Stools almost white color and mucus! how many have had this symptom??

[hensue]

Son gets extremely fatigued and then bam it hits he has this stool color. Not all the time way before he was on cymbalta. He is on milk thistle and vitamins c and b.

Doing a parasite (giardia) stool test. Being tested for hep c. Thought he had but no one ever tested him. Hope not.

Hubby has hep c.

Of course the extreme fatigue is the worse prob.

Is this normal for CFS symptoms?? No fever no diarrehea. ( I do realize there is not a norm for ME or Cfs but you know what I mean) I know some have had issues.

Can I get a stool test for bacteria from an independent lab?

Thanks all
Susie

 

[richvank]

Son gets extremely fatigued and then bam it hits he has this stool color. Not all the time way before he was on cymbalta. He is on milk thistle and vitamins c and b.

Doing a parasite (giardia) stool test. Being tested for hep c. Thought he had but no one ever tested him. Hope not.

Hubby has hep c.

Of course the extreme fatigue is the worse prob.

Is this normal for CFS symptoms?? No fever no diarrehea. ( I do realize there is not a norm for ME or Cfs but you know what I mean) I know some have had issues.

Can I get a stool test for bacteria from an independent lab?

Thanks all
Susie

Hi, Susie. Stool tests without a doctor's order are available from www.directlabs.com. Genova Diagnostics, Doctor's Data Lab and Metametrix all offer them.

Is your son's urine dark in color? Is he jaundiced (yellow skin)? Very light-colored stools indicates that not much stercolin is making it into the stools. Normally, the heme from the hemoglobin in old red blood cells is broken down to form biliverdin. This is converted to bilirubin, which is conjugated to glucuronate. This is passed from the liver to the gut via the bile. It is converted in the gut to stercobilin, and that is what gives the stools their normal brown color.

When bilirubin is not properly processed by the liver, its level rises in the blood, producing jaundice, and more comes out in the urine, making it darker than normal.

I'm glad that you are having his liver checked out.

Best regards,

Rich

 

[hensue]

Thanks Rich

This doesnt happen everyday. His doc liver doc thinks he is over reacting. Since he has a panic disorder!! He has had a ultrasound of abdomen of liver and stomach also a cat scan.

Yes his urine is very dark. No he is not jaundiced. My husband is jaundiced. He has had hep c for 30 years. We found out thru an life insurance exam.\
Son has never done drugs or homosexual but he has lived in a travel trailer while working on pipelines in remote areas with my husband.
Husband's lab work has been totally off the chart alt all the liver enzymes have been totally out of whack.
Son's the alt was midly elevated.

Oh yeh, his cholesterol if off the chart and gaining way to much weight since cymbalta and inactive. His liver doc wants hime to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks. He can barely talk he is so weak.

This has been his main issue besides panic disorder and herniated discs. Took us 6 months of raising H to get an Mri for back. thought that was the prob.

Something is going on?? He feels like he is dying. His wife has also seen the stools, it is not all the time but he is progessively getting worse. Personally I think he is very in tune to his body.

Can you help us I want to order the right test for him?? Stool test for bacteria?? What do you suggest?

Thank you so much
Susie

 

[Enid]

Rich will know the answers here but I've been through (no tests here) pale to very dark stools and natural straw coloured urine to neon yellow (Doc said high potassium and didn't understand or treat). KdeM stool neurotoxic metabolite test on the high side when ME at it's worst. All I might add now urine and stools are back to the correct colour a (by chance) treatment of high dose Amoxicillan for infection and removal of roots seems to have cleared bacterial infections in the GI and urinary tract - at least I hope so.

 

[hensue]

I hope so too Enid Thanks

how high dose of amoxicillan and for how long?? what is removal of roots?

 

[Tristen]

Pale stools most often indicate a problem somewhere in the biliary tract, from liver to intestine. This could be from a number of things such as cholecystitis, gallstones, or infections such as Hepatitis or Giardia. If this only happened for a few days, I wouldn't worry about it. If it continues, I would want it diagnosed. Excessive antacid use can do this, but he shouldn't be getting the other symptoms if that were the case. Swelling or pain over the liver area? Certain foods make it worse?

I would get a full liver panel and test for intestinal parasites, especially Giardia. Anxiety, even panic attacks doesn't cause pale stools.

 

[Enid]

It was a week's treatment following removal of infected roots from crumbling teeth (highest dose if tolerated I think it's a penicillan - lots of probiotics afterwards). I had thought previously that my problems were liver or kidney disease but it seems not if an antibiotic could clear - there is no return of pale or blackened diahorrea stools - just suggest you could give it a go (not feeling too well during the treatment and reactivation of herpes returned but GI and urinary problems seem to have disappeared and food goes down without vomitting now). Hope you will find your way forward hensue - if negative on tests suggested here go for GI bacterial overgrowth (of the wrong sort) I would suggest.

