Common Causes of White Specks in Stools
Stools having white specks or spots are not normal and need to be investigated. If you have them one time, you may ignore them. However, if you are getting them on an ongoing basis, see your doctor for further evaluation. Here we are going to discuss some of the common causes.
Lack of Bile
The normal brown color of stools is due to the presence of bile juice in them. Bile juice is produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. It is released into our intestines to aid the digestion and absorption of fat in our diet.
So any problem in the liver that interferes with bile production, may turn your stools whitish in color. This would include liver diseases like hepatitis, cirrhosis etc.
Also, any problem with the gall bladder, like cholecystitis or blockage in the bile ducts by stones or tumorous growths, may interfere with the delivery of bile juice and cause whitish stools.
Use of Certain Medications
Some antacids that have aluminum hydroxide may cause pale stools.
Sometimes capsules of certain antibiotics, like erythromycin, may appear in the stool as a whitish lump.
Mucoid Stools
Mucus is an inflammatory exudate. It is produced by the inner lining of our intestines in response to an infection, allergy or inflammation.
Too much of mucus can make your stools look whitish in color. It indicates that your intestines are irritated and inflamed.
Conditions such as IBS, Crohn’s disease, colitis etc. need to be considered. The mucous lining of the intestines are irritated in these conditions. So digestion becomes poor, thereby leading to nutritional deficiencies, disturbed bowel movements, muscle weakness, weight loss and headaches.
Parasitic Infections
Parasite such as giardia or worms such as tapeworm may result in stools having white lumps. These lumps could be the infective bugs covered with inflammatory exudate. The patient usually has digestive problems, nutritional deficiency and pain in the abdomen.
Clumps of Fungi
White spots in stools may represent clumps of fungi. This occurs commonly in situations where the immune status of the patient is not good e.g. after radiotherapy, chemotherapy or in medical conditions like AIDS.
The white specks may be dead candida cells. The intestines are inflamed and digestive problems may accompany.
Pale and Oily Stools
This may happen in steatorrhea, a condition where fat is not digested by the body and passed out as it is. Stools are foul smelling and oily.
It may occur in many conditions that interfere with the digestion of fats. Some people are sensitive to gluten. If they consume a food item that contains gluten, a reaction occurs which inflames the intestinal mucosa. This impairs the absorption of fat and other nutrients from the intestines.
Pancreatitis, hepatitis or cholecystitis- all result in steatorrhea and may present with malabsorption of fats.
Lactose Intolerance
Some people have severe lactose intolerance. They are not able to digest any dairy product that includes milk, cheese and butter etc. These food items when taken are pooped out in undigested form.
Undigested Food
These may be leftover white colored particles of undigested food- like seeds, capsule cover of some drug etc.
Management
White stools or white specks in stools are not normal. It is advisable to proceed with investigations to get a clear picture.
Stool Test
Stools are sent to the lab for routine and microscopic examination. If required, a stool culture may be done. This would reveal the stools contents such as fat, ova, cyst and fungus etc. Stool testing is helpful in identifying the problem and giving a direction for further investigations. If intestinal problems are suspected, imaging techniques are done.
I have also had this. It started when I started to treat my thrush symptoms. I was told that I had IBS after doing all the tests in the world on my colon. The tests are no fun. I had to live in an area that had a lot of pig farms and chicken farms. There I also went bare foot often.
I started to get really weak and couldn’t walk anymore. I had thrush symptoms for about three years and every time I would tell my family doctor, they said it was nothing and to drink more water.
I finally went to a naturopathic doctor and she put me on a thrush medication right away. I was able to walk in 45 min of taking the new drug.
I found out a few weeks later that my throat was riddled with cancer. I went to NYC to try a new therapy that is non-toxic. I had a lot of die off symptoms for about three months. Then worms. I had three huge bowel movements with tons of worms. Not one or two or even 10, like 45-65 at a time.
It was the grossest thing I had ever seen to come out of my body. It scared me half to death too. After a while they had left the building, if you know what I mean, but I still had symptoms of having worms.
I went home and spent the holidays with my family. I’m back in NYC for round two of treatment. I have only been on for a week and already I have tons of white spots, and worms coming out. My vision has got really bad too. It scares me a little, but when I have a green smoothie my vision seems better. I hope this time is the last time.
Oh! you have been through a lot. All the best for your health.
I have had fibromyalgia and IBS for 6 years. Lately I have been having more trouble with my IBS and pain in my middle back and stomach.
The doctors don’t seem to find anything. They checked my gallbladder and said it was fine. But I have noticed that I have white spots, more like seeds in my stool.
I am a vegetarian so I could not have gotten worms from meat. But I don’t know what is going on. Do you have any thoughts?
Your question has been answered here.
