Although your stool testing and colonoscopy have been negative, there are many possible causes of diarrhea that have not been excluded. Among these are such things as: Irritable bowel syndrome. Some people with irritable bowel syndrome have a type that is called "diarrhea predominant." Stress can worsen symptoms.
You may experience loose stool or no stool for up to three days following the procedure.
It could take 2 to 3 days before you have a bowel movement after your colonoscopy because you completely emptied your colon and rectum ahead of the procedure.
Your doctor may also recommend you follow a soft, low-residue diet immediately after the procedure. This consists of a limited amount of dairy, plus low-fiber foods which are easy to digest and produce less stool. Foods and drinks to have the day after your colonoscopy include: drinks with electrolytes.
That's because your colon needs to be empty and clear of waste. This requires a series of strong laxatives to clean your intestines in the hours prior to the procedure. You'll need to stay in a bathroom for several hours, and you'll likely deal with some uncomfortable side effects, like diarrhea.
After the test, you may be bloated or have gas pains. You may need to pass gas. If a biopsy was done or a polyp was removed, you may have streaks of blood in your stool (feces) for a few days. Problems such as heavy rectal bleeding may not occur until several weeks after the test.
Some people may have gas, bloating, or discomfort in the first few days after a colonoscopy. Having abdominal pain that goes on for longer than that could mean there is a problem that needs to be treated.
Eat a diet rich in prebiotics. These are foods like fruits, vegetables, oats and whole grains that are high in fiber and feed probiotic bacteria. Avoid processed foods, wheat products, sugar, hydrogenated fats, alcohol and high fructose corn syrup for several days after your colonoscopy.
If you drank the entire solution and your last bowel movements were clear enough to see the bottom of the toilet, you should be fine. It is OK if you have some flecks of material. The yellow color is a result of bile that normally colors the feces.
Your Colon Is Never Empty
Many people believe they have emptied out their colons after multiple episodes of diarrhea or that they can keep their colons empty by avoiding food. However, since stool is made up in large part of bacteria, fecal matter is continuously being formed. Stool is made up of: Bacteria.
Complications related to colonoscopy include, but are not limited to, the following: Continued bleeding after biopsy (tissue sample) or polyp removal. Nausea, vomiting, bloating or rectal irritation caused by the procedure or by the preparatory bowel cleansing.
After the exam, it takes about an hour to begin to recover from the sedative. You'll need someone to take you home because it can take up to a day for the full effects of the sedative to wear off. Don't drive or make important decisions or go back to work for the rest of the day.
Bleeding is one of the most common complications of colonoscopy, accounting for 0.3-6.1% of cases[35,36].
By the end of your prep, your stool should become a clear, yellow-tinged fluid.
Treating diarrhoea
In children, diarrhoea will usually pass within 5 to 7 days and will rarely last longer than 2 weeks. In adults, diarrhoea usually improves within 2 to 4 days, although some infections can last a week or more.
Yellow stool may be caused by: Bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections that may be causing malabsorption. One of the most common is giardiasis (also called giardia infection), caused by a microscopic waterborne parasite.
Yellow liquid poop could indicate an underlying disorder in the liver or gallbladder. Bright yellow liquid stool can also be a sign of giardiasis, an infection caused by an intestinal parasite that you can get from drinking unclean water.
Your stool can be yellow because of your diet. Some causes of this are eating foods high in food coloring, carrots, or sweet potatoes. It may also be from certain gluten products or a diet high in fats.
Fatty, rich foods and those with a high fiber content, for instance, should be avoided. These foods are healthy options to enjoy for about a day after your procedure: Applesauce. Yogurt.
Probiotic foods such as natural yoghurt or kefir contain live lactic acid bacteria that can multiply in the intestine and thus displace unwanted organisms. A balanced diet with prebiotic and probiotic foods can thus contribute to the development of a healthy intestinal flora after colonoscopy.
“Patients that undergo bowel cleansings in conjunction with their colonoscopy appear to have an increasing risk for developing IBS or IBS symptoms if they are also receiving antibiotics at the time of their bowel cleansing,” Ravy K.
Recently, several studies have shown that bowel preparation for colonoscopy could change the fecal microbial diversity and composition, and these effects could last up to 1 month [13-15]. Bowel preparation also affects the change of gut metabolome but this is recovered within 14 days [16].
Preparing for a colonoscopy involves both fasting and taking strong laxatives to clean out your GI tract. You're correct in assuming that this process will remove much of the gut microbiota – the approximately 100 trillion microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) that live within us.
Post-Colonoscopy Complications
Call your doctor right away if you have any of these symptoms after your test: Severe pain or cramping in your belly. A hard belly. Trouble passing gas or pooping.
My experience is that it worsens symptoms at least as often as it helps them. It is clear that the bacteria count in the gut drops dramatically (31-fold) after the preparation, and that the types of bacteria in the gut change in the weeks following a colonoscopy.