What does this mean? mucousy poop

[DevaMajka]

Ds's poop has been unformed and full of undigested food for a bunch of weeks now. A week ago, it got mucousy. Yesterday morning, his poop was totally normal looking- formed, and fell right off the diaper into the toilet. Last night, it was totally unformed and really mucousy.
He had a rash on his bum that had gone away (despite having soft mucousy poop) that came back yesterday.

I'm totally thrown off by him having a normal poop, then a really bad one later the same day. Does this mean anything in relation to food sensitivities? As far as, does it give me any clues about WHEN he ate a trigger? Or could it still be in his system from a while ago, and he just happened to have a normal poop.

A few days ago, I started taking ALL my supplements, multi's, probiotics, clo, etc. I also cut out sugar (I think yeast is a problem for me), and most fruit. I have cut a few foods out of ds's and my diet, but haven't seen a big change in anything.

eta: I'm wondering if it means that he ate something (either yesterday or today) he's sensitive to, and the mucousy poop is a reaction to that (and his body hadn't yet been affected by it in the morning), or if he's been continually exposed to a trigger food, and he just happened to have one normal poop in spite of that.

Iow, should I be looking for a food that he/I ate yesterday or the previous day, or is it not that clearcut.

[treeoflife3]

kiddo has poop issues like that too and a rash that will not budge. We've had it tested for different things with no results and I've tried watching for food causes. Right now I'm trying to elminate salicylates for awhile because it seems to be the only thing that might fit.

I will say, soaking in a epsom salt bath for 20-30 minutes or more produces immediate results for her. The rash doesn't go away or is greatly improved, but it IS noticeably better after bath compared to immediately before. We are going to be doing it daily for awhile probably.

[DevaMajka]

Do you find that her poop will change a lot in one day?
I'm wondering if it means that he ate something he's sensitive to, and the mucousy poop is a reaction to that (and his body hadn't yet been affected by it in the morning), or if he's been continually exposed to a trigger food, and he just happened to have a normal poop in spite of that.

We did suspect sals for a while, but it doesn't totally fit. I'm thinking it might have something to do with fruit though (possibly soy), and I also think there is a nutritional component to it.

[treeoflife3]

yeah, her poop can change a lot in one day, but usually it changes day to day. Its almost NEVER solid though. Today it was solid, but it is also a really weird light tan beigish color with some bits of undigested food in it. Yesterday it was weird and dark and runny... with undigested food.

I'm hoping though the solid means the low to no sal diet is working. We haven't cut sals completely yet (oh man is that hard!) but we have drastically reduced the amount. I'm not sure what to think of the pale color though....

Mostly though, i'm just not sure what to think of poop. Hers hasn't been normal for more than a couple poops in a row since.. oh man i don't even know. Months ago. Sometimes ALL she poops is undigested food held together with a bit of muccus. No fecal matter really. just a weird runny mucusy liquid holding together food. The problem of course is that the food is usually stuff that doesn't always digest and its hard to explain that I KNOW the outsides don't.. but I've checked and no part of it is. *sigh*

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by treeoflife3

Sometimes ALL she poops is undigested food held together with a bit of muccus. No fecal matter really. just a weird runny mucusy liquid holding together food.

Yep, we've had that too! It's only happened a few times, but it really wierded me out!
Seems to me that's a SURE sign that *something* is off. Either a food sensitivity or a digestion problem is the best I can come up with.

But yeah, searching for food triggers is frustrating. I ED'ed and journalled for months, and could never come up with a pattern, besides sweet potato, but there's obviously something else. sigh.

[mamafish9]

I'd guess he's not digesting well - which can result in undigested food, mucous from the irritation, and funky poop. The normal poop, I'd guess you fed him something the previous day he can digest?

So zinc, B12 both help with low stomach acid, which is one possible route to undigested food. Next possibility is problems with bile or pancreatic enzymes. We got awesome results adding pancreatic enzymes, but those aren't vegan .

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

I'd guess he's not digesting well - which can result in undigested food, mucous from the irritation, and funky poop. The normal poop, I'd guess you fed him something the previous day he can digest?

That makes total sense.