Hello, I observed some thing like eggs in my stool about 1 cm in size. Since few days and I have pain while passing my stool. I am not taking any medication since 2 months, before I used to take for pcos. Please tell me, is it dangerous? I am vegetarian.
Since you are a vegetarian, these egg like stuff is unlikely to be cysts. They may be fatty lumps or something else.
Still, it is suggested that you go for a stool culture at the earliest. Don’t delay this symptom.
I notice a white spot the size of a marble this morning. When I flushed, it appeared to ‘crumble’ but only over the surface areas.
I am 42, no smoking, drinking, or drugs. I am in excellent physical shape, exercise often, and I haven’t eaten anything out of the ordinary in the past 24 hours. (home cooked burger w/bacon for dinner and omelet for breakfast) I only drank water all day except for last night I had a shot of whiskey and a soda.
This is a new one for me! Thoughts?
A single marble shaped stuff could be some undigested lump of fat, capsule of some medicine you are taking. Doesn’t sound serious. However, if you note it again, it is recommended that you go for a stool test.
Hi there, I have intermittent white dots in my stool (usually in the morning). I eat more than ever, still I am losing weight (I was 138 and am now 123-125 and that’s in a month long period). Chest pains that come and go, have this insanely weird pressure that can be on both sides near temporal lobes or just on one side in multiple areas (daily and multiple times). I don’t have regular bowel movements. My opinion after doing some research is that I have some type of parasite/worm inside me. I had a colonoscopy done but they found nothing, and am going in for another consult soon, in which I will tell him every symptom and my opinion. Can someone shed light on this? Or give me their opinion? I would greatly appreciate it. Other facts: I raised pigs for a year and walked barefoot for most of my younger life (ages 14-18), I am 20 years old. I eat a lot of meats (Fish, chicken and beef mostly, Pork rarely) I am worried that somehow the larvae have traveled to my head and that’s what is causing this pressure but then again I am biased towards this because I am in the situation. I gave a stool sample. The day I gave it, it was the size of my pinkies fingernail, so very minute. I am going to ask to give one again on my schedule when I can actually see the dots so that I am sure they get a better sample with actual eggs (if that’s what they are). Any advice is greatly appreciated, I am worried. Thank you.
The actual diagnosis would come out only after investigations. You are rightly relying upon the stool examination with culture. If eggs or larvae of the parasite are present, they would definitely show up on this test.
At the moment, we cannot come to any single diagnosis. The eggs/ larvae of most of the parasites (especially tapeworm) are not visible by naked eyes. So there are other possibilities too. You may read about them above.
My 9 year old daughter has trouble passing her stools, they are often lots of small hard lumps, recently they sometimes have a lot of white bits in like seeds. She has had threadworm a few times but we have taken tablets for this which have got rid of them so I know it is not this. Thanks
My son is 38 and for the last 3-4 months has had white specks in his stools. His stomach has been bloating and is tender when touched. He is loosing weight and is fatigued. His blood work came back normal except for his cholesterol. Any ideas on what is going on?
Ask him to go for a stool culture. This would reveal the contents of the stool in detail.
He may be having some infection in his intestines, or may be there is some inflammatory disease in his bowel.
Every time I poop, I have these white dots on it and every time I eat something it use to fill me up till edges now and get hungry very easy now and I don’t know what to do.
You need to go for a stool culture.
Sir, I am getting white seed type in stool since last several days. My liver test report was as follows:
SGOT SGPT were normal.
Total Bilirubin in within range
Direct bilirubin is 0.26 slightly increased
Indirect bilirubin is within range.
I am taking medicines for blood sugar and cholesterol.
Please advice is the problem serious and what should I do.
It is advised that you go for a stool culture. This would reveal the exact nature of the white particles in your stool.
Feces is cloudy and stomach keeps bloated.
This is likely to be due to increased amount of fat in your stools. Such a condition may be due to increased intake of fat in the diet, or due to poor absorption of fat in the intestines.
You may go for a stool culture to proceed with diagnosis.
I’m 31 years old. I had an abnormal bowel. Sometimes once a week and lately I found there a white streaks in my stool. What would I do?
Get a stool culture done to ascertain what those white spots are. They may be cysts or just globules of fat in stools.
Hey, I’m 16 and about a month ago. I broke my leg and haven’t had too much of an appetite. About 2 days ago I regained my appetite and my last two bowel movements have had white dots in them. Could this just be the change in diet or something more serious?
May be the change in diet or the capsule covering of the medications being given.
However, keep a close watch. If you get them again, go for a stool culture to know exactly what it is.
For a month now I started taking fulvic acid. I am feeling okay do far and my hair stopped thinning. I am drinking distilled water and brushing with fluoride free tooth paste. I also heard that fulvic acid is a natural chelator.
