I come pleading for help

[[wcip]Angel]

Diahrrea! Hard to spell, even harder to cope with.

The backstory
I went to England last week-end where we partook in some of the local eateries, among others a chinese restaurant and a shady-looking Indian place. We had some hot food both places. At the Indian place, I also had the chocolate ice cream for dessert.

The story:
Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Having returned home monday evening, I woke up having to go to the bathroom, which never happens. I was astounded to learn that I suffered from diahrrea. After bitching and moaning to myself for a few minutes, I composed myself and went about my day. The bathroom-trips increased in time, and I do believe I clocked in about 10-12 visits that day. Wednesday is now over, and I have yet to rid myself of this menace. I've avoided dangerous foods, drunk boiled water and eaten a norwegian flat bread that supposedly helps against this sort of thing. It haven't. I've tried other things. Coke (intake of sugar helps, according to Wikipedia), salty crackers (same with salt) and blueberry jam (which according to my father also helps). I also took two pills of something called "Ido Form", but those haven't kicked in yet.

I should mention that I've contacted everyone I had dinner with in London, and none of them are experiencing anything similar. Granted, I was the only one who had the ice cream saturday evening, but that was 3 days before it started. I had a BLT sandwhich at Stansted airport monday afternoon, but I checked the expiration date, and it was fine. I don't know what's causing this. Divine retribution?

I'm looking for more helpful hints and tips on how to cope with this. I'm drinking plenty of fluids (water and coke), but is there anything more I can do? I suspect most of you have gone through this one time or another and have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Also, Doc, if you see this, and if you are indeed a Doc(tor), please tell me what to do. The pain from having to go the bathroom so frequently is so intense, I feel short-winded when I'm done.

Apologies in advance if this post upsets anyone. I don't know what to do.

[ShadowHM]

For starters, given that this has lasted two days, if it were me, I would be seeing my own physician.

As a second, more trivial recommendation, stop drinking the Coke (sugar is good, in this case as an energy boost, but the caffeine content is not) and substitute a caffeine free soda drink. My preference is Ginger Ale, but tastes do vary.

Lastly, you have my sympathy and best wishes. Good luck.

[Kruxx06]

The backstory
I went to England last week-end where we partook in some of the local eateries, among others a chinese restaurant and a shady-looking Indian place. We had some hot food both places. At the Indian place, I also had the chocolate ice cream for dessert.

The story:
Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Having returned home monday evening, I woke up having to go to the bathroom, which never happens.

Typically food poisoning takes around 12 hours to set in. So odds are it's from whatever you had to eat Monday night. Perhaps the sandwich you ate had some bad Mayonaize on it?

Personally whenever I encounter something like this, I like to try to balance things out, and so I will break out a MRE (It's a army ration that stands for Meal Ready to Eat, however known to those in the service as Meals Refusing to Exit.) and eat one of those. Drink lots of water (try to stay away from coke -- it doesn't help you stay hydrated) and keep hydrated.

[Ashock]

Diahrrea! Hard to spell, even harder to cope with.

The backstory
I went to England last week-end where we partook in some of the local eateries, among others a chinese restaurant and a shady-looking Indian place. We had some hot food both places. At the Indian place, I also had the chocolate ice cream for dessert.

The story:
Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Having returned home monday evening, I woke up having to go to the bathroom, which never happens. I was astounded to learn that I suffered from diahrrea. After bitching and moaning to myself for a few minutes, I composed myself and went about my day. The bathroom-trips increased in time, and I do believe I clocked in about 10-12 visits that day. Wednesday is now over, and I have yet to rid myself of this menace. I've avoided dangerous foods, drunk boiled water and eaten a norwegian flat bread that supposedly helps against this sort of thing. It haven't. I've tried other things. Coke (intake of sugar helps, according to Wikipedia), salty crackers (same with salt) and blueberry jam (which according to my father also helps). I also took two pills of something called "Ido Form", but those haven't kicked in yet.

I should mention that I've contacted everyone I had dinner with in London, and none of them are experiencing anything similar. Granted, I was the only one who had the ice cream saturday evening, but that was 3 days before it started. I had a BLT sandwhich at Stansted airport monday afternoon, but I checked the expiration date, and it was fine. I don't know what's causing this. Divine retribution?

