Symptom: Loose stool

Introduction: Loose stool

Loose stool is usually a form of diarrhea and many conditions causing loose stool will be listed under diarrhea. It may also be related to watery stool (also within the spectrum of diarrhea). Medically, the definition of diarrhea usually includes loose stool or watery stool, and similarly, hard stool is really a form of constipation. .

» Review Causes of Loose stool: full list

Causes of Loose stool:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Loose stool. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Diarrhea
• Watery stool
• See also causes of diarrhea or watery stool

See full list of 185 causes of Loose stool

» Review Causes of Loose stool: full list

Loose stool: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Loose stool, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Loose stool: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Loose stool and Diarrhea (70 causes)
• Loose stool and Abdominal symptoms (60 causes)
• Loose stool and Digestive symptoms (60 causes)
• Loose stool and Bowel problems (57 causes)
• Loose stool and Stool symptoms (57 causes)
• Loose stool and Bowel movements (56 causes)
• Loose stool and Bowel incontinence (55 causes)
• Loose stool and Pain (46 causes)
• Loose stool and Nerve symptoms (45 causes)
• Loose stool and Sensations (43 causes)
• Loose stool and Abdominal pain (42 causes)
• Loose stool and Weight loss (35 causes)
• Loose stool and Body symptoms (34 causes)
• Loose stool and Fever (33 causes)
• Loose stool and Weight symptoms (32 causes)
• Loose stool and Temperature symptoms (31 causes)
• Loose stool and Swelling symptoms (28 causes)
• Loose stool and Vomiting (27 causes)
• Loose stool and Stomach problems (25 causes)
• Loose stool and Fatigue (25 causes)

See full list of 720 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Loose stool

Home Diagnostic Testing and Loose stool

Home medical tests possibly related to Loose stool:

• Colon & Rectal Cancer: Home Testing
  • Home Colorectal Cancer Tests
  • Home Fecal Occult Bleeding Tests

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Diarrhea (830 causes)
• Stool symptoms (768 causes)
• Digestive symptoms (2184 causes)
• Abdominal symptoms (1394 causes)
• Bowel incontinence (572 causes)
• Bowel problems (824 causes)
• Bowel movements (699 causes)

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Loose stool

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Loose stool:

• Diarrhea (830 causes)
• Stool symptoms (768 causes)
• Watery stool (38 causes)
• Constipation (371 causes)
• Bowel motion symptoms

Diagnostic Guides for Loose stool

Medical Books Excerpts Read excerpts from published book sections related to Loose stool from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Loose stool. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Loose stool

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Misdiagnosis and Loose stool

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a variety of "good" bacteria that aid digestion,...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's more likely to be an infectious...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to be diagnosed with fatal effect). One of the most...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder with a variety of symptoms (see symptoms of celiac...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Loose stool

Diagnostic tests for Loose stool:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Loose stool. Some of these are listed below :

• Physical examination
  • Abdominal examination for tenderness and a mass - e.g. a mass in the right lower abdomen may suggest bowel cancer or diverticulitis; a mass on right, left or upper abdomen may also suggest bowel cancer; tenderness in the left lower abdomen, with or without a significant mass may suggest ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis or irritable bowel syndrome.
  • Xamine rectum for hemorrhoids and anal fissure that may be causing a positive occult blood test
  • Examine for signs of systemic diseases that may cause loose stools - e.g. tremor and increased heart rate of hyperthyroidism; considerable flushing of carcinoid syndrome; hyperpigmentation of the skin in Addison's disease; and dermatitis and dementia of pellagra.
• Blood tests

See full list of 22 diagnostic tests for Loose stool

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Loose stool. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• How long have you had loose stools? - to determine if acute or chronic. Acute loose stools (without blood) is more likely to be infectious in nature e.g. staphylococcal toxin food poisoning, giardiasis, traveler's diarrhea, a virus or contaminated food. Chronic loose stools have a large number of causes.
• How frequent are the stools? - the symptom diarrhea may be defined in a number of different ways. Some people complain of frequent stool (more than 3 per day being abnormal) or they may complain of a change in the consistency of the stools which have become loose or watery.
• What is the volume of the loose stools? - e.g. high volume stools may be suggestive of infection (such as E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio Cholerae), carcinoid syndrome, bowel polyp, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, magnesium antacids, lactose intolerance or after gastric surgery; small volume stools may suggest inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer.
• What is the nature of the stools? - e.g. fatty, pale colored, extremely smelly stools that float in the toilet and are difficult to flush away is called steatorrhea due to excess fat in the stool and are characteristic of malabsorption of nutrients which may be due to celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, previous gastrectomy and cystic fibrosis.
• Does the loose stools persist on fasting? - may suggest an infection (such as E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide secreting tumor, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, carcinoid syndrome and villous bowel polyp.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Loose stool (17 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Loose stool) may include:

