would malabsorption leave more matter to be expelled? Would some problem in how food is broken down leave a greater amount of stool? And, if so, why? What could cause a child to have larger stools than some adults??
Click to expand...

More fiber? Eating more? Faster transit?
 
Functional Fecal Retention
Functional fecal retention is defined, in a person from infancy to 16 years old, by the passage of large or enormous bowel movements at intervals less than twice per week, and the attempt to avoid having bowel movements on purpose, by contracting the muscles of the pelvic floor and squeezing the buttocks together. Accompanying symptoms include soiling of the underclothes, irritability, abdominal cramps, and decreased appetite. These symptoms disappear immediately following the passage of a large or enormous bowel movement. Sometimes retentive constipation is associated with bedwetting, and 10% of affected girls get urinary tract infections.
Functional fecal retention begins when there is a painful or frightening bowel movement, and the child learns to fear the urge to have a bowel movement. They begin to hold back when they get the urge and a huge stool builds up in their rectum. Often, children are able to hold back the huge stool for weeks, but when they pass gas, small amounts of liquid or solid come out with the gas, soiling the underclothes. Soiling may occur many times a day. Some people refer to soiling as fecal incontinence or encopresis.
Functional fecal retention often begins during one of three times: 1) in infants, at the time of weaning from breast milk to formula, with a change in bowel movements from soft to hard pellets, 2) in toddlers during toilet training as they struggle with issues of controlling bowel movements, and 3) in children beginning school, where they must hold back the urge to have a bowel movement (BM) to stay seated in class.
Click to expand...

From
http://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/pediatrics/docs/Overview.pdf

So basically starts as normal constipation
But school etc .... They get in the habit of holding
And then later don't get the urge since it gets stretched
 
But what if there is still a daily monster poop? That article says two or less times a week.
 
Could you bring it up at your IBD kiddo's next appointment with his GI?

One of M's first symptoms of Crohn's was constipation. She'd only go every 3 days or so but would have a huge poop - the kind that clogged the toilet. The first thing her GI had her do was sit on the toilet every day for 15 minutes to "train" herself to go daily and not to hold poop.
 
Did that work Maya? My son goes every other day, but for a while I was getting him to sit every day to try to train his bowels. I didn't have any success, but maybe I just didn't keep at it long enough? I think with my son it's just that things move slowly through his digestive system. Could this be?
 
Well, I think it was actually inflammation causing constipation so it only helped somewhat. She definitely wasn't paying attention to when she had to go, mostly because she didn't want to use the bathroom at school. After a while of sitting on the toilet daily (right after school) she started going more frequently. She did require Miralax to keep her stools soft.
 
Mehita: same here with T. At first is wasn't every day so I put it down to inflammation/constipation. But since we started treatment she goes pretty much every day and they are huge. Diameter mostly but sometimes volume also. Then also big balls or big balls made up of smaller balls (which is classic constipation right? but goes every day)...sorry so graphic but just puzzling me to no end. And she is on EEN! So I am going to up the water intake but still puzzling. Planning to ask the GI at our March 2nd appointment.
 

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