Is My Poop Healthy Quiz
Questions: 15 · 10 minutes
1. Which recent stool-color experience is closest to yours?
Mostly a familiar shade of brown, with no unexplained color change.
Repeatedly pale, gray, or clay-colored without a clear food or medicine explanation.
Black and tarry, maroon, or visibly bloody without a known food explanation.
A short-lived green or food-related color that disappeared when the food or supplement passed.
2. Which medical context, if any, accompanies a new bowel change?
None of the listed contexts applies, and the change has resolved.
A recent routine, diet, or medication adjustment may explain a mild change, and I otherwise feel well.
The change persists after starting a medicine or supplement, or I have a digestive condition that may need review.
Severe watery diarrhea began during or after antibiotics, or symptoms are rapidly worsening while I am pregnant, immunocompromised, very frail, or recently hospitalized.
3. What have you noticed on or mixed into your stool?
A small amount of mucus on one isolated occasion.
Nothing unusual that I can see.
A substantial amount of blood, blood clots, or black tar-like material, even once.
Repeated mucus or small blood streaks, including after straining.
4. What has happened with your weight, appetite, or energy?
They remain close to my usual baseline.
I noticed a small temporary change during a known disruption or brief illness.
My appetite or energy has stayed noticeably lower, or my weight has changed without intending it.
I have significant unexplained weight loss, profound weakness, fainting, or breathlessness alongside the bowel change.
5. How often has your stool looked greasy, oily, unusually pale, or especially difficult to flush?
Not during the period I am considering.
Once after an unusually rich or fatty meal.
On several occasions without an obvious short-term explanation.
Repeatedly, together with yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, or marked weakness.
6. How would you describe any bowel urgency or loss of control?
I have not had unusual urgency or accidents.
I had one manageable episode of urgency after a clear dietary or routine change.
Urgency repeatedly interrupts activities, or I have had more than one accident.
I suddenly lost bowel control along with new leg weakness, numbness around the groin, or severe back pain.
7. What happens with your bowel movements while you are trying to sleep?
They do not wake me from sleep.
I woke once during a brief stomach upset that has resolved.
The need to have a bowel movement has woken me on several nights.
Nighttime bowel movements include blood, black stool, severe pain, fever, or marked weakness.
8. If your stool's shape or appearance has changed, what best describes the course?
There has been no meaningful change from my usual appearance.
The change lasted a day or two and has fully settled.
An unexplained change keeps returning or has lasted more than about a week.
The change is persistent or worsening and is accompanied by bleeding, severe pain, or unexplained weight loss.
9. Compared with your personal norm, how has the timing of your bowel movements changed?
It is close to my usual rhythm and feels manageable.
It shifted briefly with routine, diet, stress, or travel and is moving back toward normal.
I am repeatedly going much more or much less often than usual.
I cannot pass stool or gas and also have increasing abdominal swelling, severe pain, or vomiting.
10. Over the past two weeks, which description best matches your stool consistency?
It has generally been soft, formed, and close to my usual pattern.
I had one brief change after a food, schedule, or travel disruption, then returned to normal.
I have repeatedly had hard pellets, very loose stool, or alternating extremes.
A major consistency change came with visible blood, severe pain, or difficulty keeping fluids down.
11. Have fever, nausea, or vomiting accompanied the bowel change?
No fever, nausea, or vomiting.
Brief mild nausea that resolved and did not limit drinking.
Ongoing nausea, a measured fever, or occasional vomiting while I can still take fluids.
Repeated vomiting, a high fever, confusion, or rapid worsening, especially if I cannot keep fluids down.
12. When you try to have a bowel movement, what usually happens?
I sometimes need a little more time or effort than usual.
It generally passes without prolonged straining or significant pain.
Straining or pain is severe, or I become faint, sweaty, or see substantial blood.
I often strain, pass only small amounts, or still feel unfinished afterward.
13. After a bowel movement, which experience is closest to yours?
I usually feel comfortably finished.
I occasionally feel mildly unfinished, but it soon passes.
I repeatedly feel blocked or need several attempts to finish.
I have intense rectal or abdominal pain, a painful swelling, or stool that seems stuck and cannot be passed.
14. What abdominal discomfort, if any, occurs around your bowel changes?
No unusual abdominal discomfort.
Mild, brief cramping that improves after passing stool or gas.
Recurring pain or bloating that interferes with meals, sleep, or daily plans.
Severe, worsening, or sharply localized pain, especially with a rigid or swollen abdomen.
15. Which description best matches your hydration and general physical state during loose stools?
I have no loose stools or can drink normally and urinate as usual.
I feel somewhat thirstier but improve after drinking fluids.
I have a dry mouth, darker or less frequent urine, or persistent light-headedness.
I am fainting, confused, barely urinating, unable to keep fluids down, or too weak to stand safely.