I'm looking for more helpful hints and tips on how to cope with this. I'm drinking plenty of fluids (water and coke), but is there anything more I can do? I suspect most of you have gone through this one time or another and have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Also, Doc, if you see this, and if you are indeed a Doc(tor), please tell me what to do. The pain from having to go the bathroom so frequently is so intense, I feel short-winded when I'm done.

Apologies in advance if this post upsets anyone. I don't know what to do.
[right][snapback]92690[/snapback][/right]

You either ate something bad or caught a virus. Either way you need to stop eating what you are eating for a while.

Eat white rice, bland chicken soup, boiled egg whites and harmless stuff like that.
Do not eat Blueberry or any type of jam or any type of sweets. Do not drink soda, drink plain or bottled water and lots of it. Either way, either you will be ok in 2 days, or go to a doctor (a real one that is).


-A

[pakman]

Immodium AD helps. You won't be running around every 5 mintues. Stop eating for a day. Just drink fluids, water, powerade, etc, but nix the Coke. When you start eating again, start slowly with little bits of food. Rice is good. If it persists longer than a few days, call your physician.

[LochnarITB]

I found this.

I would also suggest hard aged cheeses like cheddar and colby. Large quantities of these cheeses have always got me back to normal.

And, good luck. That is an awful feeling, like your insides want to come out because there is nothing else there to push. :blink: :(

[[wcip]Angel]

So it seems all the advice I've been given is a pile of crap!

* Drink coke
* Eat high-fibre bread
* Drink boiled water

These things are all on your "no no-list".

Went to the bathroom 9 times night to Thursday. Found blood in the stool. I'm going to see my doctor.

Thanks for your input. It's in the hands of the professionals now. At least now I know what NOT to do next time this happens.

[whyBish]

It haven't.
[right][snapback]92690[/snapback][/right]

It must be bad for you to have made your first ever grammar mistake on this board :P
Hope you recover quickly.

[whyBish]

I would also suggest hard aged cheeses like cheddar and colby.  Large quantities of these cheeses have always got me back to normal.
[right][snapback]92706[/snapback][/right]

There are a number of foods that will reduce the liquidity(?) of the stool, but:
a ) It is curing the symptom not the cause
b ) If you were going to do something like this you need to be careful not to overdo it and end up constipated.

[Mephista]

Any word on what the doctors think it is?

The most important thing to take care of when you have diarrhea is to stay hydrated. The ideal drink for this is an electrolyte balanced sports drink (some sugar, some salt, other minerals) like Gatorade.

Blood makes it sound like you might have some kind of virus or parasite in there... or you just have traumatized the hardware too much.

Petroleum jelly can be soothing in that area.

[[wcip]Angel]

The doctor said it was food poisoning of some sort. I didn't catch the latin name for this particular poisoning. He recommended I stay hydrated and drink a mixture of soda (not coke or other caffeinated drinks) and sparkling water.

I'm sitting here with a range of fluids: water, sprite, apple juice, oatmeal soup. Should I stick to one or the other, or is it ok to drink all this? I've eaten half a banana, an apple and some white bread. I am constanly having to go to the bathroom. This is the worst experience of my life.

[Ashock]

The doctor said it was food poisoning of some sort. I didn't catch the latin name for this particular poisoning. He recommended I stay hydrated and drink a mixture of soda (not coke or other caffeinated drinks) and sparkling water.

I'm sitting here with a range of fluids: water, sprite, apple juice, oatmeal soup. Should I stick to one or the other, or is it ok to drink all this? I've eaten half a banana, an apple and some white bread. I am constanly having to go to the bathroom. This is the worst experience of my life.
[right][snapback]92762[/snapback][/right]

I spent much of my childhood getting treated for stomach problems. Take it easy. You'll be fine.



-A

[Flymo]

The doctor said it was food poisoning of some sort. I didn't catch the latin name for this particular poisoning. He recommended I stay hydrated and drink a mixture of soda (not coke or other caffeinated drinks) and sparkling water.

