I have had the same condition a few times, only when travelling to exotic locations - nothing seems to help and it takes a week or so to clear up
did you get to find what the problem was?

I never went to a doctor, but it cleared up after about 4 days, it's a mystery.

I was just doing some research on this because I just experienced it for the second time. One easy answer for me, maybe it was the cause for you as well:

butterfish, also known as escolar, or rudderfish.

Up to 20% of the weight of these fish is an undigestible wax esther, which passes right through you. It's orange, and has a faint mineral oil smell. It will stain clothes and furniture.

It's a shame because the fish is very tasty.

I was so happy to read your reply about escolar possibly causing this. I've experienced this problem a few times recently and have really been concerned about it. Couldn't figure out what it could be and couldn't find any info on the net about it. I had this problem a few years ago and never figured it out, but it went away. Well, we used to eat escolar as often as we could because it's just awesome fish. Then we weren't able to get it for a few years. We recently found it again and now that I think back this problem started about the time we started eating it again. And I just had it yesterday and the problem came back this morning. This must be it! Would you tell me where you found this information? I'd love to read more about it.

Thanks for the input!

I had some orange roughy two nights ago and experienced the same oily discharge. I didn't know whether I should be concerned or not, so I looked it up on the net. I did happen to find this article which talks a little bit about it:

http://www.Cda.Gov.Au/pubs/cdi/2002/cdi260 3/htm/cdi2603i.Htm

i hope it helps!

I ate escolar on tuesday or wednesday, can't remember which day it was. Anyway, I have the oily orange diarrhea problem and i'm terrified. How long does it take to get through the body. This is disgusting. I smell like cod liver oil or something and my underwear is all stained. I'm really scared

Nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. I was worried initially too until I learned more about it. The oil is part of the fish and cannot be digested by humans. Like anything indigestible, your body just passes it.

Look on the bright side--your backside just got a great moisturizing treatment!

I sure wish it washed out of clothes and furniture though.

This is kind of embarrassing, but I was simply just sitting down at the computer and when I stood up, there was a puddle of an orange oily substance. I could not figure out where is came from. It looked like pizza grease or the grease from tacos. I quickly figured out where it came from, but did not feel a thing. I read some of your discussinons about eating fish, but I had not eaten anything that day except a subway sandwich. Please, if anyone has any idea why this has happened, please let me know. I am trying to get in to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Thanks,
andy

I had exactly this problem--oily diarrhea, more accurately, a considerable oily discharge from the rectum, no discernible bowle movement or cramping--saturday night/sunday morning after having a large serving of escolar thursday night. Thanks to everyone for the discussion of a rather personal issue! I was a trifle freaked out until I came across the various website discussions on escolar and butterfish. One confounding factor is that I also had a small serving of catfish on saturday night, but I eat catfish frequently and have never had any problem with it. No discomfort was associated with the oily discharge, leakage, whatever one would call it, in fact I had no idea it was happening until it became obvious ....

I thought it might be useful to others to note that my first obvious symptoms were 36-48 hours after eating the escolar. So one needs to look farther back than what one has eaten in the past day--this may be relevant to lvandy, for example.

Thanks for sharing all of your stories.



I work in one of the top seafood restaurants in manhattan, where we get the occasional shipment of escolar from fiji. I'd heard staff members snicker about how it can cause diarrhea, but had never heard of any first-hand accounts. I often watch patrons eat it and proclaim it to be delectable. We even have a list of people who want to be emailed or phoned when we have it in house. Finally, the other day, I decided to order it for myself after work, and yes, it was sublime. Immediately afterwards, I had diarrhea, but then I was fine. Almost 2 days later, I started leaking orange oil. Because so much time had passed since eating the escolar, and seeing as that I had already experienced my bout of diarrhea, I blamed it on the mexican take-out place which I had tried for the first time the night before. I actually thought some indigestible substance like mineral oil had somehow made its way into my burrito. I even started to think that perhaps i'd had some bizarre reaction to tofutti cuties! But now I know what it is, and i'll never deal with stinky orange oil on the back of my pants ever again!

