cheer up

Count me in as another with flat stools; or rather sometimes flat, sometimes not -- sometimes floating, other times not, sometimes dark, other times light -thick, or thin; flakey, hard and lumpy, sometimes go for days at a time with what seems to be a great result, other times low pains and hard dark stools if anything at all. Gassy, not gassy, constipation or diarrhea, you name it, I've experienced it!!!!!

I think it's all due in large part to the following: types and amounts of foods (and liquids and various drugs) we consume, our levels of anxiety, our schedules, etc. In my case, work or other anxiety and/or the days before a trip can really upset my "schedule" but then when I am on the trip, and eating very well, and probably relaxed, all is usually well and I feel pretty good.

Just when you are going along fine, with the same results each time you "go," something happens to upset the apple cart. Isn't that always the way?

I had my gallbladder out nearly two years ago and didn't know what to expect afterwards because of all the horror stories of life after GB removal. I had had over a year of really awful digestion prior to the surgery if I wasn't very careful about what I ate and figured I could possibly count on more of the same. Many people are no better off from a digestion standpoint. Well, I am somewhat better off now, but certainly not entirely.

One never knows how GB surgery will change the digestion. I've had weird pains, etc., from time to time, but the last time I saw my gastro guy (and following an expensive MRCP test that showed no problems in bile ducts) he just dismissed me and said "go find something else to worry about!" He is a very good doc, by the way, so I was not really offended.

I tend to be a real hypochondriac and always have been, since my teens. My best advice to most of us is to try to stop letting this whole IBS stuff control us. Easy to say, I know, and it IS a real malady, not "all in our heads" but to a degree our minds do come into play and make matters worse.

On that last note, I'm going outside for a walk and forget about all my worries and physical pains for awhile! I really don't think you need to worry about your episodes of "flat" stools, unless they are absolutely pencil-thin, which could mean a blockage or, much more likely, just spasms in your bowel that are affecting the results. The fact that things change back and forth tells me there is NOT likely a blockage.

Please, try not to worry so much! I read in the Merck Manual, which is a reference book for doctors, that one suggestion for "curing a stool that is too thin or too green" (their example in the book) "is to STOP LOOKING AT IT!" Interesting, isn't it?