Large bowel movements

[pacnorthwestguy]

I generally have 2 or 3 bowel movements in a typical day and have noticed that they have been getting bigger in size over the past few months, because at home when I have them, there have been times that I have plugged the toilet and then my parents get mad at me for having done so. Now I try to avoid having to use the toilet at home and use the ones at school as they have more powerful flushes. Should I be worried about this, or is it something that is normal and happens to most of us teens? :eek:

[Serenity]

Hm...have you been eating more lately? Or eating differently in general?

[pacnorthwestguy]

Hm...have you been eating more lately? Or eating differently in general?


No, not more than what I normally do. I'm 5' 8" and weigh 145 pounds. I eat 3 regular meals a day and have a small light snack in the afternoons after getting home from school, but that's about it.

[Malcolm Tucker]

Maybe you have been drinking more water, or water based substances lately?

[pacnorthwestguy]

Outside of water, I might have a can or two of Diet Pepsi a couple of times a week. I've gotten used to the taste of diet pop only because the fact that my parents drink it and it's the only pop we have at home. Now if I drink regular pop, the sugar and/or corn syrup in it, makes regular Pepsi taste wierd to me.

[Malcolm Tucker]

It sounds like the caffine in the Pepsi may have made you desire to go to the bathroom more.

[pacnorthwestguy]

Well, I can see what happens if I stop drinking pop, as I know it wouldn't hurt to quit doing so. I just figured that its either something in what I'm eating or possibly since I only started puberty about a year or so ago.

[Malcolm Tucker]

Most usually it is the Caffene, it seems to be in a lot of things nowadays

[RaisingSand]

This may be a weird question, but did you ever get constipated regularly when you were younger?

[Antares]

Maybe your appetite is getting significantly bigger and your intestines process really fast. I dont think its a medical concern persay but I think you should just monitor your appetite and your bowel movements and see if they are appropriate for their size. Good luck! :)

[RaisingSand]

In this case I really don't think it's a matter of diet or lifestyle ... have a vague idea of what it could be, but it depends on the answer of my above question.

[pacnorthwestguy]

I don't recall having a problem with being constipated when I was younger, on a continual basis. At least my parents didn't have me taking any laxitives for it, that I know of.

[RaisingSand]

The only thing I can really think of that would cause large bowel movements apart from the fact that you may be consuming huge amounts of spicy Mexican food on a daily basis, is that somewhere along the line when you started passing said movements that it may have stretched the large intestine slightly out of shape. Then again, I could be completely wrong altogether, there's no way to really know considering this is only a question asked online.
The only thing I can really think of suggesting would be taking some Metamucil (which you can get at your local pharmacy) and see if that helps your bowels any.

[pacnorthwestguy]

No, I don't eat a lot of Mexican food, just on occasion, so that can't be it. I don't know if it is a genetic trait (large colon) that runs in families or not, so it's possible that that might be what's causing it to happen. I'm just too embarrassed to ask my parents about it.

[RaisingSand]

No offence, but that's pretty stupid, whilst understandable. Sure, it's embarassing as hell, but if it's getting you in trouble for clogging the the toilet and it's bothering you that much, then I think you should tell them and maybe see a doctor and see what your options are.