• Blood in the stool? - If acute loose stools, may suggest Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni, ulcerative colitis and amebic dysentery. If chronic loose stools, may suggest ulcerative colitis, bowel cancer, diverticulitis, amoebiasis, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
• Mucous in stool? - suggests ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
• Fever? - may suggest Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni and ulcerative colitis, severe amoebic dysentery or pseudomembranous colitis. May get a low grade temperature with traveler's diarrhea and toxic staphylococcal gastroenteritis.
• Severe vomiting? - may suggest toxic staphylococcal gastroenteritis (which follows 2-4 hours after eating food poisoned with the toxin), traveler's diarrhea and viral gastroenteritis.
• Alternating loose stools and constipation, abdominal bloating, abdominal pain that is relieved by opening the bowels or passing wind? - may suggests irritable bowel syndrome.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Loose stool (17 listings)

Stories from Users for Loose stool

Real-life user stories relating to Loose stool:

• Unfortunately I am not dilusional - I do have "stuff" coming out of my skin, HELP
• severe abdominal pain, loose stool
• I'm loosing myself, HELP...
• the wrong word comes out of my mouth!
• Loose Stool and Flatulence
• Gross White Lumps Coming Out of Tonsils
• 3 yr old with chronic loose stool
• Abdominal Pain (broom handle poking in ULQ), Loose Stools, Etc
• Gross White Lumps Coming Out of Tonsils
• abdomen pain &loose stools since 4 months
• Watery/Loose Stool
• Thoughts for toddler problem - loose stools etc
• potty traing with loose stool!!!!!!!

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Loose stool or relevant symptoms:

• Constitutional (General Wellbeing) (156)
  • Sore Scalp/hair follicles
  • Fat loss in entire body
  • Dont know how much more I can take..
  • I'm Lost.
  • My wife does not sweat I'm worried
  • More user stories
• Gastrointestinal (Food - from entry to exit) (452)
  • Bloating/Distention/Intestinal Gas
  • Intense Abdominal Pain
  • Help Please! Extreme Abdominal Pain/Gas/Bowel Symptoms ++
  • Feels like a baby kicking-not pregnant
  • 7 year old with severe heartburn/stomach aches
  • More user stories
• Neurological (Nerves) (357)
  • Could this be MS?
  • Numbness and tingling all over
  • Tingling/numbness in arms/hands/legs/face/head [more symptoms]
  • Eye twitch
  • Essential tremor
  • More user stories

Videos for Loose stool

Patient Surveys for Loose stool

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Causes of Loose stool listed in Disease Database:

Other medical conditions listed in the Disease Database as possible causes of Loose stool as a symptom include:

• Abetalipoproteinaemia
• Acamprosate
• Acarbose
• Acrodermatitis enteropathica
• Adenovirus
• Ambenonium
• Amikacin
• Amoxycillin
• Amphotericin B
• Ampicillin
• Apomorphine
• Arsenic trioxide
• Arsenicals
• Autoimmune adrenalitis
• Autonomic neuropathy
• Bacillary dysentery
• Bacillus cereus
• Bacterial overgrowth of small intestine
• Balantidiasis
• Bethanechol

See full list of 185 causes of Loose stool
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Medications or substances causing Loose stool:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Loose stool as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Rebetron
• Pimecrolimus
• Elidel Cream
• Clofibrate
• Atromid-S

See full list of 8 medications causing Loose stool

Definitions of Loose stool:

A condition of frequent and watery bowel movements.
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Organs affected by Loose stool:

The list of organs typically affected by Loose stool may include, but is not limited to:

• Large bowel
• Small bowel
• Stomach

Detailed list of causes of Loose stool

The list below shows some of the causes of Loose stool mentioned in various sources:

• Abetalipoproteinaemia
• Acamprosate
• Acarbose
• Acrodermatitis enteropathica
• Adenovirus

See full list of 185 causes of Loose stool

How Common are these Causes of Loose stool?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Loose stool. Of the 185 causes of Loose stool that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 4 causes are "very common" diseases
• 5 causes are "common" diseases
• 1 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 0 causes are "rare" diseases
• 17 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 160 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 185 causes of Loose stool

Conditions listing symptoms: Loose stool:

The following list of conditions have 'Loose stool' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

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Causes of Loose stool Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Loose stool based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: