Help! My Stool Turned Green - What's Causing It?

Hello, sorry guys, never thought I would be discussing the color of my stool! It has gone from normal to light then to green. Has anyone experienced this and knows what has caused it and how I can get back to normal (if there is such a thing)!

Hi,

Although everyone's stool is different in color and consistency, it could depend on what you have eaten lately or how your digestive tract works. Green to me means, "Oops, I have a little digestive tract bug," which usually goes away in a few days. Karen

Mine changes with the food I eat. Any food coloring in food seems to always turn out green. I love Fruit Loops and will have green poo for days. Lots of other things do the same thing!
Pup

Hi Tin,

Pup is onto something there. When I had more bowel than now, green would result from the combination of eating anything blue.....because your bowel bile is a yellow-green color.......so yellow and blue makes green. Should be simple enough to trace back what you've been eating lately and remove one thing at a time until the green changes to something you like.

Regards,

Bob

Strange thing though, I haven't eaten anything different (boring). Only put a little 7UP in my water.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Hi Tin,

Ok.......are your meals spaced farther apart......or did you stop eating a snack or two during the day? Reason I ask is your bowels make that greenish bile whether you have food in your bowels or not. So if your bowels get empty, you'll see more of the bile, as it doesn't have anything to mix with. So has the quantity of what you eat changed.......or the time between eating?

Regards,

Bob

Oh tin..........forgot to mention..........iron supplements can also cause your stool to turn green as well. Are you eating something high in iron or supplementing with iron? When do you see the green color (ie, what time of the day)?

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob, you know that actually makes sense. Normally I don't have a big appetite but sometimes I'm a little off with timing. Sounds as though I need to smarten up. Always room for improvement, right!! Thanks Bob

Bob, I've been taking a multivitamin for a few days now. This is the first 'green' so maybe it's just a one-off....hope so, 'cause it freaked the life out of me and I thought, oh no, not another problem.

Hi all....

I'm Marsha, and have had my ileostomy for more than 50 years, so I've seen all colors.. Although usually it's some shade of brown....Green poo isn't all that unusual. As others commented above, the food you eat can change the color.. I used to eat spinach, and that could change it to green.. Medications with iron can turn poo black, and spaghetti sauce can sometimes look like "blood". Scary and smelly. I pay more attention to consistency because I tend to dehydrate......or have what I thought was a blockage, and would have a very watery yellow/green urine-like output.. My doctor couldn't figure it out, but when I also started getting gas and stomach bloating, I went back to my gastro dr. (hadn't seen him for years.....when I had liver issues).. He knew what it was immediately. People who don't have a large intestine are more likely to have bouts of (IBS) which causes the gas, bloating, and changes in stool. After years of thinking I was having food blockages, it turns out that some food chemicals and sugars and artificial sweeteners can change the bowel output. If you've had problems with bloating, excess gas, and liquid output, look up "Fodmap" diet. It's an acronym for the foods that will trigger the liquid output.. It's trial and error, and isn't easy to identify which foods or additives cause problems......but it's doable. I used to drink a lot of Crystal Lite (no carbonated soda) and it turns out the lemon flavors (and lime as well) as well as the artificial sugars were causing some of the problems. Self-testing gave me most of the solutions. Just wanted to share...

Marsha

Or just for fun,  add some beets to the mix for an awesome red poo! Always fun but should never be eaten anywhere close to an exam! 
pup

Yeah, the first time I ate a cherry (red) Italian ice after I got my bag, I almost shit myself when it came out bright red! The blue raspberry is also a very pretty color for your bag.

;0)

Bob

I love this post ! and all the replies, which gives me yet another opportunity to resurrect an old rhyme ( my apologies to those who have already seen this one which was pasted earlier this year) 

IN MY COLOUR-FULL RAG-TAG BAG.

Right from the start
I sensed there was art
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

I’ve so often said
the cherries stay red
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

And to my delight
all nuts stay white
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

There in my sack
the currants stay black
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

I tell you my fellow
the sweet corn stays yellow
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

Blueberries too
will keep their dark hue
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

Those carrots stand out
bright orange they shout
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

I perplex and frown
as I ponder the brown
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

A vortex soup of colours blend,
a pot of gold at rainbows end
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

Were I an artist like Matisse
I would paint a masterpiece
from my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

But I am just a simple poet
rhyming words is how I show it
from my colour-full rag-tag bag.

I use the rhythms and the rhymes
to tell of smell and raw enzymes
from my colour-full rag-tag-bag.

The subject matter won’t get worse
by placing it within a verse.
The ostomate as graduand
will be the one to understand
my colour-full rag-tag-bag.   B. Withers 2011

You can see what I mean
When the colour turns green
in my colour-full rag-tag-bag.
                                        B.Withers 2020

Bob, you are so funny. I love your sense of humor....kinda wacky.

The green is gone.......Thanks everyone for your input, it has sorted itself out and now I'm normal again (well that is questionable)!!!

H-eh, my brother state-side,

You are exactly what this site needs: damn funny, witty, encouraging to everyone, compassionate, knowledgeable ... if I go on, your head might swell. And I absolutely love disagreeing with you.

I think our road trip will be to your place when the world is back to partially normal again. I wish I had more time to post but I am zooming classes again. XOXO K

Glad you are back to normal. Hope you can backtrack to what you ate so you will expect the array of colors on your next meal or snacks of the same. Scary sometimes!
Pup

Roger that, Sis!  I'm opening the pool this weekend and the grill is all set to go! Party at my place! Just don't forget to swing through New Jersey and pick up Warrior on your way!

;0)

Bob

Agree with kmedup. Mine changes with what I eat or drink.... Green usually for me is salads or green veg..... Usually brownish sometimes really dark if I drink coffee and Pepsi.... You are good hun.