Constipation (and diarrhea?)

[Deleted]

No personal anecdotes yet, but a list of items that can cause constipation. I don't think that any of these items has ever been a problem for me, though.

I've always been told that rice can cause constipation (and is often used to stop diarrhea), but my Chinese colleague who ate more rice in her life than I will ever imagine, told me that in China, rice is used as a cure for constipation.

[auntieannie]

It would be interesting to know how people define constipation and diarrhea.

The medical definition is very simple, but many people claim to have diarrhea when they don't.

[auntieannie]

To help British people (who don't usually talk about these things) the NHS has created a "stool chart" and patients only have to point at the description of the kind of stool they experience. A useful tool!

[onlymark]

A bit like when the airline loses your bag and you have a chart so you can point out what it was like?

[Deleted]

It's true that some people think that "loose stool" is diarrhea when that is not their normal production, but I would imagine that the term diarrhea refers more to excessive return performances.

[auntieannie]

I nominate Kerouac2 for the "Prix Champignac" 2011 !!! Excessive return performances! hahaha!

[rikita]

and when it's just once, but liquid?

[onlymark]

Then it'll be the entry right at the end of the stool chart.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2011 16:19:23 GMT rikita said:

and when it's just once, but liquid?

Good question. Obviously "liquid stool" is not normal (unless you purposely consumed something for this result). However, I think would call it diarrhea anyway, because sometimes you eat something foul that your body decides to get rid of as fast as possible while still having the elegance to spare you some annoying vomiting.

There are cases when just one session will get rid of all of the offensive matter.

[bixaorellana]

your body decides to get rid of as fast as possible while still having the elegance to spare you some annoying vomiting

I think I will love you forever for that one single turn of phrase. ;D

My sister told me that one can have diarrhea/loose stool even while constipated. It's possible to have blockage, behind which the trapped matter becomes liquid, then shoots out around the blockage.

It's my new paranoia.

[auntieannie]

My understanding of diarrhea is that there is an element of "urgency" to it and also a partial and momentary loss of control of the anal sphincter. i.e. you HAVE to go and you HAVE to go NOW.

Bixa, the gut is a creature of habits, much like humans. I guess you could have episodes of loose stools amidst a life-long battle with constipation. It depends on so many factors!
I wouldn't generally worry about isolated episodes of loose stools.

[onlymark]

Is there any difference between a foot stool and a twelve inch shit?
That's what I want to know.

[Deleted]

We have gone metric.

[bixaorellana]

Mark, sometimes you just bowl me over. Had to say that & flush it out of my system.

[auntieannie]

I was rolling on the floor with laughter... thank whoever that this place isn't a pigsty!

[onlymark]

You're on a roll bixa.

And we do know that Mr Crapper didn't actually invent the flush toilet, but he did develop the ballcock.

[onlymark]

Kerouac - a 33cm stool doesn't quite seem to have the same impact, does it?

Or maybe it does, it depends if you are sitting or 'hovering' as you do on toilets that are not your own.

[bixaorellana]

You go metric, Kerouac? Most people just go poo-poo.

[auntieannie]

that length, metric or imperial, might create issues in german toilets, the ones with the observation plate. don't you think?

[onlymark]

And I have suffered from that specific problem. Many a time I've jacked my arse up off the seat.

[Deleted]

On those German toilets, you have to train your sphincter to release the item in a delicate spiral.

[Deleted]

Before people start asking questions....

[lagatta]

One wonders who on earth invented those.

They are fairly common in the Netherlands as well.

[Deleted]

I read that stool inspection is a peculiar German obsession and they really want to inspect it in detail before they flush.

At least I finally learned that placing a stragic square of toilet paper before you start will prevent streaking.

[rikita]

at a party yesterday i learned the term "bier-schiss" (beer shit). must say i never had enough beer to experience that.

[bixaorellana]

You see what kind of cultural gems you miss out on when you leave your own country, Rikita? ;D

I had a friend who described post-drinking session liquid stool as "shitting through the eye of a needle". She was from South Africa. I don't know if this is part of their linguistic culture or her own turn of phrase.

[rikita]

hm... somehow i can't help imagining trying to really shit through a needle - woudln't it all go past the needle on both sides?

seems all this talk effected mr. r.'s stomach. poor thing, he also feels cold when really it isn't cold. but he refuses to drink camomille tea because he "doesn't like it and coke is just as good". now he's sleeping though, so maybe afterwards he will be better.

[onlymark]

I definitely sympathise with the camomile tea thing.

[rikita]

i like camomile tea, i drink it without having stomach problems too. can't stand peppermint tea though. they kept giving us oversweet, luke warm peppermint tea in kindergarden.

[auntieannie]

Riki, I spent my first week back from India shivering with cold the first time I went there. But maybe Mr R's tummy has to get used to European food again?