We all know about mucus, but what about...

Pus?

Im curious about this one as often after a bowel movement or while sitting on the toliet during a flare I would drip white fluid. Since none of my labs came back with a pathogen my GIs just said, "meh, it happens"... but I have some theories about it so I wanted to know how many people have the same symptom.

I think the white is actually just straight out mucus (uncontaminated if you will).. or pure mucus. actually I'm positive. "Pus" on the other hand is more of the discolored yellowish, foul smelling type stuff which comes from contact with stool, white blood cells and all that good stuff from very deep ulcers.

If you've ever watched you colonoscopy when you're highly inflamed you'll find them sucking out the pure white mucus a lot. Been there already a few times.

As well, I have crohn's-colotis, so part of the crohn's aspect that is different from straight UC is that the inflammation goes all the way through the layers of your intestine. So very, very deep. And in some case tunnels through your body via fistulas. In my case I had deep ulcers and fistulas along with inflammation through all layers. This cause not only severe pain, but seriously foul smelling pus, much like a deep wound.

It was brutal.

And yes - the white stuff looks like tissue - freaks a lot of people out. But it's really just ummm clean mucus I guess would be a good description.

Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 5/21/2013 8:46:21 PM (GMT-6)

just wondering, but why does mucous come out? i had it on my first flare a few years ago but have never had that symptom again.

MUCOUS MUCOUS MUCOUS MUCOUS MUCOUS

I've talked to others with no dx of infection that have pus. Not mucus. Mucus is more gelatinous. Pus is more liquid and milky.

ibdcrohns.about.com/od/relatedconditions/f/mucusstool.htm

On visual inspection you cannot see white blood cells.. And holy moly I cannot believe you are arguing with me about pus being possible in ulcerative colitis that has been deemed non infectious.

Go fight with the ccfA. www.ccfa.org/what-are-crohns-and-colitis/what-is-ulcerative-colitis/ . I shall now employ my block list.

I'd tell you why there was more mucus, but then I'd have to argue with you about it, so I don't see the point.

I had a proctocolectomy over 9 weeks ago and still pass mucous multiple times a day. It is the weirdest thing to feel like I have to fart, or "go" when I know nothing is hooked up down there anymore!!!

you're not funny bgirl ;-)

It is mucus for sure. There is very little chance for the pus to hold up unless there is a burst of infectious cyst.

Some others commented about color, consistency and the amount are not correct. What I gathered from in-depth reading in this stuff -
Although mucus level may increase as a result of inflammation, I did not find any supportive evidence for that. It is more like, there are about 9 types of different muci (? , mucus plural) in the GI system, right from saliva till colon. If I remember correctly, intestines have mucus which is a result of expression of muc-5 and muc-9 genes. When the product is present in native form, it is rather fluidy. It undergoes further chemical reaction which thickens it. That is the result why we really do not see mucus unless you have infection like E.coli induced colitis or inflammatory colitis. The function of mucus is to create a defensive wall between the contents and the underlying epithelium.

As a result of E.coli infection, it digs deep into this barrier by secreting a substance that essentially pokes holes in the wall. Once this guy settles down, it starts doing its job and mucus can not essentially mature to the final state.

The case is pretty similar in colitis too. The only problem here is, I did not find any evidence on how it works out (like in case of infections, the substance secreted by the bacteria leads of thin mucus).

So what I saying essentially is, when you are in flare or even sometimes otherwise, the immune reactions associated with ulcerative colitis prevent secreted mucus from achieving the final thick form. As a result of this, partially maturated mucus, hence its color, consistency and felt amount, is observed in the stools.


I actually asked my GI, if there is any way that we can target this mucus issue and fix a part of immune response and to the best of her knowledge, such thing is not possible at the moment.

I want to explain why I seem so argumentative:

It's good to jumpstart discussions about health. I like this forum a lot because I often have questions that I forget to ask my doctor, and I also like to hear about other people's experiences. If I ask my doctor, "How effective is Remicade?" He'll say, "Very effective for a lot of people." Here, I ask, and I get so much great info.

So asking, "Could this be pus?" is a great question. But the answer is, "Probably not if there's no infection. Here's why it's almost definitely mucous." I'm not sure why you're taking SO much offense to this response from the majority of posters in this thread.

Additionally, implying that the reason we're still sick is because we're not knowledgeable about colitis is really offensive to me (quote: "But my points are pointless in an environment where everyone thinks they know everything there is to know about anything, but are still SO UNWELL."). I don't know why my colon is inflamed ... so that means that I don't know what pus is? Or what mucous is?

For the females, the "white stuff" also might be cervical mucus. How's that phrase sit with you, soystud? ;) It'll get pushed out during a BM, so it's pretty easy to get confused as to where it's coming from. And just prior to/during ovulation, we women can make a whole lot of it (it's good for the spermies).

Also, I'd assume that when one has normal poos, the mucus gets mixed in with the poop, so it's a lot less likely that it'll be noticed. When one has diarrhea or loose poops, the mucus would be more easily seen.

Most likely just mucous or even potentially dead candida. I dunno, but it could be, right? At least that's what I think I may be going through at the moment if it's not a flare.

Post Edited (VitaD) : 5/22/2013 12:06:12 PM (GMT-6)

sounds hubris.

you ARE arguing and obviously are taking the time to find the answers you need to feel much less annoyed...so much so that you took the time (you don't want to waste) to answer, block out another perspective and then whine about it.

grow up.

I guess you'll now leave again?

q