What is that strange shaped object in my stool?

I'm having the same thing happen to me. It's very unsettling. It's happened three times now - about once a week.

They're about the size of garlic cloves, maybe smaller, they're white but not like paper-white more of an off-white or khaki. They always cluster around one part of the stool and there are a lot of them - way too many for it to be caused by swallowing mucus.

It's freaking the heck out of me. They're not all the same shape, but yeah . . . not to be crude, but the stool basically looks like a candy bar with nuts in it.

hi
i seem to have a similar problem.hope u guys found an answer.

since last 2months something in the shape &size of cooked kidney bean but in lighter shade of green is appearing in my stools.it appeared once a month then this month it appeared thrice,sometimes 2 of them appear.a small amount of something green like a covering of that pod is also present in the stool,which has an appearance and color of(the yellowish covering of fat on a cooked goat's rib).I have almost stopped eating meat,eat very little or rarely due to cholesterol which is going down.this bean is soft slippery and gets crused easily due to softness,inside is very light green/whitish.i just had a c-section last year with no complications.i was infected with mrsa in 9th month of pregnanc n got cured.no other health problems ever.by the way i do not eat beans and chew very properly.

info:i am 26,was diagnosed with high cholesterol last year.i am insulin resistant so take metformin ER 500mg twice daily after meals.i take 2000mg fish oil morning n evening(a total of 4000mg),otherthan that i take birthcontrol,prenatal and(calcium&magnesium)pill.

Hi all. I had the same thing, but I'm type 2 diabetic and I am taking Metformin and I asked the questions below. I also pasted some of the related posts to this, so I hope it helps.

Brad

Hi Dr. Z. Can you answer a quick question for me about Metformin? I will paste my forum question below and the medical site that I found some answers, but wanted to be sure it was just the pills. I just noticed in the past week these clear jelly bean looking things in my stool. I

Brad

My Dr.'s post is below in bold

Brad--It is common for some of the Metformin XR pills to be incompletely dissolved and to end up in your stool (well known potential problem). I don't think this is fat and it is no cause for alarm. The most important question is: how are your blood sugars doing?

Dr. Z

(The immediately below post was written by me: Brad)

I also take Metformin for type 2 diabetes (started 6 months ago) and I have been normally having diarrhea most days and there has been clear jelly bean looking objects floating in my toilet after I defecate. Seems one person in this forum thinks they are un-dissolved pills, but another person said they are fecal fat. Should we collect a sample and send to the doctor?

I tend to think they are the metformin tabs because one day I saw three and another day I saw 1, but they looked a bit bigger than the pills, but could be bloated from being in liquid. Anyone else have pictures to see if they are the same things?
Brad



(Here is the forum post with several comments on ther same sympton and several are taking Metformin and several have them, but are not taking it...)

https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/strange-spongy-white-object-in-stool-part-2#779491

After reading the numerous posts about finding spongy orange/tan bean shaped objects with white cream cheese consistent centers I figured out what mine were after doing a little experiment.

I'm on Metformin XR tabs for diabetes. After stressing about what it could be. I took one of my tabs and placed it into about 4 oz of warm water with about 1 tsp of lemon juice ( simply to make an attempt to produce a vaguely similar environment for when it hits your stomach.) I let the tablet set overnight in this solution.

When I went to inspect the results I was relieved!!!!!!!! It was the SAME size spongy feeling thingy with a cream cheese consistent center that I had been passing off and on. It was my Metformin indeed, undigested. I was so surprised because I really did not know what I'd find! As I broke it open and began mashing it between my thumb and forefinger I was elated! I'd found my answer!!!!!!! I had taken my med on an empty stomach and was passing them in diarrhea stools.

I would suggest that everyone try this out for themselves using any tablets you take that are extended release since It seems that it is the shell on the tablet/caplet that gets spongey-like. Do not use your very last pill! If you are having moderate to severe abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, nausea and/or vomiting, blood in your stools or high fever...see you doctor right away instead of trying to figure this out on your own. If there are accompanying symptoms requiring immediate medical attention try this out for yourself. I hope you get the same result as me or at the very least began to eliminate some possibilities. ** Do not use your last cap/tablet.

This worked out for me by finally answering my question. For those of you who are not on any medication I would suggest just seeing your doctor. It's your life and health so you have the right to have your concerns acted on and an attempt made to provide you with answers. I hope this helps.


I was very glad to discover this group. This is the first I've heard of the objects or so many other people experiencing them. I have ejected about 4 dozen or so of these over the months and having frozen a fair amounts of samples. I'm waiting to see which one comes out the biggest...so far about 1 1/2 inch. Although I generally see them after ingesting some type of oil. I believe the oil allows them to come of the sides of the intestines easier as I noticed the pods are very gooey and sticky. When left to the air or allowed to sit in water they will liquify into a small gooey pool. I started seeing them some months ago BEFORE I started metformin. These are NO pills. I did take some samples to Dr. for lab analysis and the result came back fecal fat. I don't know if i believe it due to the sticky consistency of the item but that was my first lab result. I will take more to another lab with an upcoming infectious disease appt. I have. I also have had a pretty decent amount of parasites so I feared these would be parasitic. I did look at a couple under scope and saw some worms but that would not be unusual in an infected person. These will also come out with ozone treatments I've been doing. These things do grow or rather coat themselves...like pearls. I noticed that when I rinse them off there seems to be a slight decrease in size. I also though these might be the byproduct of the lymph system as there are many lymph vessels in the intestinal tract. For whatever reason the lymph may not be flowing smoothly as it seems many here have some type of gastro problems it seems very possible to me.

I was very glad to find this site and to see that others had similar experiences and were equally freaked out.

