Wayne's Blog - Volume 10 - Issue 9 - September 2024 - Bowel Movements During Remission Journey

Oct 13, 2026

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Newsletter article from Wayne’s Blog (Volume 10, Issue 9, September 2024) addressing what bowel movements should look like for microscopic colitis patients during remission. It explains how remission stability, inflammation, healing, diet, lifestyle, microbiome, and individual differences affect frequency, texture, and consistency. It details secretory diarrhea as MC-specific, why fasting doesn’t reduce its volume, and how dehydration becomes the main mortality risk, with guidance on hydration and stool transitions over time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Newsletter Archive

Volume and issue context

What bowel movements should be like during remission

Considerations for MC patients

Secretory diarrhea vs osmotic diarrhea

Mortality risk and hydration importance

Stool changes during recovery

Bristol Stool Chart (Bristol Stool Scale)

What is normal?

Newsletter Archive Wayne's Blog Volume 10, Issue 9 September, 2024 We Get Questions—What Should My Bowel Movements Be Like During My Journey to Remission? by Wayne Persky Bowel movements are one of life's routine events to which we seldom give much thought—unless we find them dominating our daily routine. Many microscopic colitis ( MC) patients , especially those who have been newly diagnosed and are beginning to see signs that they may be managing to get their disease into remission , wonder if their bowel movement patterns are on track , and what they should be like after remission is achieved. Considerations for us as MC patients. Until we are able to put our MC into stable remission , normal is little more than a memory, and a goal. For many of us , once we reach stable remission , our bowel movements will typically return to what we considered to be our normal bowel pattern before we developed MC. But how close we are able to get to the frequency, consistency, and texture of those earlier bowel movements will depend on the stability of our remission , how much background inflammation is still present, how well our digestive system has healed , our final diet, our lifestyle ( how much exercise we get, and how much stress we are under, for example) , our new microbiome composition , and possibly other factors. Because above all, we are all different. The road to our new norm often contains potholes and detours. And because we're all different our journey from a debilitating lifestyle that may be centered around nd because we re a d eren , our journey rom a de b a ng es y e a may be cen ered around worries about the location of the nearest restroom , back to a more normal life that features our new norm , will be somewhat different for each one of us. A few of us will be lucky , and we won't run into any serious setbacks. But for most of us , the trail may be so steep in places that we stumble and fall now and then. We may take two steps forward , and one step back. But in the end , if we persist, patience and perseverance will pay off and we'll emerge from the journey thoroughly fatigued , but happy as a lark , because we succeeded in getting our life back. Secretory diarrhea is unique to MC. Most diarrhea originates in the small intestine , and it's known as osmotic diarrhea. With osmotic diarrhea , fasting will cause the diarrhea volume to decrease. By contrast, the type of diarrhea associated with MC is known as secretory diarrhea , and fasting has no effect on the volume of the diarrhea ( until the patient's water supply is totally exhausted , which typically results in an urgent trip to the emergency department) . Secretory diarrhea is the only MC issue associated with a mortality risk. Secretory diarrhea is a high-volume form of diarrhea because the fecal stream in the colon receives a significant amount of additional water that's secreted into the colon , along with electrolytes. Note that dehydration can lead to the only significant risk of death associated with MC. So obviously it's very important for us to stay hydrated while we're having secretory diarrhea. Staying hydrated can keep us away from the hospital emergency department. At some point in our journey to recovery, some of us will notice that our watery diarrhea has changed to thin paste as our digestive system begins to heal. Others will notice bits of solid stool mixed in with the watery diarrhea , as healing begins. Some heal faster than others , but eventually, if our dedication isunfaltering , and our diet is clean , our stool formation should evolve to something that resembles what most people consider to be a normal bowel movement. Secretory diarrhea can lead to dehydration. The journey from diarrhea to normal takes time and involves setbacks. Bristol Stool Chart Some prefer to use the Bristol Stool Scale when discussing bowel movements. The Bristol Stool Scale , also known as the Bristol Stool Chart , is a

FAQs

How can microscopic colitis patients know whether their bowel movements are on track for remission?

After stable remission, bowel movements often return to a person’s earlier baseline pattern. How closely frequency, consistency, and texture match that baseline depends on remission stability, residual inflammation, healing, diet, lifestyle, and microbiome composition.

What makes secretory diarrhea unique in microscopic colitis?

Secretory diarrhea is MC-specific, and fasting does not reduce the diarrhea volume. It is high-volume because additional water and electrolytes are secreted into the colon.

Why is hydration especially important during secretory diarrhea?

Dehydration is described as the key significant risk of death associated with MC. Staying hydrated helps reduce the chance of needing emergency care.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Jacob