This is a question about dumping. Let’s say someone has a long habit of taking their morning dump for years - 95% of the time, rite on schedule, a good load. After which naturally the dumper will weigh slightly less.
So what happens if 1 day for whatever reason, the dumper decides to hold it in, and either goes late in the day or doesn’t go at all that day? They feel the urge, but hold it in, and the urge goes away. What happens to the ‘product’? Does it get reabsorbed, and the next dump will be light? Does it get backed up and the total # of pounds for the week is low because of the 1time holding? Or does nothing change, the product gets pushed out later and the next dump will be heavier than normal to make up for it?
It always comes out, sooner or later unless there is a physical obstruction. (You don’t want this to happen.) In some pathological situations, it may stay and become impacted. Stool is supposed to be somewhat soft so that it doesn’t tear the skin around the anus, and this softness comes from the water it contains. (Diarrhea is an excess of water.) If the stool remains, the water decreases resulting in a drier stool. But only the water can be absorbed. The stool itself can’t be.
No matter how long I put it off, the urge doesn’t go away. What makes you think the urge goes away when your bowels are backed up?
The urge will often go away for many people. IIRC, there are three involuntary sphincters (sphincters you have no conscious control over) and one voluntary sphincter (one you can open and close/keep closed at will). The “urge” is required for the involuntary sphincters to open, which is why if you don’t gotta go, you can’t go. Got to wait for that nerve signal to come when it comes.
Hold it long enough (by holding the one voluntary sphincter closed) and it will lose a bit in volume and weight, because the large intestine continues to absorb water from it. As already mentioned, if you hold it too long (or you’re on certain drugs or have nerve damage that messes with urge or pushing), the stool will dry out and get rock hard. I don’t know the rate at which this happens, though, so I can’t tell you if it would be an amount measurable on a home scale in just 24 hours.
Lots of people don’t poop when they go camping for a weekend.
Thx, interesting & informative.