 

[hensue]

He is getting a test for giardia and hep c. the only drug he takes is cymbalta 30 mg. Thank you Tristen, Docs think he just panics right away. This has been happening off and on since april 2011. I am thinking should he get off the cymbalta??

 

[taniaaust1]

ME can cause liver issues in some. During early years of my illness, at one point the doctors thought for a short time I had hepatitis due to my liver breaking down or liver enzymes or whatever it is they find in tests. This did end up clearing up in my case. Ive heard of that happening too with others.

As far as what is normal in ME and occurance rates in our illness.. I suggest to look at http://wwcoco.com/cfids/bernesx.html (thou of cause not all symptoms are listed but this is a good list).

 

[rlc]

Hi Hensue, white stools, and dark urine arent listed as side effects of Cymbalta, back pain is, see http://www.drugs.com/sfx/cymbalta-side-effects.html

Causes of pale stools can be found here http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/symptoms/pale_stool/causes.htm more info here http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/sym/pale_stool.htm

If you go to this page http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/symptoms/pale_stool/symptom-search.htm you can add other symptoms which will help narrow down the cause, I did pale stool and darkened urine and it comes up with this http://symptoms.rightdiagnosis.com/cosymptoms/pale-stool/darkened-urine-all.htm

Hope this helps, dont let the doctor go to sleep on this, some of the conditions are very serious.

All the best

 

[hensue]

He had all these symptoms before he started the cymbalta. He was on Celexa before this and klonopin at night. Due to pain in his lower back slipped disc and other disc issues he was put on cymbalta. Now he has had a epidural for the lower back and that does seem to be helping. Granted he is not moving around much.
He was hurting just siiting.

How do we know the difference in extreme depression and if he has Me or Cfs?

Yesterday, he gets up took fish oil, milk thistle and b complex and did walk outside some. He had to go to bed that afternoon.

He calls this morning and believes the gasto freakin doc is just blowing him off. I told him it is all a process of eliminated things. He says this is the first year he has not been able to enjoy his daughter he feels so bad she will be 3 dec.

I told him we are doing all we can but am I?

He is now starting to hurt in his upper back the last 3 days. He has slipped disc in thoracic region too. He just wants to go to a hospital and get them to find out what is wrong with him.

you are all sweet and i am reading everything anyone puts on here. Should he have a hida scan?? Gallbladder?
Thanks everyone.

Yesterday I finally unplug my computer. My anxiety level is going thru roof trying to help him. I can feel I am making myself ill again. I have fibro and cfs so mentally and physically you have to try to keep yourself from overdoing.

I dont know what to do? People tell me he is in a depression, well yeh have you ever been really sick? I know when I first got fibro the pain was immense and intlolerable and pain pills do not help. I was extremely depressed pain fatigue will kill you.

I am searching and I know we are all not of the same religions here but I am also praying for guidance to find out why he is suffering.
Or what is the cause? You can see why people would think this is a depression issue and believe me it will make you mad. I know he is suffering from both.

 

[rlc]

Hi Hensue, he should be being checked out for all the illnesses that are on the right diagnosis site, white stools are a well recognised symptom of a lot of serious illnesses, and medical training states that this symptoms should be intensively investigated to find the cause, if he, and yourself feel that this isnt being done, then I advise getting him a new doctor. Who will investigate to find the cause, it maybe a symptom of ME, but I am not aware of any literature saying that pale stools have been found in ME patients. So it would be the safest thing to work from the basis that it isnt caused by ME, until all the other alternatives have been properly ruled out.

You shouldnt have to be stressing out searching the internet for answers, he needs a doctor who will do this for you, so you can relax and take care of yourself.

His depression, may not be depression, it may be caused by the illness that is causing the pale stools, the right diagnosis site says that pale stools and depressive symptoms are caused by these illnesses http://symptoms.rightdiagnosis.com/cosymptoms/pale-stool/depressive-symptoms-all.htm most of them are related to Celiac disease has he been checked?

If he hasnt had his gallbladder checked out properly it should be done, healthy stools are brown because of bile released from the liver, when stools are pale it indicates that there is a problem with the bile not getting to where it should, the main causes of this are liver problems, bile duct problems and gallbladder problems. So the whole system that delivers bile to the stools should be being investigated to find the cause.

My advice would be to get him a better doctor, who will take him seriously and find the cause.

Take care, Hensue, hope things work out soon!

 

[Patrick*]

Yes, I had this for a while. Pale, loose, floating stools. They went away right about the time I started taking an over the counter supplement called Liver Guard.

 

[Valentijn]

Another possible cause of light stools I noticed, because it's been in the news here lately: Q Fever.

It's of particular interest because a lot of people end up with ME/CFS after getting it.

 

[Enid]

Yes had all that too - very pale intermittant very dark - there really something here not as yet diagnosed.