So zinc, B12 both help with low stomach acid, which is one possible route to undigested food. Next possibility is problems with bile or pancreatic enzymes. We got awesome results adding pancreatic enzymes, but those aren't vegan .

We have b12, but not a separate zinc. I'll have to check my multi for levels in it.
At this point, I'm doing what I have to do, regardless of animal product content. I feel bad about it, but I'd feel even worse for not trying to find a solution for ds.

I wonder if digestion problems can be related to yeast- Iirc, it can be.

He also just today got the rash on his belly back The skin on his belly was so clear for so long (ok, a couple of months, max).

So what do poor digestion, apparent yeast problems, and rashes have in common? What if we add nutritional deficiencies in the mix?

[mamafish9]

Improving DS' digestion (with the pancreatic enzymes) wiped out his yeast issues. Yeast usually exist because of a friendly gut environment - improve the gut environment, and gut flora often rebalances without attacking it directly. (Note, this meant massive die off with the pancreatic enzymes, so if you try them, start SLOWLY).

Rash could be a reaction to your die off (rash often means detox where the liver can't handle enough, so it tries to push toxins through the skin).

[treeoflife3]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

Improving DS' digestion (with the pancreatic enzymes) wiped out his yeast issues. Yeast usually exist because of a friendly gut environment - improve the gut environment, and gut flora often rebalances without attacking it directly. (Note, this meant massive die off with the pancreatic enzymes, so if you try them, start SLOWLY).

Rash could be a reaction to your die off (rash often means detox where the liver can't handle enough, so it tries to push toxins through the skin).

hmm... When the doctor was doing tests on my kiddo's rash (it has small open sores) to figure out what it could be, her liver numbers came back slightly elevated and so we are seeing a specialist next week. I assumed it wasn't connected and just luck that we found it when we were looking for something else (and nothing came back on the rash.. its not yeast or fungal or viral or anything, oy.) so now I'm not sure what to think. The doctor didn't think it was actually anything and is only sending us to a specialist just to be cautious but now I'm kind of confused.

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

Improving DS' digestion (with the pancreatic enzymes) wiped out his yeast issues. Yeast usually exist because of a friendly gut environment - improve the gut environment, and gut flora often rebalances without attacking it directly. (Note, this meant massive die off with the pancreatic enzymes, so if you try them, start SLOWLY).

Rash could be a reaction to your die off (rash often means detox where the liver can't handle enough, so it tries to push toxins through the skin).

aha!

I just found this before I read your reply- seems like it says something similar. Basically, that yeast, food sensitivities, and mucous can all be caused by poor digestion.

Interestingly enough, it's been a couple days on probiotics and low sugar/fruit, and MY itching has gotten better. So maybe his rash is a die-off reaction Seems really unfair, eh?

Are there any potential dangers of taking pancreatic enzymes, or is it a pretty safe thing to try?

eta- so what about MY yeast overgrowth? I don't have any other symptoms of poor digestion. Perhaps gas, which seems to correlate with the yeast problems.

[DevaMajka]

Ok, the last few days, it's been runny (sometimes watery), slightly mucousy, but a lot less undigested food (and most of that is things I'd expect- corn, etc).

Holy cr@p, I wish I could figure this out.

His rash improved for a few days, then came back slightly, then just in the last few hours got noticably worse.

[DevaMajka]

So I've been good at taking my vits, supplements (extra calcium, mag, mo, b12, and vit D), and probiotics and we both have been taking clo a few times a week.
I've also had soy out of our diets for a bunch of weeks (had some last night), and maybe some other minor things that I'd suspected, but didn't intentionally avoid. I had cut way back on fruit, but added it back in about a week ago, and his poop is still improving. So that's good!

The last bunch of days, his poop has been solid, with only a little bit of undigested food. Also in the same time period, his appetite has increased! His headbanging is getting better too, but that could be because we changed the way we respond to it.

He still has the rash on his bum, and got eczema on his inner elbows the other day. His sleep was great for a bunch of days, but the last two nights not so much.

So I dunno- it seems possible that vitamins/supps has helped! (still going to keep an eye on soy, and other foods that I'm suspecting, though)