People can often recognize an abnormal smell in their stool, which happens due to a diet change. However, sometimes a foul-smelling stool can indicate the presence of a particular disease.
Here in this article, we will explore some of the reasons for foul-smelling stool and how to treat it.
Medication
Sometimes foul-smelling stool and discomfort in the stomach can be a result of antibiotics. This happens because antibiotics can disturb the equilibrium between good and bad bacteria inside your gut. Usually, the symptoms go away within a few days after completing the antibiotics course.
To treat stomachache and bad-smelling stool, your doctor will perform a physical examination and ask for a stool sample to run some tests. Since most of the time, the symptoms fade away on their own after you are done the course of antibiotics, and you think you can manage it all at home, drink plenty of fluids to help ease your discomfort. Also, avoid foods high in fiber as they can upset the intestines.
Milk Allergy
If you have a milk allergy, you may experience foul-smelling stool, vomiting, and indigestion. To diagnose the milk allergy, your doctor may carry out a blood test or skin-prick test. In case you are positive, know that the best way to avoid discomfort in the future is not to consume milk and milk-containing products.
Reaction to Gluten
Do you ever experience a foul-smelling stool, abdominal pain, or bloating whenever you eat wheat or barley? If yes, you may have celiac disease. In this medical condition, your immune system is unable to tolerate gluten. So, whenever it encounters gluten, it launches an attack on the small intestine’s lining.
Frequent attacks can result in malabsorption or failure to consume enough nutrients from the meal. Your doctor may request endoscopy and blood tests to diagnose celiac disease. If you happen to be celiac disease positive, follow a gluten-free diet. It takes around two years for the small intestine to get back on track. Even after complete recovery, you should try to avoid foods that contain gluten.
Ulcerative Colitis
In ulcerative colitis, your immune systems mix up the good and the bad. Thinking of ‘good’ bacteria as ‘bad’ ones, it commands the white blood cells (WBCs) to go to the intestines and fight infection. Due to some reason, the go-back command fails, and the WBCs continue to attack the large intestine, which results in chronic inflammation. Foul-smelling stool, constipation, abdominal pain are just some of the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
Treatment options for ulcerative colitis patients include using anti-inflammatory drugs, eating a healthy balanced diet, and avoiding symptom triggering foods.
The above list is a precise one and may not include why you have a foul-smelling stool. Therefore, a physical examination by a health care expert is important before you start any treatment yourself.
To schedule an appointment with the doctors at Internal Medicine Diagnostic Center call 281-252-8600.