Diarrhea Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment on MedicineNet.com

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Diarrhea

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Medical Author: Jay W. Marks, MD
Medical Editors: Dennis Lee, MD and William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Patient Discussions: Diarrhea Treatments

Viewer discussions on diarrhea treatments

"I've suffered from chronic diarrhea for years and thought it was hormonal. Eating coconut macaroons was an effective treatment. But then I stopped chewing sugarless gum, and the diarrhea went away...permanently. Sugarless gums contain laxatives such as sorbitol!" - cystoqueen

"This has always helped me when I have diarrhea: the BRATTY diet. It stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, tea, toast, and yogurt. The first day eat only bananas. When your stomach can tolerate the bananas, try rice -- plain white boiled or steamed. After rice, eat applesauce and so on. If symptoms reoccur, start back at the beginning. The enzymes in your body need to be rebuilt after all that trauma. I don't have a chronic condition, and I'm not in the medical field. I just know this has worked for me." - Bratty

"I've had diarrhea for 6 months. Imodium AD works well to allow daytime control, but Imodium multi symptom is less effective. To maintain control, I had to increase my dosage of Imodium AD when I used it 7 days in a row. My family doctor could not diagnose my condition, but a specialist now says I have Giardia and has me on two prescriptions. Those who have been in a rural area or around animals and have watery diarrhea with a very sour or rotten egg smell should see a specialist. Fat is not digested and results in frothy foam. Milk is not tolerated. "

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Top Searched Diarrhea Terms:

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What is diarrhea?

Diarrhea is an increase in the frequency of bowel movements or a decrease in the form of stool (greater looseness of stool). Although changes in frequency of bowel movements and looseness of stools can vary independently of each other, changes often occur in both.

Diarrhea needs to be distinguished from four other conditions. Although these conditions may accompany diarrhea, they often have different causes and different treatments than diarrhea. These other conditions are:

incontinence of stool, which is the inability to control (delay) bowel movements until an appropriate time, for example, until one can get to the toilet

rectal urgency, which is a sudden urge to have a bowel movement that is so strong that if a toilet is not immediately available there will be incontinence

incomplete evacuation, which is a sensation that another bowel movement is necessary soon after a bowel movement, yet there is difficulty passing further stool the second time

bowel movements immediately after eating a meal

How is diarrhea defined?

Diarrhea can be defined in absolute or relative terms based on either the frequency of bowel movements or the consistency (looseness) of stools.

Frequency of bowel movements. Absolute diarrhea is having more bowel movements than normal. Thus, since among healthy individuals the maximum number of daily bowel movements is approximately three, diarrhea can be defined as any number of stools greater than three. Relative diarrhea is having more bowel movements than usual. Thus, if an individual who usually has one bowel movement each day begins to have two bowel movements each day, then diarrhea is present-even though there are not more than three bowel movements a day, that is, there is not absolute diarrhea.

Consistency of stools. Absolute diarrhea is more difficult to define on the basis of the consistency of stool because the consistency of stool can vary considerably in healthy individuals depending on their diets. Thus, individuals who eat large amounts of vegetables will have looser stools than individuals who eat few vegetables. Stools that are liquid or watery are always abnormal and considered diarrheal. Relative diarrhea is easier to define based on the consistency of stool. Thus, an individual who develops looser stools than usual has diarrhea--even though the stools may be within the range of normal with respect to consistency.