Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with diarrhea

Help with an IBS flare-up.

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:15:33 -0800

How do I deal with a IBS flare-up? (kind of gross) I'm about 95% sure I have IBS. I know YANAD or MD and I have an appointment for a visit with a gastroenterologist, but that's not for several weeks. This is after a visit with my PCP.

Essentialy, what happens is that I will wake up one morning with an upset stomach and have diarrhea several times in a day. If I eat ANYTHING, bam, I have to run to the bathroom. These attacks usually last two to three days. I thought at first I was lactose intolerant, and I don't think dairy helps, but on Thanksgiving I ate food made with milk products and I was fine until today.

I have read older threads about how to prevent flare-ups and I will definitely put that information to use, but what do I do now, when I'm in the middle of one? I'm in a challenging grad program and of course the next few weeks are the most stressful time. I have a day job on top of that and, while it's the cause of a fair amount of stress, the pay and the atmosphere can't be beat in this economy. Yet I cannot spend the next three hours, let alone the next three weeks, on the toilet. I've even had to run out of class, which was embarrassing and could be detrimental to my progress in my program.

My stomach was absolutely fine from Wednesday through the time I woke up this morning. I wouldn't say I overindulged on Thanksgiving but I definitely ate food I'm not used to (the dairy). I was back to normal eating by Friday. I've spent most of today camped out in the bathroom or asleep. This doesn't help my stress level, as my homework won't do itself. I don't know what to do now.

What can I eat? How can I make an IBS attack less severe, so I can at least be functional? I am a woman in my early thirties and otherwise my health is pretty good.

Thanks for any help. I'm sorry if this sounds disjointed.

Throwaway email: ohgodmystomach@hotmail.com

How to make my dog have a solid stool?

jwfree — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:25:15 -0800

What type (not brand) of dog food is good for dogs with bad gas and soft stool? I have an purebred American Bulldog puppy that is about five months old. She has been on the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul (Large Breed) brand since I have owned her, which is about three months. This whole time her stool has had various states, ranging from diarrhea to normal. Along with this she has had very, very bad gas! The vet has checked her twice and assures nothing is wrong, she just has those two problems.

I am not sure if this is something that wears off in time since she is just a puppy or if I need to try a new food. It was suggested to me that I try a food without chicken and see where that gets us. The same feed store also informed me that Chicken Soup has been known to cause bad gas for American Bulldogs and Boston Terriers.

I am open to trying anything, even if it is a little pricier.

Diarrhea...Phobia?

Yasuo — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:03:28 -0800

Help me survive my last year of high school as a student prone to frequent anxiety attacks and major senioritis. My life revolves around my bowl movements. Fear of using public restrooms snowballed into an anxiety I deal with almost on a daily basis. The few times I had food-related diarrhea in public feared the 10-year-old me into attempts of avoiding future incidents at all cost, mostly out of embarrassment of stinking up the ladies' room. (Note: I have a hard time peeing in public, too.)

Ironically, the same fear gives me diarrhea anyways. I naturally started fearing stomach pains and going out in public. With every panic attack solidifying my fear, it's virtually impossible to break out of it alone at this point. As a result, I spend most of my time housebound.

To make my situation seem less stupid, I'm possibly predisposed to anxiety to begin with.

Unfortunately, school is the only place I cannot avoid. Anxiety aside, I'm failing easy "fill-in" classes because I don't give a rat's ass about them. I can't help but feel a bit depressed about my current situation as I'm stuck waiting to grow a little bit more in order to quality to take the GED.

My high school counselor had been less than helpful, and my parents are semi-reluctant to believe that I have a mental illness (cultural thing, I guess). I finally convinced them to take me to a doctor, but they're dead set on dragging me back to a pubic school tomorrow. I can feel a gigantic panic attack looming over the horizon.

So in the meanwhile, what can I do to make the next couple months of my existence more tolerable during school hours? I'll try anything, and thank you in advance.

