How to effectively manage diarrhea at home. What are the best foods to eat during diarrhea. When should you seek medical attention for diarrhea. What are the potential complications of untreated diarrhea.

Understanding Diarrhea: Causes and Symptoms

Diarrhea is a common digestive issue characterized by loose, watery stools occurring more frequently than usual. It can be caused by various factors, including viral infections, bacterial contamination, food intolerances, or as a side effect of certain medications. Understanding the root cause of your diarrhea is crucial for effective management and treatment.

Common Causes of Diarrhea

• Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu)
• Bacterial infections
• Food poisoning
• Medication side effects (e.g., antibiotics)
• Digestive disorders (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease)
• Dietary intolerances (e.g., lactose intolerance)

Do you know the duration of typical diarrhea episodes? Acute diarrhea usually lasts for a few days to a week, while persistent diarrhea can continue for up to 14 days. Chronic diarrhea, lasting more than four weeks, may indicate an underlying health condition and requires medical attention.

Hydration: The Key to Managing Diarrhea

Maintaining proper hydration is crucial when dealing with diarrhea. The excessive loss of fluids and electrolytes can lead to dehydration, which can be dangerous if left untreated. To prevent dehydration, focus on consuming clear fluids throughout the day.

Recommended Fluids for Diarrhea

1. Water
2. Clear broths
3. Oral rehydration solutions
4. Diluted fruit juices (without added sugars)
5. Herbal teas (non-caffeinated)

Is there a specific amount of fluid you should consume during a bout of diarrhea? Aim to drink 8 to 10 glasses of clear fluids daily, with at least one cup (240 milliliters) after each loose bowel movement. This practice helps replenish lost fluids and electrolytes, supporting your body’s recovery process.

Dietary Adjustments to Alleviate Diarrhea

Making appropriate dietary changes can significantly impact the duration and severity of diarrhea. While it’s essential to stay hydrated, certain foods can help firm up stools and provide necessary nutrients without exacerbating symptoms.

The BRAT Diet: A Time-Tested Approach

The BRAT diet, consisting of Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast, has long been recommended for managing diarrhea. These foods are easily digestible and can help solidify stools. However, it’s important to note that this diet should not be followed for an extended period, as it lacks essential nutrients.

Foods to Include During Diarrhea

• Lean proteins (baked or grilled chicken, fish)
• Cooked eggs
• Low-fat dairy products (if tolerated)
• Refined grains (white bread, pasta, crackers)
• Cooked vegetables (carrots, green beans, potatoes without skin)
• Fruits with low fiber content (ripe bananas, cooked fruits)

Are there any specific nutrients that can help combat diarrhea? Foods rich in potassium, such as bananas and potatoes, can help replace lost electrolytes. Additionally, probiotic-rich foods like yogurt may help restore beneficial gut bacteria and improve digestive health.

Foods and Beverages to Avoid During Diarrhea

While focusing on what to eat is important, knowing what to avoid can be equally crucial in managing diarrhea effectively. Certain foods and drinks can irritate your digestive system and prolong or worsen symptoms.

Items to Eliminate from Your Diet

• Fatty and greasy foods
• Spicy foods
• Caffeine and alcohol
• Carbonated beverages
• High-fiber foods (raw vegetables, legumes, whole grains)
• Dairy products (if lactose intolerant)
• Artificial sweeteners

Can consuming certain foods actually worsen diarrhea? Yes, foods high in insoluble fiber, such as raw vegetables and whole grains, can be difficult to digest and may exacerbate diarrhea. Similarly, fatty and spicy foods can irritate the digestive tract, potentially prolonging symptoms.

Over-the-Counter Remedies and Supplements

In addition to dietary changes, several over-the-counter (OTC) medications and supplements can help manage diarrhea symptoms. However, it’s important to use these products as directed and consult with a healthcare provider if symptoms persist.

Common OTC Treatments for Diarrhea

1. Loperamide (Imodium)
2. Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol)
3. Probiotics
4. Psyllium fiber supplements
5. Electrolyte replacement solutions

How do these OTC remedies work to alleviate diarrhea? Loperamide slows down the movement of fluids through the intestines, while bismuth subsalicylate reduces inflammation and kills certain bacteria. Probiotics help restore the balance of good bacteria in the gut, potentially shortening the duration of diarrhea.

When to Seek Medical Attention for Diarrhea

While most cases of diarrhea resolve on their own with proper self-care, certain symptoms may indicate a more serious condition requiring medical intervention. It’s crucial to recognize these warning signs and seek professional help when necessary.

Red Flags That Warrant Medical Attention

• Severe abdominal pain
• High fever (above 102°F or 39°C)
• Blood or mucus in stools
• Signs of severe dehydration (excessive thirst, dry mouth, decreased urination)
• Diarrhea lasting more than 3 days in adults or 24 hours in children
• Recent travel to an area with known parasitic infections

Should you always consult a doctor for diarrhea? While most cases of acute diarrhea can be managed at home, persistent or severe symptoms, especially when accompanied by the red flags mentioned above, require medical evaluation to rule out more serious conditions and prevent complications.

