Tips to Deal With Diarrhea

Tips to Deal With Diarrhea : Diarrhea or watery stools sometimes get better on their own. But you should not take them lightly. They can become life-threatening due to dehydration. Therefore you should maintain adequate fluid intake if you have watery stools. It can be accompanied by stomach pain, fever, dizziness, and lethargy.

Diarrhea that occurs due to food or some other reason remains for a short time. But if it becomes chronic, it can indicate any digestive system health condition such as Crohn’s disease or inflammatory bowel syndrome. If you have a complaint of recurrent diarrhea, you should visit the general physician.

In this article, we will tell you the tips that can help in coping up with diarrhea. Although it may seem like a simple health condition, it should not be taken lightly. If you mismanage diarrhea, it can become a life-threatening condition as it causes your body to lose water.

Dealing With Diarrhea

Anti-diarrheal Medications

Little diarrhea may settle on its own. But if it remains for more than 24 hours, you should take any medication. Along with staying near the bathroom, it is a good idea to take any over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication. Your healthcare provider may prescribe loperamide or Pepto-Bismol to treat diarrhea.

Electrolytes

Diarrhea causes dehydration due to excessive fluid loss. Therefore you need to replenish the electrolytes lost with the fluid. You should consume over-the-counter electrolyte solution or oral rehydration salts with water to replenish your electrolyte stores.

However, if you are hypertensive, diabetic, or have kidney disease, you should consult with your healthcare provider before taking it.

Rice Water

A magical remedy to stop diarrhea is rice water. It works by making your stools bulky, hence preventing diarrhea. You can make rice water at home by boiling 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water. Boil it until the mixture becomes cloudy. Filter out the water and drink it.

Rice water not only provides your body with a fluid replacement but also reduces the duration of watery stools.

Probiotics

Your digestive system contains certain bacteria that help in the digestion of food. Due to some reason, such as antibiotics intake, those bacteria may get killed. Therefore it can result in diarrhea.

To combat that kind of diarrhea, you can take probiotics externally. Probiotics are good bacteria that help in the digestion of food. You can also get probiotics through yogurt. They are also available in solution form in the pharmacy.

Probiotics can help restore normal digestion processes. You must take it if you have a complaint of recurrent diarrhea.

Antibiotics

If diarrhea occurs due to the bacterial growth in the food, your healthcare provider may prescribe an antibiotic for it. However, it may not be effective against viral diarrhea.

Make sure that you do not stop taking antibiotics in the middle of the course. You must take it as prescribed by the physician. Otherwise, it may cause antibiotic resistance in your body.

BRAT Diet

The BRAT diet can help in relieving diarrhea quickly. It stands for:

B- bread
R- rice
A- applesauce
T- toast

This kind of diet helps relieve diarrhea because it is soft, light on the stomach, easily digestible, bland, and starchy.

Since they are starchy, they cause your gastrointestinal tract to produce bulky stool. Due to their bland nature, it also does not irritate your stomach.

Along with this diet, you can also eat bland and soft foods such as crackers or potatoes.

Bananas

Bananas are rich in potassium. Therefore, they must be taken in diarrhea as you lose electrolytes with fluid loss. They can help in replenishing the lost potassium stores.

An electrolyte imbalance can occur due to diarrhea- resulting in a life-threatening condition called arrhythmias.