Stomach virus still lingering?

peep — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:03:04 -0800

Almost a week ago I had a stomach virus (or possibly food poisoning, I guess), and I still don't feel back to normal. Is there anything I can do, or is this within the realm of normal? Last Wednesday at 3 AM, I started throwing up, followed by diarrhea, about every 30 minutes. By 10 AM Wednesday, I was done vomiting. I ate nothing that day. The next day I ate almost nothing and spent most of the day on the couch. Friday I went to work but could still barely function.

I've never before had a gastro virus where I didn't feel 100% after 48 hours (and usually I feel almost normal within 24 hours).

Now it's Monday and I still feel like crap. I'm exhausted, can barely keep my eyes open. I have ZERO appetite. Food sounds repulsive. I feel weak and achy, and just have a general feeling of blah. I can't picture this feeling passing.

It reminds me of how I felt when I had mono, and it's like nothing I've ever experienced with any other bout of gastroenteritis.

Have you experienced this? When might it pass? Is there anything I can do at home that might help? When should I take further action?

On preview, there's absolutely no chance I could be pregnant, just to get that out of the way.

How do I keep from getting dehydrated when I'm constantly vomiting and diarrhea-ing?

HotPatatta — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:04:17 -0800

I've had diarrhea and constant vomiting since last night. I can't even keep down water. What should I do to keep from getting dehydrated? It could be food poisoning. Yesterday's menu: my usual tofu wrap (lettuce, hummus, tofu on lavash bread) and Chinese food (pork, noodles, veggies) from a place I had never tried before. I don't feel ill otherwise--no fever, aches, pains. What should I try to eat or drink that will regulate my system and keep me from getting dehydrated? I ate some yogurt for lunch and mixed in a small amount of blueberry preserves and cereal, but I just vomited and, well, there it was. Every glass of water I've had has come back up, too.
My health insurance hasn't kicked in yet.

(My pants are noticeably looser, which is keeping my spirits up!)

I'm feeling diarrheay?

majikstreet — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:30:30 -0800

Is there a name for that feeling that you're about to have diarrhea? (What is it?) You know, the feeling that OMG I HAVE TO GO NOW OR IT'S GONNA END UP IN MY PANTS!!! That type of feeling.

Please help us help our dog adjust to her new food. It's been over a month.

woot — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:22:01 -0800

My dog isn't adjusting to her new food, and it's been over a month. We know she has a sensitive stomach, but we had hoped that she'd be adjusted by now. Aside from food vigilance, what else can we do to help her? We changed food for both our dogs about a month and a half ago and while one dog has adjusted just fine, the other vacillates between semi-okay poop and out-and-out diarrhea.

Raisin is a 2.5 year old Border Terrier. She has a sensitive stomach in general -- we have to be careful with giving her treats, as she will usually have some gastric distress. Out other dog, Willy, is a 4 year old terrier mix. The problem is that we've been changing foods for both dogs due to some allergy issues with Willy, who has a thin white coat and sensitive skin. Raisin did okay with the first switch but has not adjusted to the second switch. Here are the specifics:

When she came to us year ago, her breeder had been feeding her VeRUS Life Advantage dry food.

In spring of this year, we switched both dogs to Hill's Prescription Diet z/d Low Allergen dry food (not the Ultra Low, just the Low version). Raisin took a few weeks to adjust to it, but both she and Willy had good poop habits with it.

We have come to believe that Willy's issues are not a food allergy, and decided to switch the dogs to a "regular" food. After some research and a friend's recommendation that Blue Buffalo helped her dog with skin sensitivity, we chose Chicken & Brown Rice recipe dry food.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough of the z/d on hand to do the transition properly. We did what we could to transition with the few cups of z/d that we had, and we made the switch. After about a week, Willy was fine. (And in fact we do think that his coat has improved -- Blue Buffalo does seem to be a pretty good food, if Dog Food Analysis is to be believed.)

But it's been a month and Raisin just hasn't settled down. At first it was bad, as we expected. But then we'd see some improvement. And then the next day, back to bad. It's not uncontrollable-- she's not having accidents in the house -- but it's just what we call, for lack of a better term, "soft-serv."

