Can diabetes cause steatorrhea?
Patients with diabetes and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency as measured by FEC develop overt steatorrhea in ∼60% of the cases (41). Even in patients considered to have normal exocrine function by FEC, steatorrhea can sometimes be present (42).
Can diarrhea be caused by diabetes?
When diabetes damages the nerves going to your stomach and intestines, they may not be able to move food through normally. This causes constipation, but you can also get alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea, especially at night.
Does diabetes cause malabsorption?
Small intestinal transit often is abnormal in patients with diabetes and may be slow or rapid (74); the former may predispose to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), itself a cause of malabsorption and diarrhea. Up to 80% of patients with diabetic gastroparesis have abnormal small intestinal motility (55).
How do you know if you have steatorrhea?
Patients with steatorrhea present with bulky, pale, foul-smelling oily stools. These fatty stools tend to float in the toilet bowl and often challenging to flush as well. In the early stages, steatorrhea may be asymptomatic and go unnoticed.
Can diabetes cause oily stools?
If you have diabetes, these are the signs and symptoms of EPI to be aware of: Abdominal pain that can be either mild or severe. Steatorrhea, or fatty, oily stools — a sign that pancreatic enzymes aren’t getting to your digestive tract to break down fats in the food you eat.
What are the symptoms of pancreatic insufficiency?
Symptoms of pancreatic insufficiency
- abdominal pain and tenderness.
- loss of appetite.
- feelings of fullness.
- weight loss and diarrhea.
What can a diabetic eat with diarrhea?
If your stomach is a little queasy, you can still reach your daily nutritional goals with mild foods such as gelatin, crackers, soup, or applesauce. If even these foods cause trouble and you need to keep your blood sugar levels steady, try broth, fruit juice, pudding, sherbet, or yogurt.
What happens if EPI goes untreated?
Without treatment, EPI can make you malnourished — you won’t get enough important vitamins and nutrients from your diet — and it can lead to other serious conditions, such as thinning bones (osteoporosis) or the blood condition anemia. You could have problems with walking and balance.