I'm sitting here with a range of fluids: water, sprite, apple juice, oatmeal soup. Should I stick to one or the other, or is it ok to drink all this? I've eaten half a banana, an apple and some white bread. I am constanly having to go to the bathroom. This is the worst experience of my life.
[right][snapback]92762[/snapback][/right]

It takes about 24 hours for solid food to pass through the system, so my guess would be the BLT sandwich is to blame. I've had food poisoning from an airport sandwich (although Moscow, not Stanstead) and you have my sympathy.

I'd go easy on the fruit - too much fruit doesn't exactly bind you.

[Rhydderch Hael]

Angel,Oct 19 2005, 01:41 PM].... I had a BLT sandwhich at Stansted airport monday afternoon, but I checked the expiration date, and it was fine. ...
[right][snapback]92690[/snapback][/right]

Rhydderch's Rule on Refrigerated R—... roast... rye... rutabaga... *sigh*— Sandwiches From a Cold-Case: Read the expiration date. Subtract three years from that date. If you're standing in 2005 and that sandwich is not— don't eat it!

Mayonaisse and cellophane were never meant to be together. It's an unholy union, and then their children get together and "have a little party" (*Londo Mollari voice*) with your gastrointestinal system.

[DeeBye]

My bowels are undergoing sympathy pains.

Godspeed [wcip]Angel. A leaky sphincter is not to be trifled with. I wish you the best.

[Ashock]

My bowels are undergoing sympathy pains.

A leaky sphincter is not to be trifled with. 
[right][snapback]92822[/snapback][/right]

Another quality effort.

If only Deebye came illustrated, he'd be perfect :blink:



-A


ps. You know I love you, man.... in a manly sort of way of course....

[Dako-ta]

Hi, [wcip­]Angel,

Diahrrea! Hard to spell, even harder to cope with.

The backstory
I went to England last week-end where we partook in some of the local eateries, among others a chinese restaurant and a shady-looking Indian place. We had some hot food both places. At the Indian place, I also had the chocolate ice cream for dessert.

I should mention that I've contacted everyone I had dinner with in London, and none of them are experiencing anything similar. Granted, I was the only one who had the ice cream saturday evening, but that was 3 days before it started. I had a BLT sandwhich at Stansted airport monday afternoon, but I checked the expiration date, and it was fine. I don't know what's causing this. Divine retribution?

I'm looking for more helpful hints and tips on how to cope with this. I'm drinking plenty of fluids (water and coke), but is there anything more I can do? I suspect most of you have gone through this one time or another and have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Also, Doc, if you see this, and if you are indeed a Doc(tor), please tell me what to do. The pain from having to go the bathroom so frequently is so intense, I feel short-winded when I'm done.

Apologies in advance if this post upsets anyone. I don't know what to do.
[right][snapback]92690[/snapback][/right]

Sorry I missed this when my reply would have been more timely. Yeah, this is another one of life's little problems that people are uncomfortable talking about, yet is a fact of life for many people. I decided to write a lengthy reply in case of future problems for you or others, since it's an area I know a bit about.

It sounds like you are one of those blessed with a "constitution"/GI tract that isn't prone to this problem. Consider yourself blessed. Read up about "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" if you don't know what that is, or just didn't pay much attention to mention of it when you came across it. Imagine being like your recent condition almost every day of your life. That can be a real misery!

It's interesting that although women suffer from IBS more than men, some seasoned travelers I know say that men often have more GI tract problems when traveling than women do. This may not really be true, but it wouldn't surprise me. It could just be that men aren't as fussy about what they eat as women! :whistling:

I have had periodic problems with diarrhea over the past 20-30 years, sometimes frequently enough that I've wondered if I had IBS. Although I've concluded that I don't, that the cause was probably elsewhere, I know firsthand how restricting it can be in your lifestyle, and downright painful. :wacko:

So, this first-hand experience, combined with some innate interest from my biology-major background, has led me to learn a fair amount about all of this.