We haven't taken her to the vet. Her energy is fine, she eats fine, and she drinks a lot of water. In fact, she seems to have gained some weight, her coat looks nice, and she seems to be doing pretty well. About once or twice a week she will wake us up in the middle of the night to go out with some urgency, but she can hold it for the minutes it takes us to get up and get dressed and take her out.

We're realizing that nature isn't taking its course here, and we're going to remove ALL treats and become hyper vigilant about what goes into her body. I know we should have done this from the start, but we kept thinking she was getting better, and what with the time lag between eating and the reaction, it was hard to tell whether it was THIS treat or THAT treat or ALL treats or the food itself... (And we're not talking bizarro treats here. Avoderm dog bicscuits, Blue Buffalo dog biscuits, and some Charlee treats for training are all we have in the house.) Anyway, I know that food vigilance is the obvious solution, and we're going to do that.

But it occurs to me that there might be some other options.

Should we consider adding something to her diet to help get her GI system sorted out? I've seen discussions here about using yogurt for this purpose. I reviewed the Blue Buffalo ingredients list and it looked to me like the last few items were beneficial bacteria; would yogurt help or hinder this?

Should we switch foods again? We know the z/d worked for both dogs. But I'm not sure z/d is the right solution for them, long-term. Would switching foods yet again do more harm than good? How would you choose a different food?

Why did mac & cheese not agree with me?

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:48:31 -0800

Am I allergic to something food-related? Precursor: I am definitely absolutely not allergic to gluten. I was just tested two weeks ago.

I just had Easy Mac and a bag of Rold Gold pretzels for lunch. Immediately after eating, I got really strong stomach cramps, and about 15 minutes later went to the bathroom where I had very intense diarrhea. I feel perfectly normal now.

I've been noticing this happening on occasion, but I've never noted the food I ate when it happened before.

Is there something in Easy Mac/pretzels (note: it was PROBABLY not the pretzels; I eat them a lot) that I could theoretically be allergic to, or is there some reason eating them would make me have INSTANT diarrhea?

I am positive no one slipped a laxative into my water.

The only other thing I have eaten today has been an Odwalla mango smoothie, much earlier, with no bad feelings immediately after.

What is possibly wrong with our dog?

k8t — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:07:11 -0800

What is wrong with our dog? He pants and pees and poos all of the time. You are not a vet, nor are you our vet. We got home from being away for 6 months (me) and 2 months (significant other) and our animals were watched by a housesitter. Upon our arriving back, our dog (10 year old yellow lab) had diarrhea for a week. We watched him for a few days, then switched him to a white rice diet for a week, took him to the vet. The vet prescribed antibiotics and said nothing was wrong based on a stool sample. The antibiotics didn't help much. The poo was still pretty wet after a week of antibiotics. We switched him back to normal Iams dog food for nearly a week and the poo was still wet. We then put him back on white rice for a few days and have tried to switch him to California Natural dog food for the past few days. Still wet poo. This is now been a month of wet poo. He poos 2X a day, but was pooing more often at the beginning of the month.

Secondly, he needs to pee constantly. This is a dog that was 8am and 6pm consistently for years. Now he needs to go at 6am, 8am, 6pm, 9pm, 11pm, and 3am. He is also constantly panting, no matter how much water we give him.

Today I started giving him cranberry juice in case he has a UTI.

Any ideas? I am going to call the vet again, but after being told that nothing was wrong with him last time, I want to go in armed with some other ideas.

Belching, farting and other icky stuff. What the hell just happened to my gastrointestinal system?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:50:22 -0800

Belching, farting and other icky stuff. What the hell just happened to my gastrointestinal system? Disgusting details inside. Starting about three weeks ago, my gastrointestinal system went haywire.

* In the mornings, I often must belch great huge belches that taste/smell like rotten scrambled eggs. Or perhaps an old malted milk.

* These belches often seem to be composed of unusual gases -- the sound of the belch is strangely higher in pitch than usual. I say "unusual gases" because the effect is similar to speaking after inhaling helium.

* I'm farting like a madman bent on suffocating those around me.