I was so relieved to have read these posts tonight. I tried a new restaurant yesterday for lunch - sushi. Beyond the uni - which tasted funny and the tuna, which was a lot more red than i've ever seen it, I knew something wasn't quite right. Never finished the lunch, but did experience diarrhea this morning. Then in the afternoon, I didn't notice the oil in the bowl, but did wonder what was going on when I wiped - more yellowish than orange. Got home and saw the oil drops and became concerned. Thought it was weird, then thought maybe my mil poured something out and into the bowl and forgot to flush? Lol then I had to go again and there it was. Didn't experience any pain, no blood, no mucus. Will continue to monitor it until it's over. But thank you all for your knowledge and input. It certainly calmed me down just as I was on the verge of freaking out! :d

My partner and I have had these symptoms after eating what was labeled 'deep sea cod' from our local fish market in canberra, australia. It is comforting to find out the cause. Thanks to all who have posted their sorry tales !

My boyfriend and I went out to this classy restaurant in laguna beach, and the special was the butterfish.

This thread has a been a huge relief to me, as I was more than scared this morning when my normal feeling self released some rather disgusting oily substance right before class.

Now i'm feeling a bit more prepared. After ruining my favorite underwear:(

I had the same response, but the only thing different in my diet has been ovaltine malt. I know that sometimes b vitamins, which ovaltine is supplemented with, can make your urine orange, but this was very unexpected. I wonder if there is some relation to the other things some of you are eating?

I am suffering from the same symptons over the last 24 hours (never happened before) and google whacked the symptons to find this site. Initially reading through the posts I couldnt find anything that was relevant...I dont eat fish...And havent eaten anything out of the ordinary.

However, I was surprised to read the guys post about eating a subway?! I had a subway on saturday and this is the only thing I can think of that is new to my diet and could have instigated this!

I have had these same symptoms for about two days, but I can't figure out why! I'm a strict vegetarian, so I don't eat any fish and most things I have are low in fat and oil. However, I have been eating more fat-free snack foods lately, like snackwell's cookies and other processed cakes and bars which I think are made with fat substitutes. There has been no change in my diet in the past few weeks except for the addition of those snacks.

I have heard that olestra can cause these symptoms, but I do not think the food I ate contained olestra. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced such symptoms after eating lots of fat-free snack foods, or if anyone else has heard of such a thing or any reasons why this orange oily dishcharge would happen other than from eating fish? I have been pretty worried!

Do any of the fat-free snacks you are eating contain monoglycerides? Diglycerides? Or triglycerides? These are fats, made from oil to act as emulsifiers (provide a consistent texture and prevent separation), and are used in most baked products to keep them from getting stale. Products can still be labeled as fat-free because these food additives are not necessarily absorbed and metabolized in the same way as those of the natural food fats and their nutritional significance may also differ. I've read that malabsorption of dietary triglycerides can cause oily droplets and that long-chain saturated fatty acids have a lower digestibility. If the products you are consuming are solid at room temperature (which a baked or dry product would be) then their constituent fatty acids would likely be those which are more difficult to digest. Mono and diglycerides are listed as ingredients in ovaltine, and i'll bet they are the culprit in your snackwells!

I know that whenever my sister brings home fat free foods and I try them, I always have either bad gas or diareah, and I think they may have something to do with this oily orange crap?
Just my input :)

I've experienced the same symptoms quite often, although not as frequent since my gallbladder was removed.

Prior to my gallbladder surgery, every time I ate a meal with alot of fat I had the orange, oily, greasy discharge which had a foul odor. My body wasn't digesting the fat I was eating. I had tests run and found that my gallbladder was inflamed and that surgery was recommended. The first time this happened it freaked me out.

Even now I try to stay away from foods with a high fat content to avoid this from happening, but last week I ate a large amount of sunflower seeds over a period of a few days, well my body reacted. I was bloated and constipated for 3 days and then I had terrible diarrhea and the orange, oily droplets and greasy discharge with the foul odor that lasted an entire day.