Preventing Diarrhea: Hygiene and Lifestyle Practices

Prevention is always better than cure, and this holds true for diarrhea as well. By adopting proper hygiene practices and making certain lifestyle changes, you can significantly reduce your risk of developing diarrhea.

Key Prevention Strategies

1. Wash hands frequently, especially before handling food and after using the bathroom
2. Cook foods thoroughly and store them at proper temperatures
3. Avoid consuming unpasteurized dairy products and untreated water
4. Practice safe food handling and preparation techniques
5. Be cautious when traveling to areas with poor sanitation
6. Maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle to support your immune system

Can probiotics help prevent diarrhea? Research suggests that regular consumption of probiotic-rich foods or supplements may help maintain a healthy gut microbiome, potentially reducing the risk of certain types of diarrhea, particularly antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

Long-Term Management of Chronic Diarrhea

For individuals dealing with chronic diarrhea, long-term management strategies are essential. Chronic diarrhea, defined as loose stools persisting for more than four weeks, often requires a comprehensive approach involving dietary modifications, stress management, and possibly medical interventions.

Strategies for Managing Chronic Diarrhea

• Identify and avoid trigger foods
• Work with a dietitian to develop a personalized meal plan
• Consider stress reduction techniques (e.g., meditation, yoga)
• Explore potential underlying conditions with your healthcare provider
• Adhere to prescribed medications or treatments
• Keep a symptom diary to track patterns and triggers

Is chronic diarrhea always indicative of a serious health condition? While chronic diarrhea can be a symptom of various digestive disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease or celiac disease, it can also result from less severe causes like dietary intolerances or medication side effects. A thorough medical evaluation is necessary to determine the underlying cause and develop an appropriate treatment plan.

In conclusion, managing diarrhea effectively involves a combination of proper hydration, dietary adjustments, and appropriate use of over-the-counter remedies. By understanding the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for diarrhea, you can take proactive steps to alleviate discomfort and promote faster recovery. Remember to consult with a healthcare professional if symptoms persist or worsen, especially if accompanied by concerning signs such as severe pain, high fever, or bloody stools. With the right approach, most cases of diarrhea can be managed successfully, allowing you to return to your normal daily activities and overall well-being.

When you have diarrhea: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Diarrhea is the passage of loose or watery stool. For some, diarrhea is mild and will go away within a few days. For others, it may last longer. It can make you lose too much fluid (dehydrated) and feel weak. It can also lead to unhealthy weight loss.

The stomach flu is a common cause of diarrhea. Medical treatments, such as antibiotics and some cancer treatments can also cause diarrhea.

These things may help you feel better if you have diarrhea:

• Drink 8 to 10 glasses of clear fluids every day. Water is best.
• Drink at least 1 cup (240 milliliters) of liquid every time you have a loose bowel movement.
• Eat small meals throughout the day, instead of 3 big meals.
• Eat some salty foods, such as pretzels, soup, and sports drinks.
• Eat some high potassium foods, such as bananas, potatoes without the skin, and fruit juices.

Ask your health care provider if you should take a multivitamin or drink sports drinks to boost your nutrition. Also ask about taking a fiber supplement, such as Metamucil, to add bulk to your stools.

Your provider may also recommend a special medicine for diarrhea. Take this medicine as you have been told to take it.

You can bake or broil beef, pork, chicken, fish, or turkey. Cooked eggs are also OK. Use low-fat milk, cheese, or yogurt.

If you have very severe diarrhea, you may need to stop eating or drinking dairy products for a few days.

Eat bread products made from refined, white flour. Pasta, white rice, and cereals such as cream of wheat, farina, oatmeal, and cornflakes are OK. You may also try pancakes and waffles made with white flour, and cornbread. But don’t add too much honey or syrup.

You should eat vegetables, including carrots, green beans, mushrooms, beets, asparagus tips, acorn squash, and peeled zucchini. Cook them first. Baked potatoes are OK. In general, removing seeds and skins is best.

You can include desserts and snacks such as fruit-flavored gelatin, fruit-flavored ice pops, cakes, cookies, or sherbet.

You should avoid certain kinds of foods when you have diarrhea, including fried foods and greasy foods.

Avoid fruits and vegetables that can cause gas, such as broccoli, peppers, beans, peas, berries, prunes, chickpeas, green leafy vegetables, and corn.

Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated drinks.

Limit or cut out milk and other dairy products if they are making your diarrhea worse or causing gas and bloating.

