Yellowish brown, greasy, sometimes formed stools 5 months post antibiotics for c didf

[DandyDan]

Hey everyone,

So 5 months post taking antibiotics for c diff. I'm 25 male, and my stools are still yellowish brown or brownish yellow. When I wipe its very yellow, and greasey. There is mucus in the stool or floating fairly regularly.

I usually have more M after lunch, and more solid stools in the morning. I believe this coincides with IBS, which I've had all my life, but have only had mucus and yellow color post c diff.

So 5 months out, taking 20 billion count probiotics every day which seem to help color a little, should I be concerned? My last test for c diff was about 6 weeks ago, which was negative. How long did it take for your stools to become normal color again? How long does it take gut flora to reach normal levels?

[georgina]

DandyDan
Welcome to the site , please read rules of posting.
The stool descriptions belong to TMI thread!
We keep repeating that color doesn't mean anything as long as it's not red or black , the yellow color can be due to malabsorbtion , and mucus is a typical sign of IBS . If your are not having D and high frequency , there is nothing to worry about , you are experiencing what we call a "normal recovery".You also had a negative test , so that should put your mind at ease.
Friendly advice : stop looking in the toilet , just put the lid and flush!!

[beth22]

The color without D really doesn't mean much. Can be fast transit, what you are eating or not eating, and an imbalance of flora. I had it too until I got a stool transfer. It can take quite a while to replenish flora and it may not ever be the same as it was before - different, but not necessarily bad. Give it some time. If you get D for a few days in a row, then check it out.

[Musings]

I am just over 4 months post and have similar. As others have mentioned, it is all very common for PI-IBS so unless you get copious amounts of WD, flush, and move on :-]

~Lauren

[maxny1]

Just flush sounds like good advice but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do that again ;)

I am much more on the side of normal than OP, 3 months out from a 3 month Vanco taper, but I still get very nervous when stool is at all 'off.'

I thought I'd be able to stop with the expensive probiotics, and I did for a bit, but then stool started getting 'off,' so I resumed one cap per day of ~150 billion CFU, and things became more consistently normal again.

[Gozzenta]

hope you're right

[Lisa33]

I am not sure what happens to our guts post c-diff, but it changes some of us for a long time or forever. I had c-diff in Sept 2014 and I have had yellowish stools for the most part ever since. So, everything that you have described is actually pretty normal for me too. I have basically no consistency with BMs and have just accepted it as my "new normal." I think the color may have to do with my transit time, as I think food moves through me rather quickly. But who knows...I've actually stopped questioning it at this point. I've had every test under the sun done and nothing shows up. I don't think that you need to worry about it.

Lisa

[beth22]

It must have something to do with flora because I had that color until I had an FMT. After that, back to normal color.

[Ril]

It has to do with diet, transit time, flora, bile, probiotics/medications, ....does that give you an idea?