* There is diarrhea. There is bloating. There is abdomninal discomfort and gurgling. 'Nuff said.

* This all doesn't seem (to me, at least) to be related to any specific dietary change. I'm eating normally. I'm no health food nut, but nothing has obviously changed.

Just what the hell happened to me? More importantly, how do I make it stop?

What can I feed my dog to get rid of his diarrhea?

oldlies — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:57:14 -0800

My little dog has had diarrhea for three days...all over the house. What can I make for him that will settle his stomach and bulk up his poop? He's a two-year old daschund with no history of health problems.

My carpet and I thank you for your suggestions.

What can I expect from my kitten's hospitalization?

MeetMegan — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:26:34 -0800

My 12-week-old kitten might have coccidia. He is in the animal hospital now. What can I expect? Coal is the cutest, sweetest kitten I've ever met. Everyone who's met him has fallen in love with him (even the vet techs!).

I've had him since Monday. I know, a short time!

I spent most of the day yesterday at home with him, instead of going into the office. I noticed he hadn't been eating his dry cat food, but I thought it was due to the Upper Respiratory Infection he'd been diagnosed with earlier in the day. I planned to go and get some wet food on my way back from a wedding that night.

I came home from the wedding and found that he had some very bad diarrhea in the living room (way outside his litter box in the bathroom, which he had been using consistently all week). I cleaned it up, called the vet, and left a message. Then he had more diarrhea but this was a milky yellow and had blood in it. Needless to say I rushed him straight to the vet ER.

They didn't diagnose him with anything; rather they treated him for dehydration and gave him a little food. They released him to me and told me to take him to the Anti Cruelty Society (where I adopted him) today.

The vet at ACS told me that it's probably coccidia, though the 2 fecal tests have come up negative. The vet will keep Coal in the hospital to treat his URI and the coccidia. He was very nice and understanding, but I was kind of in a fog so I didn't ask all the questions I should have!

Coal will be in the hospital until Tuesday at the earliest. I am allowed to visit him between 10-4 every day, and I definitley plan to do so. Unfortunately, I have a lot of questions I just didn't ask the vet this morning, since I was kind of in shock (this is my first PET!). The vet was very nice, very caring, but is now off for the next two days; he didn't give me the contact information for the individual filling in for him.

So, I ask you, Metafilter: What can I expect from his treatment? What is an animal hospital like (on the inside)? What are good signs to look for tomorrow when I visit him? Is there any chance he could die?

I thank you all for your time and advice - I am just a worried, first-time cat owner!

My problem is not in my head, it's in my guts. Help me figure out what it is.

fuzzbean — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:47:51 -0800

Help me make my next doctor's appointment more productive than my last one. This is about GI stuff. It is long. It is gross. You are warned. For about the last six months, I've had intermittent but ongoing issues with reflux, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea (but no vomiting). It comes and goes - I'll have a week that's all diarrhea all the time, and then one that's fine. Bad stomach cramps one day, nothing the next.

Over the course of about two months I got progressively worse reflux and heartburn; possibly related I've had abortive burps that feel like cramps in my esophogus. The reflux gets especially bad during exercise and often makes me stop.

I've been woken up in the morning by stomach cramps and needing to poo, I've eaten things and had them go through me in four hours (and yes, I'm sure it was the same thing coming out that just went in), I've had sudden and nearly-irresistible urges to use the bathroom NOW RIGHT NOW. There are a few areas of pain / discomfort (more discomfort than pain), including one near the crest of my right hip, another few inches under my right rib cage, and a third on my left side adjacent to my belly button.

This comes after a lifetime of having an absolutely cast-iron stomach, never nauseous, no diarrhea unless I ate something absurdly unwise, etc. This is very, very weird for me.

My GP gave me Aciphex, which helped with the reflux but not the diarrhea and nausea. A GI doc blew me off with a diagnosis of IBS caused by stress (I have an absurdly low-stress life, for real, but he wouldn't listen to that) and gave me a prescription for Librax, which I didn't fill after finding out that Librax includes a benzo (I have existing issues with depression and can't even take Zyrtec regularly because it makes me too dopey, but I didn't get the chance to discuss it with him - his nurse gave me the scrip after he'd already left.)

