My Mom's (80) bowels are never consistant and firm anymore. Looks like mush. Any advice?

Good idea, dear lillybo, why spend the effort + money to go to the Doc.... first try the PROBIOTICS, if that does not work, then see the Doc. and tell him the probiotics did not improve matters.... that will be an additional good clue for the Doc to work with.... wish you well....

Hello, gladimhere, you deserve a hug... your story verifies mine.... which so far I was not sure about.....Your story also mimics mine, years of "Off and On" Montezuma's revenge, since I was a kid, could not look at a prune without getting that curse...then in 2007 while on a trip I got traveler's diarrhea, went to a doc when I came home... doc thought I had IBS, daughter thought let's try high-potency probiotics, .... within a week I was normal and have been so ever since.... I wish you all well...

My Mom has had chronic diarhhea for as long as I can remember. We tried eliminating gluten, dairy had been eliminated previously, did not help. Doc suggested adding a probiotic to her daily pill regimen. VOILA! And unbelievable Mom had been suffering with this for years. I bought her Super Probiotic, Walgreens brand. But beware, my Mom is in the late middle stages of Alzheimer's Disease and I was concerned about the probiotic actually working because when she had to go it had been as easy as turning on a faucet. We ended up in the ER once because she was constipated. Based on the consistency of the BM (and there was alot if it), ER staff did not think she should have had a problem. She just had to work at it and I think she just doesn't understand that.

If your Mum is not having a proper bowel movement is may be overflow where she is blocked high up in the bowel and only a watery type of stool is coming down and it usually smell very bad. Give her Probiotics. Keep reading doctors research on line. You will find all the latest reseach which your doctor will not have read

You may want to look up dumping syndrome to get some ideas of things that can help. I doubt that your mother had surgery, but some of the tips about diet may help. It may be that something as simple as reducing carbs, not drinking at meal time, or adding guar gum might help. Of course, talk to her doctor before doing any of these things. Your family and doctor will know best.

You have gotten some good advice. I would suspect one of two things -- the gut is moving too quickly perhaps because of a medication, or your mother has developed a food sensitivity. Some medications can have a laxative effect, so you may want to have her doctor make some changes. If it isn't a medication, perhaps she has become sensitive to milk, wheat, or corn. Maybe you'll notice some patterns in what she is eating and how loose her bowels are.

There are other things that may cause the problem, e.g. bacterial infection or irritable bowel syndrome or use of artificial sweeteners. Since she is dumping mainly after meals, however, it seems it has more to do with her bowel moving too fast. I hope her doctor will be able to find the culprit so she doesn't have to run to the bathroom after eating and risk dehydration. Please let us know what the doctor thinks.

Someone mentioned a registered dietitian. I hate to say this but I've never gotten anywhere with a registered dietician. In fact, I've learned more via the internet searched I do myself. There's a wonderful website DiVita with lots of helpful hints as to get fiber into the diet. Along with dementia, my mother has lost kidney function and I've been told that's normal in a woman her age (91) so I found that website, but was so happy to see the recipes are for people with kidney, heart, and diabetic concerns, all of which my mom has! I've found some really great recipes and ideas on this site.

There are many great websites that can give you tips on how to eat correctly. All a dietitian is going to tell you is eat small meals five times per day. Lots of fiber, blah blah blah. Sorry to be so down on that, but that's been my experience. :) You'll get a sheet of paper with a list of do not haves. At least on the web you'll be able to find out the do haves, not the do nots.

The first thing I'd do is see a doctor about this. There may be a gastrointestinal issue. Then go from there.

As we get older, some foods just don't get digested. Try eliminating common trouble makers like gluten and dairy. If that doesn't work, keep a food log and see if that gives you any clues. For example, I have trouble with red foods (tomatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.).

I buy the store brand (99 cents) oatmeal with fiber for Mom and it works well, I also giver her 1.5 teaspoons miralax daily to keep it going because its much better than the alternative. Bananas also bulk it up, good luck

Probiotics are a great idea and fiber too. Lots of water, which seems counterintuitive to many old folks since they tend to need to urinate more or have UTI's but water helps with the UTI's and are needed with increased fiber. Only thing is, ramp up fiber slowly if she's not used to it. Recently I heard that in fact as we age we need increased probiotics and you need a good, broad spectrum one. Without those helpful bacteria in the gut, this is the kind of stuff that happens, as well as a higher rate of type 2 diabetes. Plus many meds mess up guts in both directions.

Add more fiber, but she is eating foods or taking a med that is stimulating her digestive processes to quickly get the food out. However, this is very dangerous because the small intestine is not absorbing the nutrients from food and her body will start to suffer. Tell her doctor. In the meantime, use immodium to stop the fast movement. Again, adding fiber will hopefully slow this peristalsis (movement). Keep trying because she will lose weight real fast.

Registered dietitians are the people you need to talk to. Doctors are not food experts. Your mom needs someone to plan balanced meals. Doctors have neither the time nor training to do this. Good luck.

The drink Boost gave my Mom diarrhea..took time to figure it out, but once she stopped drinking it the diarrhea stopped.

Mom use to be on Aricept and all it seem to do for her is give her horrible diarrhea 3x week. I took her off them 5 months ago. Not only does she not get diarrhea, anymore, her mood has improved. Her stool is still fairly soft, so I sneak in some rice, which helps to tighten every up. Don't feed rice every day, as it can cause constipation.

This happened to my uncle. He got dehydrated & passed out. He was admitted to the hospital where it was determined he had a highly contagious bacterial infection. The aunt has frequent diarreah...possible due in part to medications. A huge problem is I try to fix healthy meals but they refuse to eat them. One would think at their age & growing up where a garden was part of their lives that they would like a variety of vegetables. Not so. Hope a solution for her is found. It is no fun having to deal with soiled clothing & sheets and poop all over the toilet & bathroom floor, rugs...

Well, many meds constipate patients. This can be painful to resolve, so easy of bowel movement without being diarrhea, the soft stools may not be such a bad thing

Yes, check what meds she is on. This happened to my dad after he began an antidepressant because of the effect of excess seratonin on the gut. The other concern is bacterial infection. This should be discussed with her doctor and a stool sample culture done to rule out bacterial or parasitic infection first. She will not be absorbing nutrients of she has excessive BM's and loose stools.

Give your Mum Probiotics you get them from a health food store and store them in the fridge. Is medication causing it?

Write down what she is eating, all of it. Then talk diet with the MD. He can sort it out and decide what the problem is.