I have been noticing white small specs that flow in the toilet after bowel movement. Could it possibly the effects of detoxing or something else?
Get a stool culture done. This would reveal the exactly what those white specks are.
I’ve been having problems with my bowels, being like balls or pellets recently, and today I went to the toilet and saw white inside the pellet-like stools. The stools were also mangled and oddly shaped, not like balls anymore.
Are you having any problems, like stomachache, vomiting etc.?
The commonest cause of improper defection is that you are taking less of dietary fibers in your diet. So, your stools are less in quantity. You need to increase fibers, may be you can add insoluble dietary fibers to each of your meals.
White coloration may be fat globules or some infection. Let us know your symptom first.
I’ve been seeing white specks (look like small pears) in my stool so I started tape worm antibiotic treatment (ciproflaxin and flagyl for about a week). The symptoms didn’t go away so I got blood work and stool work done and nothing is showing up (other than low blood sugar) which is disconcerting because when I collected my stool sample I put a few of the white pear shaped objects in the test tubes (I was sure it was tape worm, but nothing on the stool test came back indicating it, is it possible for stool tests to misread if there is not enough of a sample?). I get hungry really easy now even when I load myself up with food. I’ve also lost a fair bit of weight. I’m going to be seeing a Gastroenterology doctor soon, but I just want to know what could possibly be going on.
Also I’ve been having intestinal/abdominal cramps pretty badly but the ciproflaxin got rid of most of the severe cramps.
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic. It does not kill worms. For worm infestations, albendazole is the right medication.
You may repeat the stool culture in some other lab.
i am 16 and when i used the washroom and i looked at my stool i seen these see through like white bumps
are they tapeworms ?
are they something i need to pay attention to ?
also the tip of the stool was full of these see through white specks they looked soft not hard as a seed
I’ve gotten blood tests and nothing i have can lead to this but tapeworms. etc.
About every three days, my brown colored stools show white flecks throughout, about an eighth of inch in size. I have had liver tests for Parkinson and diabetes, but they proved OK? My stomach area blows out most days and feels uncomfortable.
I feel I am not urinating freely? I have tremors in my head and hands occasionally. But the blurred eyes and double vision seems to have disappeared? Could I have a gut infection with some parasite?
It is suggested that you go for a stool culture. This is to investigate what exactly those white flecks are.
You may be having some parasitic infection. This is a possibility.
Hello Doc,
For the past couple months, I have been getting these needle like sensations in my anus. Since then, I have taken taken two doses of Zantac worm tablets once a month and I felt fine. Recently, I noticed that when I pass stool, my stool is covered in small holes. I am guessing it is worms and the needle sensations have returned. How am I to get rid of them? Please help!
It is better to go for a stool culture for an objective approach to your problem.
O.K. thanks, will have to look into that.
What are the reasons for whitish dot like things in stools? I already have white worms problem when I eat sweets. How can I treat this?
You may read above about the various causes that may lead to white dots in stools.
Are you sure that you have worms in your stools? This is confirmed on stool culture. You may get a stool culture done.
To eradicate worms, you’ll need to take a course of anthelmintic medicines.
My poop has white spots.
Go for a stool culture to know exactly what these spots are.
I have been having problems with my bowels for eighteen months, hard stools constipation etc I have hard stools, burning in my stomach and my back and chest. I have severe itching all over my body and strange looking rashes. I have done enemas, taken laxatives and am now seeing a gasterointeroligist. He ordered a colon transit test. I am waiting to hear about results. I was wondering do you think I have a parasite or infection or something as my stool tests are coming back negative or if you have any idea what it could be. Thanks.
If the stool culture is coming negative for the presence of parasites or infections, it is likely that you don’t have them.
It may be some problem with the muscles or the nerves controlling the musculature of the gut, specifically the colon.
Your doctor has done a colon transit test to assess your gut motility.
I have been passing seed like things. But i havent eaten seeds and i don’t show symptoms of any type of parasite. I don’t really know what it could be
A stool culture may be done for diagnosis. Contact your nearest lab for this.
I am a 20 yrs old male,I have had watery stools green,and now orange been going on for about a few weeks.today I have very small white bumps smaller than a dot or a bit bigger, and have itching while and a bit after bowel movement.i am wondering what I need to do.
Where exactly are those pimples?
Within stool
Likely to be an infection. You need to see a doctor for examination.
I am on medication for hemorrhoids, since I started to take them I notice a lot of small white spots in my stool. The name of the medication is daflon. Also I ate oats and eggs everyday for about 2-3 weeks so I was wondering if it might be that. I am 24 years old and I am slightly overweight but am active.
You may have diarrhea or slight gastric upsets due to the drug. However, getting white spots is unlikely.
any pain in stomach or gastric upsets?
No I have any pain in my stomach.