I have another appointment with a different GI doc coming up in November, but I'd like some input on what tests I should be pushing for and what this could possibly be. I know you're not doctors and this isn't medical advice. But I really don't want to spend another $60 to be told that it's all in my head.

Other stuff: I eat a fairly healthy diet and mostly cook for myself, whole grains and lots of fruits and veggies. 5'9", 140 lbs. Female. My maternal relatives have a history of gall bladder problems - both aunts and my grandmother. I've been tested for celiac, h. pylori, and intestinal parasites (all negative), and my GP also checked my hepatic function, amylase, and lipase levels and they were normal too.

I want harder poop

GardnerDB — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:18:58 -0800

Is there a pill or powder that has the opposite effect of a stool softener? I eat lots of fiber and I need something to negate its effects. I'm on a diet that includes a lot of fiber. Fruits, veggies, oatmeal, etc. I feel great and I know the food I am eating is much healthier. The only problem is, I now have loose stools all the time. Is there a pill I can take to make make them into more of a hard....log? Squishy pooh requires too much cleanup and my buns are getting raw. Plus, I sometimes have trouble holding it in when I need to.

A pill or water-soluble powder would be great because there's no prep required and no extra calories. Any ideas?

When losing weight, is it normal to have loose stools?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:04:07 -0800

When losing weight, is it normal to have loose stools? I have been losing weight rather rapidly, 30 pounds since February 21. I gave up processed sugar for Lent and I didn't ever realize how much I was eating!

During this period of rapid weight loss, I have noticed that the majority of the time I use the bathroom, my stools are very loose. Not quite liquidy like diarrhea but close.

My question is - is this normal when losing weight? If not, I will run out and make an appointment with my physician immediately, but I'd rather not spend two hours of my time in transit and at the doctor's office just to be told it's normal. So, what are your experiences? Did you have loose stools when you lost weight?

Here are additional details: late 20's, female, started at 250 lbs, now 219 lbs, 5'5", U.S. resident, no recent travel, has not changed diet other than to cut out processed sugar (which includes corn syrup, white sugar, etc. - all sweeteners - but not natural sugar such as found in fruits and vegetables and not complex carbohydrates). If you have additional questions, email me at WeightLossAskMeFi@gmail.com

Will over-the-counter anti-diuretics delay recovery of traveler's diarrhea?

willnot — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 23:04:18 -0800

Will over-the-counter anti-diuretics interfere with whatever my body is trying to do to fight off the nasty I ingested while down in Mexico? I came back with a lovely case of Montezuma's Revenge as a nice souvenir, and I've been spending so much time in the facilities praying for death that it's almost completely debilitating. I'd like to be able to sleep for more than 15 or 20 minutes tonight.

Best pre-puking practices? (Non alcohol related, non bulimia related)

poppo — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:01:49 -0800

A stomach bug is making its way through my system and the puking part is approaching. Best pre-puking practices? So, my wife and son each had a stomach bug this week. First symptom was the runs. This led nicely into several hours of puking.

Now, I have the runs. I am most likely only a few hours away from some serious puking.

So far I haven't eaten anything today. I had my coffee this morning before things got started and have just had some water since then. I took a little Pepto Bismol too.

What do you recommend? Should I eat something or just vomit up water? Your suggestions are welcome and appreciated

Feline Regularity

amber_dale — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 16:49:14 -0800

Help my cat get regular. My four month old kitten has had diarrhea for the last two months. I noticed it after he finished up a course of antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. He eats this dry food and has 1-2 teaspoons of Nutro Complete Care wet food every couple of days as a treat. Last month I took him to the vet because it had not cleared up on its own. They did a fecal analysis and found nothing and recommended canned pumpkin and acidophilus supplements. I gave him about a teaspoon of pumpkin per day for the next couple of weeks and have been sprinkling his food with a small pinch of powder acidophilus tablets daily to no effect. (The pumpkin was discontinued after the other cat started scarfing hers and then puking bright orange inside of five minutes.) He is a long haired cat and this makes a real mess. Please help; he does not enjoy daily baths and I dislike tiny pawprints of poo.

