With IBS have you noticed your stool never looks the same? Has anyone seen a change in how their stools look?
Do they seem erratic, every day they look different? Sometimes it's thinner, sometimes it's not as long, sometimes it's short, sometimes it's weird shaped like a J...etc.
Have you had a colonoscopy done?
I don't necessarily have diarrhea or constipation...but my bowel movements seem to vary in appearance quite often
Sounds completely normal to me as l have the same situation. It constantly changes.
constantly changes. One day its normal then the next it’s something else. Colonoscopy didn’t show anything.
if I get 2/3 days kinda the same I’m over the moon ! But mostly very changeable,
Colonoscopy showed nothing
The joys of IBS 🙄 all sounds very familiar to me. If I get anything like normal for a spell, I think I've been imagining all the other when it's as you describe. All different even in one BM and when it's like this I worry that something has finally got me and I'm on my way out. Then, a few days later it's normal again. Been happening for years and all part of the same thing. If anything shows up that's not what your used to, then it's time to see your Doctor.
constantly changes with what you eat and believe it or not STRESS.
As long as it comes out two or three times a day, colour is okay and it's not too runny or hard, I am happy!
have you looked at the Bristol stool chart?
I agree with the other posts that what you eat and stress can all have a significant impact on your stools.
Have you had a medical diagnosis of IBS?
My GP referred me to a dietician who recommended I keep a stool diary (nice!) and grade each stool using the Bristol Stool Chart (1-7). This chart shows, and gives, a description of the different stool types, from severe constipation through to diarrhoea. I then know that if I have not opened my bowels, or my stools are hard, for a few days, then I can take some laxative or increase my fibre and water intake.
Everyone is different, so passing a stool 3 times a day is normal for some and three times a week is normal for others. What you eat and drink, and the quantity, will produce different stool types I.e. consistency, colour and shape.
Managing IBS is learning what makes it better or worse, it’s not a nice condition to have and, even though I’ve had it for many years, I’m still learning to live with it!
Wishing you well for the future
I think everyone's normal stools can be different and what matters is what's "normal for you". I can remember definitely what my "normal" stools were, and how I felt before I got IBS. Sometimes they are like that (with me) but now they do change on some days depending on what I've eaten, or depending on something I don't understand (such as weird things that happen with IBS.)
Anyway. I would say that they can change shape sometimes even if you are "normal". I would say that if you don't have either diarrhea or constipation, and don't get any other symptoms such as: too much gas, pains, days when you can't go, or days when you go too much, your stools don't smell abnormal, no blood, no mucus, no undigested food, don't float on the water, look a normal colour, and you don't get terrible urgency to go which makes you feel you might not make it to the toilet on time, or the stools are weirdly thin consistently....then you will be fairly "normal".
But if what happens at the moment with you is much stranger than when you really were "normal", and you remember that, then you should get checked with your doctor.
Eating more fibre, or less fibre, or being a bit stressed, can cause stools to change a little bit. Things can be a bit flexible even with someone who doesn't have IBS or bowel problems.
Thank you for sharing.
I'm jus trying to find out what others experience day to day with IBS.
I'm trying to understand what range of bowel movements others with IBS experience and if they have had a colonoscopy done to rule out anything dangerous
I didn't have a colonoscopy. My doctor told me that as a result of stool testing done on 2 separate occasions, plus a healthy blood test result, it wasn't necessary unless anything changed negatively with my symptoms. which didn't happen. In fact if there has been any change since then it has been mild improvement not the opposite.
I did trust his judgement as my own instincts matched that and the progression of my IBS seems to match it over time.
All I wish though, is that I could eat more of the "forbidden" foods that I love (such as lentil stew and a lot of other things...onions and garlic....etc.) That is still a bit of a nuisance though I'm grateful for what I have and eat fairly healthily.
I often fluctuate between a 4 on the "Bristol Stool Scale" and a 5, and there have been quite a few times I'm in-between a 3 and a 4, which would have been my normal habit in the past, pre-IBS. but when I have a flare up I can vary between a 5 and a 6. Either that, or it's a 5, but multiple times in 24 hours, yet with no other pathological signs except increased motility. That hasn't happened since last May, but with IBS, I am aware anything can happen when it feels like it so keep fingers crossed!
Even with dietary indiscretions such as at Christmas when I ate brussels sprouts, chestnuts, some sauce dressing I was unfamiliar with, and roast potatoes with skins, I was only a 5 the next morning. A bit "frisky" but not too bad.
sticky bowel movements.
Cramping after bowel movement 
Need for urgent bowel movement
Pain after bowel movements 
Loose Bowel Movements