May be due to something in your diet, like seeds, excess fat, etc. You may wait for a few days. These spots are likely to go.
I have noticed white specs in my stool for the past two weeks or so – some very tiny like specs others the size of a grain of rice. Otherwise my stool is a normal brown color. I have gout and take Allopurinal everyday. I read that some gout treatments can cause this. Is Allopurinal a drug that could cause the white specs?
Unlikely that allopurinol would give it.
You may wait for a week. If you still have those, better to go for a stool culture .
It also had white tiny lines in it
Hey, I’ve been pooping of what looks like a tampon string. It’s been happening for about a week now. There’s tiny white lines and I don’t know if I should see someone to investigate what’s wrong.
Any pain in tummy or digestive problem? Any irritation down there?
There is some pain (it’s kinda like a pinch), it comes and goes. There is very little irritation though.
Advised to go for a stool culture for diagnosis.
now and then white balls in normal looking stool, abdominal cramps mild constipation.mild trapped wind, pass two stools a day near as normal in colour size,pass water 5-6 times a day, had this problem for 4 weeks, on lansozaprole, started 7 days ago, sometimes feel bloated ,had a stool test showed nothing, previous to this stomach issue I had two week chest infection treated with antibiotics and steroids, had stomach issues in past,had tests including endoscopy,nothing revealed,mum and her two brothers were celiacs, at present two weeks into a gluten free diet
This could be a side reaction to the antibiotics and steroids you had in the recent past. Likely to get better with time.
Was stool culture done? Results?
stool results came back normal. three weeks into new diet gluten free stomach appears to be settling down,i pass water 5 times a day , and stool twice a day coming out normal, so im back to my standard daily routine. stomach still a bit unsettled but ive been told even with a new improved diet it still takes time for stomach to heal and accept new food however good it is, had two previous major flare ups in 18 years, both were resolved after a new diet weeks later. I still exercise walk miles everyday , and drink 3 herbal teas ,and 7 glasses of water a day.but I also think after my chest infection added to with stress caused my problems.
Wishing you health. Take care.
My bowel movement this morning was normal in size and color but was accompanied by a small white lump. I ate some meat last night that had some fat in it and I am slightly lactose intolerant. After the bowel movement I am also feeling as slight burning and gnawing feeling in my stomach. I have never had a bowel movement like this before, could it just be indigestion?
Likely to be a mild infection in your tummy that has caused indigestion. Would improve on its own in a day or two.
Eat light to help your tummy recover.
I had diarrhea for 2 days and was drinking sugar and salt solution but it didn’t stop. With this diarrhea I was also suffering from a mild constant throbbing headache as well as abdominal pain (only during defacation). The stool was yellow brown and very smelly. On day 3 my stool was now firmer (ice-cream texture) but covered in a good amount of mucous with a tinge of blood. I saw a Dr and was prescribed nifuroxazide. Now on day 2 of taking the meds my headache is gone but my stool is VERY PALE yellow, still covered in lots of mucous but there are some white spots and what looks like small round white pellets on the inside. Is this normal?? I’m scared
I forgot to mention my temp was slightly high 37.1 and my blood pressure low
Just continue with the medication. You’re likely to be well soon.
I have small yellow specks in my stool. It is uniform throughout and has been going on for a few months.
Any pain or discomfort while passing stools? Any kind of digestion problem, like constipation, infrequent stools, diarrhea, acidity, etc.?
Everything is absolutely normal otherwise. No pain, bloating, diarrhea. No constipation. Stools are formed and normal looking. I also was told recently that I am vitamin B12 deficient.
Stools are usually light colored (tan) and occasionally are brown.
Those specks may be related to something in your diet then. Or it could be undigested food particles. As far as you have no symptom, it’s unlikely to be some disease.
You may go for a stool culture for exact analysis of those yellow specks.
I have irresistible itching in my anus during and after passing stool. I’ve also been observing some white spots in the stool for the last few days. I hope this isn’t something serious.
Could be an infection. Go for a stool culture at the earliest.
My stools are whitish with white spots. I was diagnosed with H. Pylori last month -doctor recommended to having a antibiotic treatment but I taken probiotics instead. Symptoms getting better after being on gluten free diet.
Being concerned about stool colour and spots.
You may go for a stool culture to ascertain what they are.
Going on 2 years I have had on off again chronic diarrhea was told it was ibs-d had colonoscopy last year and endoscopy was diagnosed with gastritis and duotitis and small hiatal hernia stomach pain comes and goes on nexium and Pepcid I have continued to have issues my calprotectin levels are 1800 had several stool test come back negative recently had another colonoscopy and endoscopy coming back same now I have bloody stools lots of mucus and white blobs I stay in pain and sick feeling my labs come back not worry some but levels slightly off I’m getting no relief. Do you have any ideas as to what could be going on