What happened to Kaopectate's old formula?

WCityMike — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 07:31:15 -0800

What does "nonmonograph designation" mean, with regards to pharmaceuticals and the FDA? Or, more specifically, why did the FDA pull attapulgite off the market? As best I can determine, antidiarrheals which used attapulgite (such as the old formula of Kaopectate) were pulled off the market or reformulated after the FDA, in 2003, gave it "nonmonograph designation." I'm curious as to what a "nonmonograph designation" by the FDA is, and what the background story is behind attapulgite specifically being yanked.

Kaopectate now works off of the same active ingredient as Pepto-Bismol, and when I tried to find out why Kaopectate was reformulated, and what other medications might have attapulgite, I ran across the FDA stuff that said attapulgite wasn't available, period, anymore.

This may be one of those obscure ones no one can answer, but then again, I got nearly everything wrong with Chapi Chapo, and you guys still got me an answer ... :-)

Crazy PMS

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:05:16 -0800

I've never had PMS problems before outside of the occasional mild lower backache. I'm not on the pill because while my period is not on-the-dot regular, it does come every month for a fairly normal length of time and rate of flow. It has been easy to deal with. But for the past five or six months I've been getting Montezuma's Revenge bad at the onset of my period. What gives? At the beginning of my period for something like a 24-hour flu hits me. Nausea, diarrhea, sometimes vomiting, chills, sweats, and, worst of all, gas bloating so bad I can't do much else but lie somewhere cold and pray for it to pass. It can last from a few hours to half a day. Additionally, my lower backaches have gotten signifcantly worse. After the first experience I started taking Pepto-Bismol and Gas-Ex when the thing starts coming on, but this only provides enough relief to allow me to move from one room to the other and make it to a toilet.

This is inconvenient and disgusting, and I can't exactly take a day off every month to deal with angry intestines. Has anyone had this problem before? What could have brought it on? There's been no diet changes, no lifestyle changes. I've tried drinking more water, eating more fiber, eating less fiber, getting more sleep, taking multivitamins . . . Haven't tried actual, regular exercise, but even increases in my activity level don't seem to help.

giardia?

fabesfaves — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 15:21:23 -0800

This is incredibly disgusting, I know, but has anyone on here ever had giardia, and how were you treated? Was it successful? Any info would be appreciated because I think I may have it.

How to eat dried fruit without diarrhea

kenko — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:40:34 -0800

How can I glut my powerful lust for sweet sweet dried apricots without enduring such dire consequences as gaining intimate familiarity with tiled flooring and experiencing spewful crappings?

Restaurant Results

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 17:01:55 -0800

Why does eating in a restaurant make me crap my pants?

I have a generally healthy, varied diet. I can eat anything prepared at home, regardless of how rich, fatty, or spicy it is. But nearly everything from restaurants causes massive stomach upset. I have an intense need to go to the bathroom within 20 or 30 minutes of eating restaurant food - sometimes it's diarrhea, sometimes not.

I can eat junk food, fast food - even Taco Bell - without problems, which adds to my confusion about the cause. I thought it might be MSG, but the local Chinese restaurant is one of the few places I can eat, and they do use MSG. Is there one particular food additive that I'm not aware of that might be doing this? Any other ideas?

How do you solve a problem like cat diarrhea?

Mayor Curley — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 13:07:42 -0800

Kitty has diarrhea, and has had it for about four days. It it is now abating, but not completely gone. We (forcibly) gave her bismuth, but not for two days and it seems to be drying up on its own (from great pools of near-liquid to soft stools that probably wouldn't seem suspicious without the forerunners). She's otherwise completely normal and we seem more concerned about it than she.

Getting her to the vet is a PITA. Is there anything else OTC we can give her to speed up the correction before one of us takes time off, schedules an appointment and pays the vet for the priveledge of giving advice that I might get here?