What could cause ongoing loose stools?

Q. There seem to be many products to help with constipation. But are there any remedies for loose, poorly formed stools? I tried eating more fiber, but that hasn't helped.

A. There are many possible causes of loose stools. To help you better, I would first need to know the following:

• How many times per day do you visit the bathroom?
• Are the stools just loose or are they more watery, like diarrhea?
• Do you wake up at night because of a need to move your bowels?
• Are you otherwise feeling well without loss of energy or weight loss?
• Is there any blood or mucous in the stool?

Feeling unwell, waking up at night to move your bowels, or the presence of blood or mucous in the stool are symptoms of something that could be serious, such as colitis. Any of these symptoms is a reason to immediately make an appointment with your doctor.

But if you have none of those symptoms, you can first try to make changes in your diet. People can develop lactose intolerance later in life. So I would suggest a short trial of eliminating milk-based products.

If that doesn't help, consider reducing dietary sources of gluten. People with celiac disease need to completely avoid gluten. Many people that don't have celiac disease have gluten sensitivity.

If dietary changes don't help, then you should see your doctor to discuss your symptoms. He or she will want to

• get more details about your symptoms
• review your medications to see if any of them might be the cause
• examine you.

I would not suggest starting any over-the-counter anti-diarrheal products until you have seen your doctor.

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