MS Bowel Problems: What to Log

Updated 29 Oct 2026

Bowel changes are hard to bring up at a visit, and harder to describe from memory. A week of short notes turns a vague worry into something your MS team can work with.

This guide covers what to log: how often you go and what it is like, urgency and leaks, fluids and food, activity and medicines, and the changes to report straight away.

Why log bowel problems with MS

Multiple Sclerosis Journey (part of Health Journey Labs) reviewed the MS Trust guidance: bowel problems in MS can include constipation, bowel accidents, and loose bowel movements, and MS Trust notes that having both constipation and incontinence at the same time is not uncommon (MS Trust). The NHS lists advice, exercises, and medicines to help with bowel or bladder problems among the support offered for MS symptoms (NHS).

MS Trust explains that bowel problems in MS occur when messages are disrupted between the brain and the digestive system, and that other MS symptoms such as fatigue and spasticity can make them worse (MS Trust). It also lists causes that are not MS, such as what you eat and drink, being away from home, medications, and other health conditions (MS Trust).

With so many possible causes, a dated record is how you and your team can tell which ones line up with your worse weeks.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily check-in keeps bowel notes beside fatigue, mobility, sleep, and meds each day.

What to log each day

MS Trust lists questions a health professional may ask: how often you usually empty your bowels, whether you have problems with constipation or loose bowel movements, how much fluid you drink each day, what type of fluids you drink, and what your stools are like (MS Trust). Those questions make a good template for each entry.

Write the date, the time of each bowel movement, and a word on consistency, such as hard, soft, or liquid. The MS Society describes hard, dry, lumpy poo as types 1 to 2 on the Bristol Stool Chart (MS Society), so if your team uses that chart, note the type number. Add straining, a long time trying with nothing happening, or a feeling that you have not fully emptied (MS Society).

Keep the wording the same each day, so a week of entries can be compared line by line.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily Journal holds each entry, including voice notes when fatigue makes typing hard.

How to log urgency and leaks

The MS Society lists symptoms of bowel incontinence: leaking poo, not being able to control when you pass wind, not noticing the leakage until after it has happened, noticing stains on things you are wearing, and a sudden need for the toilet followed by an accident because you cannot get there soon enough (MS Society).

For each episode, note the time, whether you felt an urge first, and how long you had. If you only noticed afterwards, write that, since it points to a different problem from rushing and not making it in time.

The MS Society also notes that a bowel accident in public can be very upsetting and that you might avoid leaving the house because of it (MS Society). If you skipped a plan for this reason, log it in one line. Missed outings show the effect on daily life more clearly than a score.

For bladder days, see what to track on MS bladder urgency days.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Flare Tracker marks a day clearly worse than usual, with intensity and duration.

What to log about fluids, food, and activity

MS Trust lists changes that may help with constipation: eating regularly, increasing fibre in your diet, drinking more fluids, exercising regularly, getting your posture right on the toilet, practicing abdominal massage, and reviewing your medications with a health professional (MS Trust).

So log what and how much you drank, with times, and when you ate. Note any change in fibre, such as a new cereal or more vegetables, with the date you started, and change one thing at a time so you can tell which one made a difference.

MS Trust notes that fatigue might lead you to become less active, slowing the movement of waste through your colon (MS Trust), and the MS Society says MS can stop you being so physically active, which makes your bowels sluggish (MS Society). Write a short line on how active you were, such as a walk or a day mostly in a chair.

For food notes, see what to track about food and MS fatigue.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Food Tracker holds meals and drinks beside bowel days.

How to log medicines and other MS symptoms

MS Trust lists medications, particularly antidepressants and those used to treat pain and bladder problems, among causes of bowel symptoms that are not MS (MS Trust). Log each medicine with its start date and any dose change, so a new bowel pattern can be checked against it.

MS Trust also notes that spasticity may affect muscle control and tone, which may make going to the toilet more difficult, and that changes to your bowel movements can set off your spasticity (MS Trust). The MS Society adds that walking and bowel problems can go hand in hand (MS Society). Note stiff, spasm, or walking-trouble days on the same page as bowel days.

Never stop or change a prescribed medicine on your own because of a pattern in your log. Bring the dates to the clinician who prescribed it.

For medicine records, see how to track MS meds next to fatigue and fog weeks.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, My Meds keeps medicine names, timing, and start dates.

Which changes to report and how to share the diary

MS Trust advises speaking to your GP straightaway for an assessment if you have blood in your poo, prolonged diarrhea, constipation, or unexplained weight loss, and says it is important not to ignore these symptoms as they can be a sign of bowel cancer (MS Trust). Flag any of these on the day you notice them and contact your GP rather than waiting for a routine visit.

For other changes, MS Trust suggests it might be time to contact a health professional if you have noticed changes in your bowel habits, spend a long time trying to empty your bowels without success, your stools have changed, you have to rush to the toilet, or you leak without being aware of it (MS Trust). It names your MS nurse, GP, or a bladder and bowel team as people to speak to (MS Trust).

Bring a one-week summary: movements per day, stool types, urgency and leaks, fluids, activity, and medicine changes, with your main question at the top.

In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Doctor Report builds a dated summary for a clinician saved in My Care Team.

How Multiple Sclerosis Journey can help

A notebook can hold toilet times. The harder part is keeping bowel days, fatigue, mobility, fluids, and medicines in one dated record, so a pattern is clear when you need to describe it.

Multiple Sclerosis Journey is a personal MS tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records symptoms, relapses, medicines, and tests in one dated history. For a side-by-side look at MS trackers, see the best multiple sclerosis apps in 2026. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:

• My Meds — Medicine names and timing, including disease-modifying therapies and symptom medicines, so you can line up timing with fatigue and function weeks.
• Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including fatigue, mobility or sensation, and fog.
• Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than your usual hard week, with a category, intensity, and duration, so you can tell a one-off spike from a pattern.
• Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when fog or fatigue makes typing hard, such as heat or travel context and workplace asks.
• Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a short rest before the hottest part of the day or a daily stretching routine, and see whether it held.
• My Labs — Result dates for MRI, spinal fluid, blood counts, vitamin D, or other tests, so each result sits next to how you felt that month.
• AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with visit wording or pacing ideas.
• Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report, a list of questions to prepare before a visit, and Generate Report, a dated summary of your recent progress to show a doctor saved in My Care Team.
• My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus visit notes used before, during, and after appointments.
• Learn — Short education topics on fatigue, heat sensitivity, pacing, relapse versus bad day, and visit preparation.
• My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.
• Period Tracker — Cycle dates and flow, so you can line up cycle timing with fatigue, fog, or heat weeks.
• Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines when food, caffeine, or alcohol comes with worse energy, sleep, or fog days.
• Weight Tracker — Weight entries when weight is part of what you and your clinician are watching.

Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. Multiple Sclerosis Journey is free to download.

Sources

• MS Trust — Bowel problems
• MS Society — Types of MS bowel problems
• NHS — Multiple sclerosis

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