Although the ice cream can't be ruled out, I think it's much less likely the culprit than other dishes you ate, or the sandwich. Of course, the food poisoning could just be the result of handling of the food (i.e., someone on the kitchen or wait staff not washing their hands after going to the rest room), not food contaminated from the beginning, etc. Hmmm, was it in a thread here? - somewhere recently I read about someone who refuses to eat food in a restaurant if it's served by a man, citing statistics and personal observations about the high number of men who don't wash their hands after "going potty."

One side effect of being a biology major and taking classes like Microbiology and Parisitology, is to make you a little paranoid about things that most people take for granted. In some students that wears off fairly quickly, but in others (like me, cursed with an overactive imagination), it sticks with you, pretty much for life. :blink:


The article on what to do if you have diarrhea compares pretty well with what I've been told. An easy way to remember much of this is to think of BRAT (a doctor told me about the BRAT diet about 10 years ago during a visit concerning a recent series of episodes of diarrhea).

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

I've found you don't have to be literally restricted to those four choices - if you compare this to that article cited, you can see how each of those 4 letters relate to similar items cited in the .pdf. I find it an easy way to remember what's acceptable to eat.

Now, as to treatment, there are two basic approaches.

A simplistic explanation of diarrhea is that the intestine becomes irritated and speeds up its actions, to, in a sense, "flush out" the irritant faster. So, the reason for the "loose stool" is that the intestine isn't absorbing as much of the water mixed with the solid matter as usual.

So, the oldest approach is to absorb more of the water, helping to solidify the solid matter, sort-of attempting to mimic the normal situation in the bowels. There are several things that can be used for this, of differing effectiveness. Probably the most effective is what's sold in the USA as Kaopectate. I don't know if that brand name is available outside the US or not, though I would think so. Kaopectate is basically a very fine-grained, highly absorbant form of clay (kaolin). It can absorb many times its weight in water, and so can help concentrate the solid matter in the intestine, leading to fewer bowel movements, and a more solid stool (though here, solid is relative...).

Not quite as effective are bismuth solutions or tablets (Pepto-Bismol is the most common brand in the USA, but I usually use generic versions, and they seem as effective). Nowadays, I always keep some bismuth tablets around (longer shelf life than the liquid), and then slowly crunch them into as small particles as I can before swallowing, so they can absorb more. Bismuth tablets (at least the ones I've tried) are usually pleasantly flavored; I don't care for the taste or texture of Kaopectate (though Kao IS more effective, i.e., it can absorb more water than the bismuth preparations). One minor, but startling-the-first-time-you-encounter-it side-effect of bismuth, is that it causes the stool to darken, to turn nearly black. Just a friendly warning... :whistling:

Now, there are some other products that can help solidify the stool, but I think they are much less effective than the above two, and I don't have much/any personal experience with them. IIRC, pectin (the substance used to cause jelly to set) is found in some fruits, maybe apple peels, if my memory serves. I think I've heard of some people recommending apples for this reason. But, on the other hand, apple peels would be fairly high in fiber, and from that point of view would be bad to eat early on in the recovery process. If you want to explore these alternatives, a web search should turn up some more authoratative information, don't go by what I've written in this paragraph.

Now, the more modern approach, is to affect the muscles in the intestine. Because the muscles have "kicked into overdrive" to flush out the "bad" stuff, slowing down their activity level will allow the intestinal wall to absorb lots of water like usual, causing the frequent bowel movement to decrease or even stop. The muscles of the intestine are, IIRC, "smooth" mucles, which are only found in certain parts of the body, and researchers found a compound which selectively affects this type of muscle tissue.

Loperamide is the name of the "active ingredient" in Immodium-AD, and it is now available in generic versions, as well as from the makers of Immodium (and probably other manufacturers overseas). What loperamide does is slow down the activity level of the muscles in the intestinal wall (i.e., decreases peristalsis), allowing more water to be absorbed.

Now, we are talking "serious medicine" here, though loperamide was made over-the-counter (i.e., non-prescription) several years ago. Some people might prefer to stick to more traditional approaches, but, bottom line, I have found that serious cases of diarrhea that aren't adequately controlled by Pepto or Kao, are usually stopped by loperamide. I've only had a couple of episodes over the past 15 years or so that were so severe that even loperamide couldn't "contain" them.

