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The Case of the Green Poop



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Jul 27, 2003 08:34 AM

The Case of the Green Poop

Updated Jul 27, 2003 at 08:37 AM by Browneyedgirl

I hoped my subject line would catch your eye. lol

My 4year old's poo is ALWAYS varying shades of green.
She doesn't eat crayons. I thought of that and watched her carefully for a while.
She eats all of the same foods as the rest of the family. Everyone else has normal brown firm movements.
Hers are green and liquid or semi liquid. almost like diarrhea......constantly.

She doesn't complain of tummy aches and I had about written it off as just the way in which her body digests food. But yesterday, I'm embarrassed to say, we were at a science museum, and one of the exhibits said that poo gets its brown color from excreted red blood cells. So, now i'm wondering and coming to you.

Have you ever seen a case of chronic green poo?

If so, what could the causes be?

Should I be concerned?

I went back and looked at the post after I submitted. LIMEGREEN is the correct color most of the time. And it causes her problems becuse her stools are so loose that she passes some into her panties when she has gas sometimes.


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16 Comments
No. 1
Old Jul 27, 2003, 10:09 AM

My kids had a problem somewhat like that. IT ended up being the Ovaltine in their milk. It was neon green color. They didn't have loose stolls but maybe lactose intolerance could contribute to that. There are many people who are lactose intolerant and have no idea. Good luck figuring it out.
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No. 2
from lindalee
Old Jul 27, 2003, 10:41 AM

Don't know but would think perhaps her food is passing through her system too quickly. Would definitely have her checked, the green color could be a bile product--think what it looks like when people have frequent vomiting--is this what you are describing?
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No. 3
Old Jul 27, 2003, 03:56 PM

Does she drink a lot of colorful drinks like KoolAid? That can cause the green color. Anything with a lot of artificial color can. I would be worried if her stools are that loose all the time though--I'd be at the doctor!
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No. 4
from glascow
Old Jul 27, 2003, 04:21 PM

My son had that problem to. I talked to his pediatrician about it. She said not to worry unless the stool is gray.
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No. 5
from AHRN
Old Jul 27, 2003, 08:50 PM

We have found that the dyes in purple drinks, grape pedialyte, Kool-Aid, etc. turn stools Neon green, especially if the child has diarrhea.
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No. 6
from MomNRN
Old Jul 27, 2003, 09:05 PM

Whenever my daughter eats anything with blue in it, like a slushie, she always has green poop for a couple of days. It is neon green and disgusting! She thinks it is hysterical!

Maybe something your child eats has hidden blue coloring in it. Sometimes foods are made with food colorings we are not aware are in there. It's a thought!
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No. 7
Old Jul 28, 2003, 07:11 AM

Thanks for the responses. We don't keep kool-aid in the house. She drinks milk, juice, and decaf tea. I'm going to keep a log of what she eats and color/consitency of her bm for the next few days and call her doctor.
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No. 8
from Dayray
Old Aug 11, 2003, 12:38 AM
Updated Aug 11, 2003 at 12:41 AM by Dayray

Wow this is great I came here wondering "now how am I going to find a post about green poop" and here it is. My prob is a littel different but I was wondering the same thing.

My 5 yo was in allot of pain the last few days. I kick myself for it now but I dident pay much attention to it as he had fallen a few days back (Yes I did check him for serious injury) I assumed he had a brused tail bone. He was complaining that his butt hurt and when I pressed on his tail bone (which is on the longer end of normal) he said that was where it hurt so anyway I was giveing him motrin and that seemed to help. But tonight he was crying and saying he had to poop. It was right after we ate so It made me thing constipation and I gave him about 1/3 of a fleets. He had results shortly there after it was hard and stained neon green in color. It had the same hue as bile you get from an NG. I guess it could be food coloring but it looks just like bile.He felt much better but I cant help but wonder... what the heck would cause a hard stool to be stained with bile?
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No. 9
from LibraSun
Old Aug 18, 2003, 11:33 PM

Guys, I think you should check with your ped Doc. These are abnormal bowel movements and should be discussed with the PCP--not in an online message board.

We all know possible causes of stool changes, but we don't know the little patients. It is inappropriate for nurses to try to diagnosis in this arena.
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