Stool Color

Since September, I have been trying to figure out the cause of my pale-colored stools. In the course of looking into this, I have found a surprising dearth of specific information. Red = lower GI bleeding or beet consumption; black = iron supplements, Pepto-Bismol, or upper GI bleeding; white or clay-colored = biliary tract obstruction; yellow = fast transit, excessive fats, or pancreatic insufficiency; orange = carrots or other orange foods; all shades of brown = groovy.

So with mine being brownish-yellow and somewhat pale, I have been leaning toward some sort of insufficient bile situation. They range from the color of cardboard to the color of cornmeal, with most somewhere in-between. Serious gallbladder pain and moderate nausea occurred in late September but subsided after a week or so. My CMP and CBC blood work was normal. (I did not have an ultrasound because I do not feel comfortable with the COVID risk. I will reconsider that if the pain returns.) No pain, no indigestion, no bad odor or gas, normal consistency and amount. Just weird color.

I will note that I am very aware that the brown coloration comes from bile, so even a diet of only white foods should not produce white poop.

So I have been experimenting with diet and supplements, subtracting things to see if anything helps to return my stool to a more normal (i.e. browner) color. I'd like to crowd-source some information from you all.

Has anyone noticed stool color changes from the following? If so, then how long after stopping the food/supplement did it take for your stool color to normalize?
- calcium (including that which is added to plant-based milks)
- magnesium
- vegetarian diet
- curcumin
- quercetin
- anything else?

Thank you!

Magnesium - I take massive doses of Natural Calm daily. No change in stool color.

Curcumin - Jarrow 95 did not break down and would clump in my stool in orange spots and patches. I stopped taking it, and no orange unless I eat a bunch of carrots or sweet potatoes.

Are you taking TUDCA? If not, I would try it for at least 30 days. It didn’t change my stool color. Mine was already brown. It just made me feel better and less toxic.

Here’s an article on it: https://microbeformulas.com/blogs/microbe-formulas/tudca-benefits

i have had the carboard coloured stools think for most of the last 2 years of so - occasionally interspersed with dark ones of even kind of patchy light and dark ones

consistency is typically very soft formed or towards fully loose

color is darkening as i seem to make improvements

bile production is thought to be the main factor driving color - as mentioned above - but i would also suggest that bacteria action and metabolites are likely the other large factor.
if you let pretty much any foodstuff degrade by biological action you will see plenty of darkening through biological degradation, the action of microbes and their enzymes.

that gets into an area we know only a small amount of the total knowledge needed though - so not sure how actionable it is.

it is however consistent with the facts we already know about lyme disease - in that something like 75% of chronic Lyme patients have liver function abnormalities ( Horowitz - how can i get better ) and that the majority also have some form of issue with their gut flora - as even a cursory sample of the posts on this forum will attest.

i think magnesium may have caused mine to be a bit darker - at around 700mg of magnesium tri-citrate twice per day with food

as you know I have been having some odd liver symptoms for the last 12 months or so - i had thought that was due to a possible gall stone or some kind of gall bladder disease but i have since had a detailed abdominal ultrasound that confidently ruled out gallstones of bile duct obstruction - i also had a Gamma Gluyamyl transferase? test ( liver enzyme that is indicative of bile duct obstruction ) that came back nice and low = fully normal - adding to the confidence from the ultrasound.

i have had moderately raised ( at the upper limit of normal or just over ) alkaline phosphatase on liver function tests for over a year also - and had put that down to the antibiotics courses i had taken over this time ( doxy, azithro, Rifampicin) as they known to cause raised liver functions - however, i have ran two liver function tests since stopping the abx and the liver function results have stayed high - meaning its likely something else.

i note Buhner lists additional herbs for ongoing liver pain in his extended protocols in his last book - so by inference, this is a pretty common symptom in Lyme. so at the moment, i am thinking that's most likely what it is.

i had tried a couple of liver flushes recently as i wrote about here - and got some temporary relief - and i think they are a useful thing to do one in a while - but its not really practical to do them every week - and don't think its a real solution more short term symptom relief.

i have been taking liver/detox support in the form of herbs and supplements, MSM, NAC, Alpha Lipoic acid, Turmeric, mostly - and it seems to be coming back under control. i am interested to try TUDCA also.

BTW - I'm in the UK - but the hospital where i had my ultrasound done was also a ghost town. i was the only patient in the clinic - and only the US technician was in the clinic with me - fully PPE compliant etc - and i only saw one other patient in the hospital while i was there

Post Edited (Garzie) : 12/30/2020 4:17:58 AM (GMT-7)

I had that tan color, and they were floaters too. Ive also had digestive candida more than several times and SIBO..........can that inflame and obstruct a bile duct (what I was thinking). Gastro Dr said maybe.

Had a bazilion Gastro tests (ins covered) since Im no kid anymore. Gastro was puzzled, but was really interested in my past gut healing approaches and asked about trying a no FODMAP diet, so I did for the first time.

It helped some. But got way better when I added HCL and Dr Mercolas Gall bladder support supp with Ox bile. I keep those on hand in case it comes back, but do use HCL with red meat.