I sometimes go weeks or even months without problems, but this problem has occured often enough over the past third of my life for me that I now make it a point to keep on hand both bismuth (usually tablets, which are easy to tuck in a pocket, etc., though some might prefer the easier-to-take convenience of the liquid form) and loperamide pills.

So, there you have it, some frank talk from me - and, probably more than you EVER wanted to know about this subject. :D

Hope you find it helpful.

Regard,

Dako-ta


"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

--Voltaire

[DeeBye]

Not quite as effective are bismuth solutions or tablets (Pepto-Bismol is the most common brand in the USA, but I usually use generic versions, and they seem as effective).
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I've used bismuth pills in the past to treat diarrhea, but they never seemed to work much. And if they did, the process was too slow to be of much use. Diarrhea is an IMMEDIATE problem which requires an IMMEDIATE solution.

Plus, they turn my poop into strange colours and that's just weird.

I usually just stick close to a toilet and wait it out :(

[Dako-ta]

Hi, DeeBye,

I've used bismuth pills in the past to treat diarrhea, but they never seemed to work much.  And if they did, the process was too slow to be of much use.  Diarrhea is an IMMEDIATE problem which requires an IMMEDIATE solution.

Plus, they turn my poop into strange colours and that's just weird.

I usually just stick close to a toilet and wait it out  :(
[right][snapback]92885[/snapback][/right]

Yeah, I agree that bismuth isn't too effective in moderate to severe cases. And neither bismuth or Kao will necessarily decrease the frequency of bowel movements. However, the increasing solidification of the stool may be a worthwhile effect by itself.

If you want an IMMEDIATE solution (at least, an over-the-counter one), loperamide is the answer. I usually notice an effect in 20-30 minutes (especially if you take 2 pills right away). However, if it seems to be a moderate case, sometimes I start with only one pill, to see if that will help enough to get by.

As far as waiting it out, sometimes I do too. I'm not pill-happy, I prefer to avoid medications if I can. But sometimes, it just doesn't seem worth just "toughing out" a bad situation. It depends on the severity of the attack and my situation. If you simply have to be on the move, loperamide seems to be the only practical solution. But, even if you are in a situation where you can just wait it out, if it's a severe attack, it may not be worth it doing so. The misery, the wear-and-tear on you-know-where, the liquid loss, all may be side-effects bad enough to warrant stronger actiion, i.e., reaching for the loperamide.

I don't know, but suspect, that there may be some additional prescription drugs that could be useful in this situation. On the other hand, maybe there aren't; unless they're real recent, you'd think they would have reached over-the-counter status by now, and I'm not aware of any other than loperamide.

I don't own any stock in any companies producing loperamide. :D And it may have minor side effects, depending on the individual's physiology. I used to get slightly dizzy, and have dry mouth, but I haven't noticed these symptoms the last few years. Possibly they may vary depending on the particular manufacturer, and I probably am using a different one than I used to, since I usually buy generic versions of this. But there are times when I'm just not willing to suffer the side effects of a moderate to severe case of diarrhea, so, albeit reluctantly, I reach for the pills.

Regards,

Dako-ta

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease."

-- Voltaire

[[wcip]Angel]

Thanks for all your advice and sentiments. It's really meant a lot! If you're wondering why I haven't replied to this thread lately, it's because I was hospitalised Friday morning. Thursday night was the second consecutive sleepless, crapful night, and I just couldn't take it any more.

I went to the emergency room and got myself a nice private room (to avoid contamination), some lovely blanc intravenous and a host of generous, helpful nurses and doctors. I enjoyed a marvellous stay at the hospital, and my bowels were shaping up. The pain in my stomach were still there the first day and a half, but dissipated saturday evening. Having spent all of last night in bed (Yay!), it seems I'm on the mend. I checked out from the hospital this morning due to the infrequent visits to the bog and lack of fever. Also my infection rate (or something) had dropped from an impressive 67 to a mild 19.

The tests done on my samples will be back tomorrow. Perhaps they'll have figured out what caused this by then.