Don’T Leave Home With Chronic Diarrhea
Chronic diarrhea is indicated when one has a loose stool all of the time for at least a month. These stools can occur one or more times a day. The best method for the treatment of chronic diarrhea is to identify what is causing it, alleviating the stool issue and addressing any complications. This condition can have a large impact to someone’s quality of life and their overall health. Causes of chronic diarrhea can be a huge inconvenience, but it can also be life-threatening.
What causes chronic diarrhea? In the developed world, it can have its cause from a wide range of conditions.
- Irritable bowel syndrome is one common cause of chronic diarrhea. It can bring about cramps in the abdomen and be interspersed with constipation issues.
- There are several types of inflammatory bowel disease that can cause chronic diarrhea. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are two examples. These develop when the body’s immune system begins to attack parts of the digestive tract for no reason.
- not common in the developed world, but they are seen. Any number of medications and herbal concoctions can cause chronic diarrhea as a side effect.
If you experience chronic diarrhea causes (loose stools for over a month), then you should see a healthcare provider. You may need to see them sooner if you experience dehydration or significant weight loss. When you go in, be prepared with information on the following:
- when it began,
- changes in medicines,
- if you have had any recent medical problems.
The care provider may suggest treating the symptoms before testing. If they want to do tests, it is common for blood, stool and urine samples to be taken. If those don’t provide the reason for the causes of chronic diarrhea, there are more invasive tests such as colonoscopy or X-rays.
What are the common treatments for chronic diarrhea? The aim of any treatment is to get rid of the underlying causes, relieve the symptoms and treat any complications. The cause must be determined to eliminate it. For infections, antibiotics may be prescribed. Some foods may need to be eliminated from the diet. If a cause cannot be determined clearly, a doctor may want to do a treatment trial. They can give you an antibiotic run or change your diet. Many over the counter medications are available to relieve the symptoms of chronic diarrhea. If these are not effective, the doctor can give you a prescription for stronger ones. If complications have arisen, then the doctor will have to deal with these as well. Chronic diarrhea can cause problems in the colon area.
About the Author
As a top contributor to BestProbioticProductsorg; Andrew Behling is a leading authority on nutrition, digestive health and probiotics. Discover more about digestive health issues and how probiotics can help by visiting Andrew’s Top 10 Probiotic Product Reviews Page at BestProbioticProducts.org
What is causing this chronic pain in my lower abdomen?
Every year, around this time, I get chronic pains in my lower abdomen, just below the belly button. This pain is accompanied by diarrhea and the pain is mild to moderate–depends on how my day is going or how it has gone. Please, help me figure out what could be causing this pain, and please, help me figure out any at-home-remedies that may stop the pain or ease it’s passing.
What makes your question difficult to answer is the time of year factor. I don’t know of anything in and of itself that would give you abdominal pain that is accompanied by or caused by the time of year.
Are you changing your diet or activity level? Does the pain and diarrhea come at other times of the year also but not as bad? There has to be something else that is triggering this, I think.
If you are having some strange reaction to the time of year, try getting the lamps that are recommended for people that become depressed due to the shortening of days. You need light that mimics natural sunlight, not just more lamps. You can find them if you do a search on seasonal affective disorder light or lamp. If that doesn’t work, try talking to your doctor.
