# Guess my medical problem (TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623 "2009-01-10T02:18:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/21 "2009-01-11T00:30:07Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Of course! It’s drugs. Can we search your house? You never \*ask \*to search the house. BTW, MadPansy64, answer the door, someone sent you flowers! ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/22 "2009-01-11T00:57:15Z")
I take iron daily because I am a gastric bypass patient. I know I take enough, because my levels are good, but because of the volume of water I drink, I don’t get constipated. It’s possible to have green poo from iron that isn’t rock hard. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/23 "2009-01-11T01:10:59Z")
Corn and or soy are in everything. Almost all prepackaged food haves one or both. Common homemade meals are virtually absent of either. Eat only non corn/soy products for several days. Then try some some. Pay attention to that for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/24 "2009-01-11T01:36:02Z")
There is a certain blue food dye often found in artificially flavored grape things that will cause green poop. IIRC, the blue dye reacts with a yellow pigment in feces to cause the green color. It doesn’t seem likely that this is the culprit in your case, but you never know. I just went to the kitchen to check. It’s Blue 1. I drink a grape-flavored drink that has this dye in it and it always makes my poop green. Grape soda will have the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/25 "2009-01-12T00:07:06Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Corn and or soy are in everything. Almost all prepackaged food haves one or both. > > Common homemade meals are virtually absent of either. > > Eat only non corn/soy products for several days. Then try some some. > > Pay attention to that for a bit. Well, dammit. Someone just HAD to get all serious on me. Tofu isn’t a problem. Corn (tortillas, niblets, etc) aren’t a problem. HFCS might be. I don’t record non-alcohol drinks in my diary, so there is no verification. However, a large Sprite at lunch seriously altered the day’s poo-free plans, and that “other” brand of canadian bacon I used for NY Day breakfast lists it as an ingredient, but the “good” brand doesn’t. 😃 I love this place! Where else could I ask a smart ass question about erratic green poo problems, and actually get a viable lead? ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/26 "2009-01-12T00:08:51Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > You never \*ask \*to search the house. > > BTW, MadPansy64, answer the door, someone sent you flowers! Sure, since you plowed the road to get here, c’mon in!😃 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/27 "2009-01-12T00:33:29Z")
Eating bread doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem with gluten. After all, you do have issues at the end of your digestive system severe enough to post the question. That is, not everyone with a gluten issue has identical classic Celiac symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/28 "2009-01-12T01:14:09Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Sarcoidosis. Wait, no, paraneoplastic syndrome. Wait wait…_ideopathic_ faeces atrovirens! > > Of course! It’s drugs. Can we search your house? Wait, don’t we need a dean of medicine with inappropriate low-cut blouses to sign off on any house searches? And whatever you do, don’t get an MRI. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/29 "2009-01-12T01:30:01Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Wait, don’t we need a dean of medicine with inappropriate low-cut blouses to sign off on any house searches? > > And whatever you do, don’t get an MRI. I have inappropriately low cut blouses available for **Richard Parker** , \*\*Rand Rover \*\*or anyone else who will plow my damn road! What’s so bad about an MRI? 😕 I’m missing out on a funny, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/30 "2009-01-12T01:32:08Z")
References to _House_, m’dear. Good luck on finding out what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/31 "2009-01-12T01:48:11Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > References to _House_, m’dear. Good luck on finding out what’s going on. 😉 Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/32 "2009-01-12T01:57:13Z")
My niece had her gall bladder out at the age of 28. She said that bile makes your poop brown and when hers wasn’t, she knew something was up. I didn’t have the courage to ask what other color it was, however. **incidental** wrote: _I don’t like the whole gallbladder thing, because it doesn’t make sense to me why restaurant fat would trigger an episode and home-cooked fat wouldn’t._ I imagine restaurants use more fat than people who are cooking at home. They’re selling flavor over nutrition in many cases, whereas the home cook would be more careful. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/33 "2009-01-12T18:40:46Z")
Reading on a menu yesterday at East Side Mario’s, the amounts of fat and salt in the food were staggering. Yeah, it could be the difference between cooking at home and eating out - minimal fat that you control versus 35 grams of fat in a pasta dish (I kid you not - and that was BEFORE the salad dressing and garlic bread with butter! :eek:). Jim and I like to eat out, but man, we gotta find a way to do it without getting 500 grams of fat and 5,000 mg of salt in every meal! ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/34 "2009-01-12T19:02:47Z")
Definitely look at HFCS…people who are even mildly IBS or IBD are often sensitive to it. Cut out sodas, especially, and syrups and such. You’d be amazed at the number of processed, restaurant foods that have it, but you don’t cook with it at all at home (unless you bake a lot of pecan pies, at any rate)… Let us know how that checks out! (Guy with Ulcerative Colitis here, giving you advice - trust me, I KNOW about guts!) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/35 "2009-01-12T19:06:10Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Jim and I like to eat out, but man, we gotta find a way to do it without getting 500 grams of fat and 5,000 mg of salt in every meal! May I suggest a postprandial snifter of brandy and _sirop d’Ipécac_? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/36 "2009-01-12T19:19:57Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Just curious–why do you hae a doctor’s appointment in March (as opposed to Monday or two months ago)? Given the nature of the problem, I assumed the OP was holding out until St. Patrick’s Day. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/37 "2009-01-13T00:27:26Z")
Beer hurts when it comes out my nose. Good one,\*\* Tom\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/38 "2009-01-13T03:05:32Z")
> [@MadPansy64](#): > > I am lactose intolerent, but scarf 3 Ultra-Lactaid before the first bite of the slightest possibility of a dairy based ingredient. Is there any coorelation between the lactaid and your incidents? My daughter poops neon liqui-green when taking some medicines, but she is 3. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/39 "2009-02-13T04:26:21Z")
Not that the Dope is anxiously awaiting my poo details, but my GP (gotta love docs who love email!) was _thrilled_ with my food diary. He also referred me to a semi-local poo specialist, who promptly requested a copy of my food diary and ordered a boatload of tests. I’m apparently quite healthy, other than the green poo reaction to HFCS and vegetable fats **together**. Tentative Dx of IBD, orders to record even the boring details of my diet and mood, and another appointment in July. Hmmph. So much for fame and fortune from malifecalis verde.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623/40 "2009-02-13T04:36:16Z")
Dang, I was going to guess _ **SOYLENT GREEN!** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-my-medical-problem-tmi/480623.md?page=3)