Frequent bowel movements
Frequent bowel movements: Introduction
Increased bowel movement frequency may indicate a medical disorder.
Bowel frequency may be called "diarrhea" in many sources,
and some conditions causing bowel frequency may be listed under
diarrhea.
Always seek prompt professional medical advice about such symptoms.
» Review Causes of Frequent bowel movements:
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Causes of Frequent bowel movements
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causes of Frequent bowel movements
Frequent bowel movements: Symptom Checker
Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Frequent bowel movements, as listed in our database.
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Symptom Checker combinations related to Frequent bowel movements
Frequent bowel movements Treatments
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Frequent bowel movements: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers
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Causes of General Symptom Types
Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:
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Causes of Similar Symptoms to Frequent bowel movements
Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Frequent bowel movements:
Diagnostic Guides for Frequent bowel movements
Medical Books Excerpts
Read excertps from published book sections related to Frequent bowel movements
from the following published medical books
for more detailed information about Frequent bowel movements.
Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Frequent bowel movements
Medical Books Excerpts
- Constipation
- "Professional Guide to Signs & Symptoms (Fifth Edition)" (2006)
- [ read ]
- Constipation
- "The 10-Minute Diagnosis Manual: Symptoms and Signs in the Time-Limited Encounter" (2000)
- [ read ]
- Constipation
- "The Diagnostic Approach to Symptoms and Signs in Pediatrics" (2006)
- [ read ]
Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Frequent bowel movements: Undiagnosed Conditions
Conditions that are commonly undiagnosed in related areas may include:
Hospitals & Clinics: Frequent bowel movements
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Misdiagnosis and Frequent bowel movements
Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms
of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions...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...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 off not only "bad" bacteria,
but can also kill the "good" bacteria in the gut.
This...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 ...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...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...read more »
Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent
difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases.
Some of...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Frequent bowel movements
Frequent bowel movements: Related Rare Diseases
Rare types of medical conditions and diseases in related medical categories:
Diagnostic tests for Frequent bowel movements:
Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Frequent bowel movements. 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.
- Examine for signs of systemic diseases that may cause frequent bowel movements - 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
- Full blood count and ESR, Electrolytes and thyroid function tests if systemic disease is suspected to be the cause of frequent bowel movements
- Salmonella antibodies (not useful in acute situation)
- Amoeba antibodies (not useful in acute situation)
- more tests...»
See full list of 20
diagnostic tests for Frequent bowel movements
Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)
During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Frequent bowel movements.
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 frequent bowel movements? - to determine if acute or chronic. Frequent bowel movements which is acute (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. Frequent bowel movements that are chronic has a large number of causes.
- How frequent are the stools? - abnormally frequent bowel movements is generally accepted to be more than 3 per day.
- What is the consistency of the stools? - e.g. loose and watery.
- What is the volume of the 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.
- more questions...»
See Diagnosis Checklist for Frequent bowel movements (18
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 Frequent bowel movements) may include:
- Blood in the stool? - If frequent bowel movements is acute, may suggest Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni, ulcerative colitis and amebic dysentery. If frequent bowel movements is chronic, 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.
- Pain in joints, back pain, eye trouble or mouth ulceration? - may suggest inflammatory bowel disease.
- more symptoms...»
See Diagnosis Checklist for Frequent bowel movements (18
listings)
Home Diagnostic Testing and Frequent bowel movements
Home medical tests possibly related to Frequent bowel movements:
- Colon & Rectal Cancer: Home Testing
- Food Allergies & Intolerances: Home Testing:
- Digestive-Related Home Testing:
- more tests...»
Stories from Users for Frequent bowel movements
Real-life user stories relating to Frequent bowel movements:
Symptom specific forums:
The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards
relate to Frequent bowel movements or relevant symptoms:
Videos for Frequent bowel movements
Some people undergoing chemotherapy experience diarrhea. When the diarrhea is severe, doctors are sometimes forced to cut back on the cancer...
It's inevitable that at some point in your child's life he or she will suffer vomiting and diarrhea. Most often they are nothing to get...
Treating constipation starts with lifestyle changes and laxatives. But when they are not enough, a brand new approach that regulates the transmission...
Lifestyle changes, including increased fiber intake, drinking more water, and exercise, have proven value in reducing constipation in people who have...
See full list of 6 related videos
Patient Surveys for Frequent bowel movements
Medications or substances causing Frequent bowel movements:
The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible
causes of Frequent bowel movements 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.
See full list of 2
medications causing Frequent bowel movements
Organs affected by Frequent bowel movements:
The list of organs typically affected by Frequent bowel movements may include, but is not limited to:
Detailed list of causes of Frequent bowel movements
The list below shows some of the causes of Frequent bowel movements mentioned in various sources:
See full list of 15
causes of Frequent bowel movements
How Common are these Causes of Frequent bowel movements?
This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases,
not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Frequent bowel movements.
Of the 15
causes of Frequent bowel movements that
we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:
- 1
causes are "very common" diseases
- 3
causes are "common" diseases
- 1
causes are "uncommon" diseases
- 1
causes are "rare" diseases
- 2
causes are "very rare" diseases
- 11
causes have no prevalence information.
See the analysis of the prevalence of 15
causes of Frequent bowel movements
Conditions listing symptoms: Frequent bowel movements:
The following list of conditions
have 'Frequent bowel movements' 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.
F
Fabry's Disease
... frequent bowel movements shortly after eatingG
Graves Disease
... frequent bowel movementsH
Hyperthyroidism
... bowel frequencyV
Vagina cancer
... frequent defecation
Conditions listing complications: Frequent bowel movements:
The following list of conditions
have 'Frequent bowel movements' or similar
listed as a complication in our database.
The distinction between a symptom and complication is not always clear,
and conditions mentioning this symptom as a complication may also be relevant.
This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete.
Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause
of any symptom.
F
Fabry's Disease
... frequent bowel movements shortly after eating
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Causes of Frequent bowel movements Based on Risk Factors
This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Frequent bowel movements based
on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient:
Travel - has the patient travelled recently?
Doctors and specialists: Who should I consult about Frequent bowel movements?
Depending on the seriousness of the onset of Frequent bowel movements, you may want to consult one of the following medical professionals.
Important:In extreme cases, always seek advice from emergency services :
Classifications of Frequent bowel movements:
Medical Conditions associated with Frequent bowel movements:
Bowel movements (2120 causes), Bowel problems (2317 causes), Digestive symptoms (4367 causes), Abdominal symptoms (3099 causes)
Symptoms related to Frequent bowel movements:
Diarrhea (1887 causes), Fabry's Disease, Graves Disease (4 causes), Hyperthyroidism (9 causes), Vagina cancer
Medical articles on signs and symptoms:
Doctor-patient articles related to symptoms and diagnosis:
These general medical articles may be of interest:
See full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis
Medical News summaries about Frequent bowel movements
Our news pages contain the following medical news summaries about Frequent bowel movements and many other medical conditions:
Evidence Based Medicine Research for Frequent bowel movements
Medical research papers related to Frequent bowel movements include:
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