Drinking more water = more BMs

I've mentioned this a handful of times before but haven't posted a topic about it.

Right now I'm having a hard time figuring out what's UC and what's IBS and how much I'm still flaring. Ever since I got a kidney stone and started drinking 8 glasses of water a day (as opposed to like 1-2 a day before that), I've had more BMs. Whenever I try to explain this to someone, even my doctor, they don't get it, leaving me even more confused.

Since I obviously have to pee a lot more often now, I find that the longer I wait to pee, the more likely it is that a BM will also follow. I end up going at least 2, often 3 times before even leaving the house. Each time I go, the stool gets looser and looser.

I feel like if I wasn't drinking so much water, my symptoms would be a lot more under control lately. I wouldn't still be fearing accidents and wondering where the closest bathroom is wherever I go. When I know I'm gonna be going somewhere for a few hours, I hold off on drinking the water until afterward. Those mornings I end up having only 1 BM. To me, that's the proof right there.

I don't know if it's a mental thing, IBS, or what, but it's really stressing me out. I know how important it is to drink a lot of water, but this really sucks! I feel like it's hindering my recovery and that even if I were to go into complete remission, I'd still be having this problem.

Please tell me someone knows what I'm talking about!

I agree that drinking water can generate a BM but that is healthy IMO. It is UC that is creating more BM's not the water and water is not causing IBS either (speaking for myself).

Of course don't drink water when you are in between bathrooms but don't get dehydrated by skipping water all day. That will cause it's own problems.

I've found that my gut needs a healthy amount of water to release BM's, more water daily than pre-UC, probably due to residual inflammation (I'm in remission but still…).

If you are having more # of BM's than you think normal you need to increase meds or supplements but don't skimp on water.

When I was at my worst the more water I drank the more BM's I would have. I was going 20+ times during that time. It was during the summer and whenever I mowed the lawn or something outside I would have to drink large amounts of water and would have to go 2-3 times just during mowing the lawn. I would say the best thing to do is to drink normal amounts of water if you are hydrated and more when you are dehydrated.

Oookay, so what I'm gathering from all this is that it's still very much related to inflammation. In another week or so I'll have been on Humira for 2 months. I really hope it takes that long or more to even *start* to kick in, because so far I'm not seeing a difference.

DBwithUC: That's an interesting way to look at it; now I kind of know what to ask my doctor about. Thank you.

I would imagine that when the colon isn't working properly, more water would equal more BMs because the colon absorbs the water. If you have an ileostomy, you have loose stool because you have no colon to absorb the water. It also causes more movements because fluids are a big part of what we intake - with nothing absorbing them, you have to eliminate them more often. Interestingly, when I did a clear liquid diet, I always felt like I had way less BMs regardless. I guess it's relative, if you're going 20x and you get down to 5x with liquid diet, it's a lot less...