I am just starting to feel better from 14-day GI "bug". Woke up one night with severe chills and a fever, followed by 13 days of abdominal pain/cramping and diarrhea (including several days of bloody diarrhea). Gas-X seemed to help a bit with the severe cramping during the first few days. My PCP visit revealed no hemorrhoids; my blood work and stool sample cultures and tests were all negative for things like salmonella, shigella, e.coli, and parasites. Gastroenterologist diagnosed "infectious colitis" and suggested the BRAT diet until things calmed down enough for a colonoscopy. No other meds or antibiotics prescribed. Gastroenterologist didn't seem to be impressed with the pro-biotic suggestion from my PCP. Gastroenterologist seemed to think it would resolve on its own, and, each day I have been feeling incrementally better with incremental diminishing of the severity of cramping and diarrhea.

During this 14 day GI bug, I was TOTALLY freaked out to see a green "pod" in the bowl on a few occasions. I am not taking Metformin, but I am on Glumetza ER. It is a very large, dark blue pill. I tried the "experiment" mentioned on this site of putting the pill in warm water and letting it sit overnight. The next morning, the pill was pretty much the same size, shape, and consistency and general appearance of the "pod" I saw in the bowl. My "experiment" pill was still blue, but I suspect the bright-ish green color in of the "pod" in the bowl may have been due to its passing through the digestive system.

I feel relieved that the green "pod" in the bowl did seem to be an undigested Glumetza ER tablet. It seems to make sense considering my minimal food intake during this illness, and the frequent runs to the john with diarrhea. I suppose a few of them just passed right through me.

I have also experienced these soft kidney bean looking substances in my stool accompanied with cramping and diarrhea. There are sometimes 2 or 3 of them and they float and are soft. They are not kidney beans since I haven't had any kidney beans to eat. This has been going on for a few months. I do take 3 metformin tablets a day, however they are not as oval shaped as the substances in the stool. I am relieved to know I am not the only person experiencing this but I would sure like to have a definitive answer. I was also recently diagnosed with mild diverticulitis.

I have the same thing and haven't taken any pills for years. At least 5 years. So umm it could be that.... but that wouldn't explain the cramping and other symptoms. Does anyone actually know? :-(

It sounds like SIBO small intestinal bacteria overgrowth
do the test ; hydrogen breath test
drug is XIFAXIN -

if you have been on antibiotics or had food poisoning(violent vomiting)
the major reason is the decrease of both good and bad bacteria due to those factors (there are other reasons too)
probiotics - kefir, align, accidolpiphuls, yogurt (greek is better) all will help but antibiotics are the only way to kill and stop the overgrowth

some may have a longer duration of the antibiotic then others - consult gi doctor
always ask questions and talk to your gi docs - remember its your body - you know best

Holy cow. I'm not alone. I too have been passing these weird things in my stool for a while now. They come on a random basis when I have watery BM too. I wonder if I pass more than one per BM. I have only seen one floater when they come. They look just as everyone has described them. I fished one out and bagged it in a sealed baggy. The thing turned an amber color in three or so days. I also opened one and found whitish firm dough looking stuff inside it. Kind of like when you take white bread and tightly roll it into a ball between your fingers. I wish I had a microscope. The only stomach problem I have is heartburn. And, I think I'm in fair health. I've been on all sorts of heart burn medication for a good part of my life. I take heartburn meds. once a day at bed time. I currently take Zegerid OTC. It seems to me that I began to notice these things after I started taking Zegerid. I don't want to blame Zegerid- It has been the best heartburn medication I've taken yet. It's strange that when I do a colon cleanse I don't pass any of this weird stuff. I wonder what the heck. Oh well, I hope that I've added a piece to this jig saw puzzle. I’m so freaked out that sometimes I think that I don't want to know what it is. sh*t!

I have been experiencing this for some months now.  Usually there are two bean shaped white objects which I thought may be Metformin which have not been digested as they are about the same size and shape.  Ironically, I take 2 Metformin each morning and 2 at night and there are usuallly two of them in each motion.  I have kept one to take to GP for analysis.  I get no sickness or pain but am also a Coeliac and have IBS.  The plot thickens and hope that the mystery will soon be solved.

I have been taking Metformin for 3 weeks now and that's when I noticed this 2 or 3 bean looking things floating. They are also oval in shape and can be whitish and or an orange color. My metformin is the extended release...is it true that's what it can be?? Is everyone here on metformin or other diabetic meds?

Also wanted to add I do take them with a meal and have had diarrhea EVERY BM since starting the Metformin :/ If it is indeed the Metformin, should we be concerned that all of the medicine is not being absorbed by our body?

I was amazed that this thing is happening! Whatever it is , it is not  good because, it is then useless taking  Metformin if it will not help  in any way bringing our blood sugar down? Why do we need to take those 3 or 4 tablets a day as prescribe by our doctors then? If it will come out as a whole, how will they help us  anyway? This is a serious concern for all the people taking Metformin ER

jowalay wrote:
My GP has changed my prescription to powder form Metformin which I seem to be tolerating with no stomach problems.  Will be interesting to see what my next blood glucose results are.  Just as an experiment, I did not take any Metformin at all for one week and my readings were consistently lower than they have been for ages.  I did this because over the last 4 yrs since starting Metformin, my hair has been falling out and is now considerably thinner.  Someone said this had happened to them and that when Metformin was stopped, the hair stopped falling out and is now back to normal.   However, I have started the Metformin again as I read that it is diabetes that can bring on hair loss not Metforming.   So many contradictions.  Just wish I could stop all tablets and see what happens.

It is definitely a parasite!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagonimiasis