Stool with a stringy appearance — where the poop itself resembles strings — isn't that uncommon and closely associated with several medical conditions (more about that later), but strings in poop? That's a bit more unusual.
One member of the SteadyHealth community noticed exactly such a phenomenon, was understandably startled, and reached out for help by writing:
I noticed some stringy type things in my poop today. The poop was solid, but when it came out, each piece was attached to the next one with yarn like strings. They were the same color as the poop. It looked as though I had eaten brown yarn and it was running through the poop.
They also provided an extra bit of pretty important information — this person has irritable bowel syndrome, one of the very things that will sometimes cause stool to have a string-like look:
I have had stomach pain and slight constipation lately... but I have IBS and my stomach always hurts and I am often constipated. Should I be worried about this?
Discussion highlights
Questions
Questions the original questioned prompted others to ask included:
- Should I be worried about this?
- is there any vegitables she she should avoid?
- your saying its banana strings?
- Tell me what type of home treatment will remove, hemorroids, colon acidity, and parasite feces--while getting rid of the worms at the same time.
- We're they worms or you was just constipated
- But parasites wouldn't necessarily be visible in the colon would they?
- For God sake could someone tell me what it actually is?
- Where do i do the 3 day stool sample.
- Do i have to ask my doctor for it or is it somethinf i can buy and do myself
- Ive noticed wierd things with y poop also can anybody help me
- Can you please tell me the specific name of test and what specialist needs to see him I really don't want to take him to a general doctor.
- What stool test did u do that worked?
- How did you get your stool test and what was it?
- Is it because I'm eating certain things or have I got some kind of disease:)
- What is MMS
- What is MMS?
- What test is it?
- Did you have itchy legs?
- But what are these fiver type things?
- Are these worms?
- where do I get this "earth stuff"?
- Hi I believe you can help me I have the same issue and they look dead how can I help my body rid them all please and thank you I'm super worried and being a germaphobe is not helping I feel really grossed out
- What exact products, supplements, or oils of Young Living did you use for this issue?
- As you mentioned, many report false negatives but u did one that yielded a correct positive result and I'd like to know exactly what test u did.
- After you were diagnosed with parasites, was your doctor able to come up with an effective treatment plan?
Symptoms
Other people came out of the woodwork with similar symptoms:
- I had a very strange bowel movement this morning.
- I have had stomach pain and slight constipation lately.
- Regardless even if one has worms when you see it in your stool they are usually dead and your body is getting them out on its own.
- I also have conspation.
- I been feeling a lump underneath my stomach that feel like there needlles.
- I have also had nausea and vomiting.
- Also I felt like my organs went into my chest last night and I couldn't breath very well.
- I pooped a couple times a day before all this, now I can't go for days and days and then I pass some more of this.
- I also feel like I am so bloated and hard in my entire abdomen and it is hard up into my ribs.
- Having a hard to clearing out and it also causes me to be very nausiated.
- I wasn't able to move a bowel for 14 days and couldn't eat because I was so full.
- I have sat for over an hr trying to go and the pain is so bad that at times i have cried.
- Also it builds up in my stomach but than I can't release it.
- Been sick for 6 months onoff.
- I know this because I have it and have been getting treated.
- As a result, I am having relief from all IBS symptoms and various other symptoms that come from a candida overgrowth.
- I swear I have ibs too and if I eat any greens mainly broccoli I always hurt the next day and im sick.
- but I have IBS and my stomach always hurts and I am often constipated.
- YOU (most likely) DO NOT HAVE IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME, but rather some form of parasite that is causing the constipation and stomach pains.
- So frustrating and painful.
- Worms are white and you get a lot of itching.
- Plus if it is worms you would feel hungry all the time more than usual and you will also be losing weight.
- I had weight loss to.now I have no appetite at all, and my whole abdomen hurts and moving around makes it worse.
- I've had constipation for over a year now, in fact it started when I got out of jail where the food budget per person is about £1 a day.
- I wake up every morning at the same time, with the same stomach pains.
- I think it is just that my intestines are so full and blocked.
- Thank you so much I just read your answer to the other person it helped me greatly I have had a lot of stomach pain since the middle of the night I knew it was intestinal but then I found the string like material and I realized after reading your answer that I ate a huge bowl of Romain last night !
- The top lining of my stomach is pretty much gone due to all the infection and that i have scar tissue built up in my stomach and abdomen.
- I go days even up to a week with out being able to go to the bathroom.
- I go days sometimes without pooping I have to drink lots of water & eat tons of good foods!
- However even in doing this I end up with horrible gas all day long that I cannot control.
- Than it just releases when it "feels like doing so".
- Iv had some problems with my stomic past few weeks iv had bad blotting and looks like I am pregnant witch I'm not.iv also lay on right side and fill a lump thing and very sensitive to touch it iv tryed everything nothing works I'm hopefully it's not a mass or worse I'm 93ibs and 35 years old always been tiny so this never happened any advice
- He is often constipated and he avoids bowel movements due you the pain.
- He has also been tested but the doctor said it was fibers from food yet I'm not satisfied with the response because he is always constipated to the point that he bleeds.
- I've struggled with constipation most all my life.
- I've never had a problem with constipation until I started Methadone Maintenance for a drug problem I had as well.
What could this be?
Discussion participants also had some suggestions as to what may be causing the "yarn-like strings" in someone's bowel movements:
- I had a very strange bowel movement this morning.
- But there was a long, thin string of fecal manner hanging from my anus.
- It was very fibrous like strains of celery.
- I have now my second string.
- You could have intestinal candida.
- Look up images of candida (yeast) in fecal matter and compare it.
- But broccoli I dony have much of and I will feel like im dien the next day.
- IBS is a symptoms: The most probable cause is intestinal parasite/round worm, especially if you have strings and mucus in your poop.
- Treat yourself by looking online how to get rid of round worm parasite.
- There is a high possibility that those are intestional parasitic worms, and they were brown in color because they were covered in your faecal matter.
- Many people are misdiagnosed with having IBS (irritablke bowel syndrome) when in fact they are heavily infected with intestional parasites.
- Most general stool samples also will report falsen negative parasite results when in fact they are positive (like mine did).
- it turns out I had 3 different species of parasites!
- I noticed oddities in my dog's stool over a year ago, but could never get the diagnosis,,, now I have the same thing going on.
- I have a similar problem and found drinking water frequently (warm to be absorbed more easily)and taking acidophilus relieved the pain and decreased the constipation.
- Banana strings definitely.
- Worms are white and you get a lot of itching.
- Plus if it is worms you would feel hungry all the time more than usual and you will also be losing weight.
- Things she shouldn't eat are: banannas, or junk food.
- I been seeing like fiber like strings in stool.
- Was all little wide and flat.
- I also have conspation.
- I had weight loss to.now I have no appetite at all, and my whole abdomen hurts and moving around makes it worse.
- I just had the same thing and I have been eating celery.
- I've had constipation for over a year now, in fact it started when I got out of jail where the food budget per person is about £1 a day.
- The last few decent sized pieces I've managed to ditch look like they've got tails, or string coming out of them.
- I wasn't able to move a bowel for 14 days and couldn't eat because I was so full.
- parasites of all kinds are probable.
- Check for rope worms.
Advice
Among the advice given to people with "strings" in their stool was:
- • Add fiber slowly to prevent gas and bloating.
- Do not skip meals.
- Meditation, deepbreathing, aerobic exercise, and sharing your concerns with another person can all help todecrease stress.
- There ARE homeopathic and natural remedies that can help.
- I have a similar problem and found drinking water frequently (warm to be absorbed more easily)and taking acidophilus relieved the pain and decreased the constipation.
- Actually there are herbs that would do a better job against parasites than the chemical prescription.
- I'd rather do an herbal detox.
- I take fiber, some supplements, and given up dairy and wheat.
- Vinegar enema definitely will work white or apple cider
- I ended up ordering kifer grains and make my own probiotic drink ever day.
Several people suggested MMS, laxatives, and herbal or probiotic supplements, as well.
Strings in poop: The SteadyHealth team reacts
What could possibly lead to the appearance of yarn-like structures within stool? The list of options is short, but not at all uninteresting:
- Parasitical worms appear to be by far the most plausible explanation.
- Trichophagia is a psychological condition in which a person has the compulsion to swallow their own hair, often after pulling it out equally compulsively, in a related ailment called trichotillomania. Hair is indigestible, and if sufficient amounts were swallowed, it could bind together to create a yarn-like appearance that held bits of stool together in the manner described. People with this condition would certainly know they had it, and immediately know what caused their bowel movement to look like it did, though.
- Consuming other indigestible items, whether things like banana peel, corn leaves, elastic bands, or indeed actual yarn could likewise lead to the described problem.
- Mucus may also have a slightly string-like appearance, but most people would know that they were looking at mucus.
Doctor Sasa Milosevic, our "in-house doctor", quite agrees. When asked what could possibly cause yarn-like strings in a bowel movement, he wrote:
"I really can't think of anything else yarn-like in the stool. You pretty much covered all most likely cases. It's really hard to guess, but unless the person has been eating some indigestible fibers (pretty much anything of what you mentioned), I would bet it's some type of parasitic worm. They need to get their stool tested, that's the only valid suggestion that can be given to this person."
Intestinal worms: Signs and treatment
Roundworm, tapeworm, pinworm, and hookworm are all among the intestinal worms that can infect a person's gut. All these respective worms have different appearance, as well as different ways in which you're most likely to end up with them — but as a general rule, contact with contaminated feces, water, soil, or eating undercooked meat are things that may place a person at risk of such an infection.
Symptoms that you're dealing with a parasitical worm infection may include:
- Abdominal pain, bloating and gas
- Diarrhea, and blood or mucus on your bowel movements
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Weight loss
- Fatigue or feelings of weakness
- And of course, the visible presence of worms in your stool
The obvious thing to do here is to make an appointment with your doctor, who will ask for one or more stool samples. If you test positive for a parasitical infection, you'll be treated with antiparasitic drugs that will clear your nasty problem up.
Sources:
What about stringy poop?
Stringy poop — stool that is itself thin and string-like — has different possible causes, such as:
- Colorectal cancer
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Constipation
- Celiac disease
It may also, however, just be "one of those things", that is, something specific to a person that doesn't have a particular medical cause.