Contact your provider if you have:

• The diarrhea gets worse or does not get better in 2 days for an infant or child, or 5 days for adults
• Stools with an unusual odor or color
• Nausea or vomiting
• Blood or mucus in your stool
• A fever that does not go away
• Stomach pain

Diarrhea – self-care; Diarrhea – gastroenteritis

• Diapers and diarrhea

Bartelt LA, Guerrant RL. Diarrhea with little or no fever. In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 98.

Schiller LR, Sellin JH. Diarrhea. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 16.

• Abdominal radiation – discharge
• Brain radiation – discharge
• Breast external beam radiation – discharge
• Chemotherapy – what to ask your doctor
• Chest radiation – discharge
• Clear liquid diet
• Daily bowel care program
• Diarrhea – what to ask your doctor – child
• Eating extra calories when sick – children
• Full liquid diet
• Mouth and neck radiation – discharge
• Pelvic radiation – discharge
• When you have nausea and vomiting

Updated by: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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Self-Care for Vomiting and Diarrhea

Vomiting and diarrhea can make you feel awful. Your stomach and bowels are reacting to an irritant. This might be food, medicine, or a virus. Vomiting and diarrhea are 2 ways your body tries to remove the problem from your system. Nausea is a symptom that prevents you from eating. This can give your stomach and bowels time to recover. Self-care can help to ease your discomfort.

Drink liquids

Drink or sip liquids so you don’t lose too much fluid (dehydration). To do this:

• Choose clear liquids such as water or broth.

• Don’t have drinks with a lot of sugar in them. This includes juice and soda. These can make diarrhea worse.

• If you have severe vomiting or diarrhea, don’t drink sports drinks or electrolyte drinks. These don’t have the right mix of water, sugar, and minerals. They can make the symptoms worse. Try an oral rehydration solution. 

• Suck on ice chips if nausea makes it hard for you to drink.

When you’re able to eat again

Try these tips:

Medicines

When considering medicines:

• Don’t use medicines to stop diarrhea or vomiting unless your healthcare provider tells you to do so. Vomiting and diarrhea can help your body get rid of harmful substances.

• Some medicines can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Talk with your provider about all medicines you take. Ask which ones may cause these symptoms

• Any medicine with aspirin can bother your stomach. So don’t use them when you have an upset stomach.

• Some OTC antihistamines can help control nausea. Other medicines can help soothe an upset stomach. Ask your healthcare provider which medicines may help you.

When to call your healthcare provider

Call your healthcare provider care right away if you have any of these:

• Bloody or black vomit or stools

• Severe, steady belly pain

• Vomiting with a severe headache or stiff neck

• Vomiting after a head injury

• Vomiting and diarrhea together for more than 1 hour

• Can’t sip liquids after more than 12 hours

• Vomiting that lasts more than 24 hours

• Severe diarrhea that lasts more than 2 days

• Fever of 100. 4°F (38.0°C) or higher, or as advised

• Yellowish color to your skin or the whites of your eyes

• Can’t urinate 

© 2000-2022 The StayWell Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional’s instructions.

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Diarrhea in a puppy: what to do with diarrhea in a puppy?

06/21/2022

In fact, diarrhea is quite common in puppies. The course of the illness can range from one or two mild, transient episodes to severe gastrointestinal symptoms that may indicate a more serious illness. There are many causes of diarrhea in puppies.

You’ve got a puppy and the first week is going great – the puppy has met his new family, eats well, sleeps through the night (mostly) and quickly learns house rules. But one morning while walking, you notice that he has diarrhea. What to do?

Possible causes of diarrhea in puppies?

In fact, diarrhea is quite common in puppies. Diarrhea can range from one or two mild, transient episodes to severe gastrointestinal symptoms that may indicate a more serious illness. There are many causes of diarrhea in puppies:

• Stress. Getting to know a new environment can be both exciting and stressful for a puppy. Stressed puppies may be accompanied by mild indigestion and diarrhea. To relieve stress, give the puppy time to gradually get used to the new environment. In order not to worry your pet once again, limit the number of visitors during the first two weeks of his stay in your home. Give your dog enough time to rest and sleep, and establish a daily routine with regular feeding, play, rest, and exercise.
• New feed. Remember that the puppy may have recently been weaned, and this is a significant change in nutrition. If you switch your puppy to a new food, it can cause temporary digestive upset, especially if the change in diet happened quickly. If you are going to switch your puppy to a new food, do it gradually over 7-10 days, gradually increasing the amount of the new food.
• The desire of puppies to taste everything . Puppies are very curious and love to explore new objects in the most accessible way for them – by grabbing them with their teeth and sometimes swallowing them. So they can swallow toys, plants, insects, garbage and even dirt. This can lead to indigestion or, even more dangerous, cause intestinal obstruction.
• Infestation with parasites. Parasites can enter the puppy’s body by swallowing objects or food, and can also be transmitted from the mother. If you suspect your puppy has parasites, contact your veterinarian immediately. Parasite infestations must be treated with medication prescribed by a veterinarian.
• Virus infection. Diarrhea is one of the most common symptoms of several infectious diseases in puppies. The most serious of these is parvovirus enteritis, a highly contagious disease that can be life-threatening for the animal. In addition to severe diarrhea, symptoms of parvovirus infection include lethargy, fever, signs of discomfort, and abdominal pain. Puppies are particularly susceptible to parvovirus, so be sure to get the appropriate vaccinations at the right time.

