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What Causes Clay Colored Stool?
Question: Would really appreciate some advice. 54 yr old husband has had 5 weeks to date of pale/clay-colored fatty stools at every bowel movement. Every bowel movement for the past 5 weeks has been pale/clay-colored and floating. He feels bloated after every meal. Mild pain/discomfort on right side of back under shoulder blade. Ultrasound of gallbladder did not show stones. HIDA scan just done and gallbladder is working normally. But pale stools continue, and urine has faint orange color. We asked his primary care physician to do some blood work to check liver function and pancreas but dr said he didn't think it was merited at this time. Liver blood work was normal in December (husband is on Depakote and asked that his liver function get checked). But that blood work was BEFORE symptoms started. Should we just schedule an appt with a gastro dr since primary care dr doesn't seem to be taking this seriously? What should we do next? Help!
Brief Answer:
Details incorporated
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for choosing HCM.
Have gone through your details.
I would initially give you a briefing about how stool gets it color,
Bile is created in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and is released into the small intestine (the duodenum) while food is passing through. Bile is what gives stool its brown color, so if bile is not being produced or if the bile ducts are blocked, the result could be stool that is light and clay colored,As main work of bile is to digest fats so if bile supply is not adequate fats will remain undigested and stools will float on the water,Feeling of bloating will also be there because of improper breakdown of at contents of the food.However as all the baseline tests like USG and HIDA are normal,I would suggest you not to panic as all the most common pathology associated with pale stools like Alcoholic hepatitis
,Biliary cirrhosis,Cysts,Gallstones,Sclerosing cholangitis, Strictures and Tumor woukld have been apparent in ultra sound.
However i would suggest you to get his blood Hepatitis A,B,C serology done because it can also cause it.
Few base line tests like complete blood count and total leucocyte count should be done to rule out any hidden infection.
Stool routine and microscopy should be done.
If possible a CT abdomen should be done to get a better picture of all abdominal organs.
As per your question yes schedule a in person appointment with a gastro,Get the investigation suggested by me above and take them to your gastro so that he can give you a better suggestion with all reports available
As all reports till date are normal,Don't panic.
Along with it follow some general measures which will help you more in long term-
- Increase XXXXXXX warm water intake
- Eat plentiful "fresh oranges" and "pear "
- Take a diet which i low in Fat till you get a diagnosis.
- Add lot of vegetables and fruits to your diet.
-Try to eat vegetable,Take a lot of yoghurt along with food.
- Avoid COLD milk and and AVOID junk food(NO burger , pizza-even if its veg.)
- avoid beverages / alcohol/ soft drinks
- avoid carbonated drinks
Thanks
Details incorporated
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for choosing HCM.
Have gone through your details.
I would initially give you a briefing about how stool gets it color,
Bile is created in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and is released into the small intestine (the duodenum) while food is passing through. Bile is what gives stool its brown color, so if bile is not being produced or if the bile ducts are blocked, the result could be stool that is light and clay colored,As main work of bile is to digest fats so if bile supply is not adequate fats will remain undigested and stools will float on the water,Feeling of bloating will also be there because of improper breakdown of at contents of the food.However as all the baseline tests like USG and HIDA are normal,I would suggest you not to panic as all the most common pathology associated with pale stools like Alcoholic hepatitis
,Biliary cirrhosis,Cysts,Gallstones,Sclerosing cholangitis, Strictures and Tumor woukld have been apparent in ultra sound.
However i would suggest you to get his blood Hepatitis A,B,C serology done because it can also cause it.
Few base line tests like complete blood count and total leucocyte count should be done to rule out any hidden infection.
Stool routine and microscopy should be done.
If possible a CT abdomen should be done to get a better picture of all abdominal organs.
As per your question yes schedule a in person appointment with a gastro,Get the investigation suggested by me above and take them to your gastro so that he can give you a better suggestion with all reports available
As all reports till date are normal,Don't panic.
Along with it follow some general measures which will help you more in long term-
- Increase XXXXXXX warm water intake
- Eat plentiful "fresh oranges" and "pear "
- Take a diet which i low in Fat till you get a diagnosis.
- Add lot of vegetables and fruits to your diet.
-Try to eat vegetable,Take a lot of yoghurt along with food.
- Avoid COLD milk and and AVOID junk food(NO burger , pizza-even if its veg.)
- avoid beverages / alcohol/ soft drinks
- avoid carbonated drinks
Thanks
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Kampana
Answered by
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