Prevention of diarrhea in puppies

Reducing stress levels and gradually transitioning to a new food is an important but not the only way to prevent diarrhea and puppies. You should constantly supervise your puppy. Watching your puppy will help avoid swallowing inedible objects, injury, and a number of other problems.

Because diarrhea in puppies can develop for a variety of reasons, it is important to consult your veterinarian if diarrhea occurs. Together with a veterinarian, you will draw up a plan of preventive measures that must be strictly followed. Within a few days of your puppy being at your home, see your veterinarian for a complete physical examination of your pet. The doctor will assess the general health of the puppy, exclude parasitic infestation and give recommendations on feeding and maintaining the health of the puppy.

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/unformed), while the frequency of defecation may also be disturbed. The stool may contain mucus, droplets of fat (steatorrhea), and other inclusions. Diarrhea is a symptom of a wide variety of diseases and disorders in dogs, primarily of the gastrointestinal tract.

Diarrhea can be acute or chronic. Separately distinguish between small intestine and large intestine diarrhea, this is important in the initial diagnosis.

Acute diarrhea is characterized by an abrupt, sudden onset and usually lasts 1-3 days. The causes of acute diarrhea can be a swallowed foreign body, trauma to the gastrointestinal tract (for example, bones), infectious diseases, intoxication (poisoning).

Chronic diarrhea can last a very long time, usually starting with gradual softening of the stool. Diarrhea in dogs is not necessarily loose stools, softened unformed feces observed for a long time is also chronic diarrhea.

To find out why a dog may have diarrhea, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms that lead to softening of the stool and a violation of the frequency of defecation.

From the point of view of physiology, there are four main mechanisms for the development of diarrhea:

• osmosis;
• hypersecretion;
• increased permeability of mucous membranes;
• violation of intestinal motility.

Usually several mechanisms are involved at once. Most often, diarrhea in dogs is associated with osmotic causes and increased permeability of the mucous membranes. A number of osmotically active solutions contained in the intestinal lumen determine the water content of the faeces. Osmotic diarrhea occurs when nutrients are not digested and absorbed properly, but remain in the intestinal lumen and attract water through osmosis. Osmotic diarrhea can also occur due to overfeeding, sudden changes in diet, and consumption of spoiled foods containing poorly absorbed nutrients. An increase in the permeability of the mucous membranes, and, as a result, the development of inflammation and erosion of the intestinal walls, occurs most often due to parasitic diseases. Impaired intestinal motility usually occurs secondarily, as a result of prolonged inflammation of the intestine. The exception is swallowed foreign bodies (toys, chewed bones, sticks, chips, etc.), which are a common cause of diarrhea in dogs, and in some cases, without timely surgical intervention, can lead to the development of necrosis, peritonitis and death.

The cause of chronic diarrhea can be parasitic diseases, infectious pathologies, neoplasms and oncological processes in the gastrointestinal tract, food intolerance, unbalanced diet. Establishing a diagnosis in this case usually requires a long time and patience from the owners. Diarrhea in a dog can be the result of a wide range of causes that require diametrically different approaches to treatment. Some of these causes can lead to a very serious condition of the dog, or even death, so it is highly recommended that you consult a doctor if diarrhea is detected.

In case of acute diarrhea, it is recommended to immediately consult a general practitioner, the doctor will conduct an initial examination, the results may require ultrasound, x-rays (including to exclude foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract), blood tests, diagnostic laparotomy, biopsy. For chronic diarrhea, a visit to a veterinary gastroenterologist may be recommended. Coprogram (or fecal analysis) is an analysis with low information content, and is currently practically not used.

Treatment will vary greatly depending on the cause of the diarrhea. It is important to understand that in some cases, diarrhea can be a symptom of a life-threatening condition – with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, viral diseases (carnivorous distemper, parvovirus enteritis, especially in puppies), or a swallowed foreign body. Acute profuse diarrhea (very frequent urge to defecate, very loose stools, almost water) can by itself, regardless of the cause, quickly lead to severe dehydration requiring clinical care. If the dog has additional symptoms, especially vomiting, fever, it is necessary to quickly deliver it to the clinic.

Treatment can range from dietary changes to surgery. It is impossible to choose how to treat diarrhea in a dog at home on your own, you can significantly worsen its condition, or even lead to death – since you need to know the cause.