What to do if an adult has loose stools for a long time? What diseases cause constant diarrhea in an adult.

If there is persistent diarrhea in an adult, the causes can be very different. Diarrhea is loose, loose stools. This is only a clinical symptom, not a separate disease. Despite this, prolonged diarrhea indicates a serious pathology or poisoning.

Diarrhea is dyspeptic, alimentary, neurogenic, medicinal and toxic. In the first case, frequent loose stools are observed against the background of a lack of enzymes. The cause of alimentary diarrhea is poor nutrition, alcoholism and food allergies. The cause of diarrhea may lie in nervous tension (stress).

In this situation, the nervous regulation of the intestines is disrupted. Very often, diarrhea is a consequence that develops while taking medication. The most severe is toxic diarrhea. It develops in case of poisoning with food, chemicals, poisons of fungi and plants. There are the following causes of loose stools in adults:

When a person contacts a doctor, the nature of the bowel movements should be established. There is diarrhea, which is combined with other symptoms (nausea, fever, abdominal pain, flatulence). Loose stools are green, yellow, black or whitish. Sometimes there is diarrhea with water. Detection of blood, mucus or pus in the stool may indicate colon pathology up to cancer.

Intestinal dysbacteriosis

A common cause of diarrhea in adults is dysbacteriosis. Feces in the intestines are formed as the chyme moves. In this case, the digestion of nutrients occurs, as well as the absorption of various electrolytes and water. The process of digestion occurs with the participation of microflora. The normal composition of bacteria in the intestinal cavity is represented by bifidobacteria, bacteroids, lactobacilli, E. coli, peptococci and other microbes.

The causes of dysbacteriosis include oral administration of antibacterial drugs, radiation, lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet, the presence of chronic intestinal pathology, and immunodeficiency. Loose stools are most often observed with dysbacteriosis of 3 and 4 degrees. The following processes underlie the development of diarrhea:

malabsorption of water;
increased intestinal motility;
the formation of a large amount of bile acids.

Often, such patients are concerned about nausea, allergies in the form of a rash, bloating, pain, loss of appetite, and belching. Prolonged dysbacteriosis causes the development of chronic enterocolitis and weight loss of the patient.

Symptom in pancreatitis

In diarrhea, causes include diseases of the pancreas. This organ takes an active part in the digestive process. Diarrhea is frequent. With this disease, the function of the organ decreases and insufficient production of enzymes is observed. The reasons for the development of pancreatitis include chronic alcoholism, domestic drunkenness, cholelithiasis, inflammation of the small intestine, peptic ulcer, acute inflammatory process, exposure to toxic substances, malnutrition (overeating, eating large amounts of fat).

Frequent and loose stools against the background of pancreatitis are observed due to the ingestion of poorly digested food into the large intestine. A large amount of nutrients leads to the activation of bacteria. This enhances fermentation and putrefactive processes, which ultimately leads to a violation of the stool by the type of diarrhea, frequent urination and bloating.

The stool is often mushy. It contains many pieces of undigested food. With inflammation of the pancreas, diarrhea is not the only symptom. It is combined with pain in the left side or lower back and dyspeptic syndrome. Analysis of feces for suspected chronic pancreatitis plays a large role in the diagnosis.

Nonspecific ulcerative colitis

The causes of diarrhea are often associated with diseases of the large intestine.

Loose stools are a manifestation of nonspecific ulcerative colitis.

With this disease, inflammation of the mucous membrane and the formation of ulcers are observed. Mostly young people aged 20 to 40 years are ill. There are several theories of the development of this pathology (autoimmune, genetic, infectious). Ulcerative colitis is characterized by the following symptoms:

violation of the chair;
the presence of blood and mucus in the feces;
pain in the lower abdomen;
bloating.

When exacerbated, the body temperature rises. Patients lose weight. They have weakness, muscle pain. Often the function of the organ of vision is impaired. Diarrhea is one of the most persistent symptoms. 95% of patients complain about it.

The frequency of bowel movements is on average 3-4 times a day. With an exacerbation, the urge to go to the toilet becomes more frequent. In the stool, blood and a large amount of mucus are found. Diarrhea in ulcerative colitis is sometimes combined with constipation.

Crohn's disease

One of the most severe inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract is Crohn's disease. When it affects all layers (mucous, muscular and submucosal). Areas of inflamed tissue alternate with healthy ones. The process can affect the upper and lower sections of the digestive tube. The small intestine is most commonly affected. There are 3 degrees of severity of the disease.

With a mild course of the disease, the frequency of stools is up to 4 times a day. Blood in the stool is rarely present. With moderate severity, diarrhea bothers patients up to 6 times a day. The presence of blood in the stool is visible to the naked eye. Diarrhea with a frequency of up to 10 times indicates a severe course of the disease. In the latter case, complications develop (fistulas, abscesses, bleeding).

It develops in humans for unknown reasons. Young people under 35 are more often ill. Additional symptoms of this pathology are cutting or aching pains in the abdomen, myalgia, weakness, malaise, eye damage. The diagnosis of Crohn's disease can only be made after a thorough examination of the sick person.

Other reasons

Enterobiasis is manifested by the following symptoms:

anal itching;
cramping pain in the abdomen;
liquid stool;
nausea;
tenesmus;
bloating and rumbling in the abdomen.

In such patients, the stool becomes mushy. Diarrhea may alternate with constipation. Loose stools in adults are observed when protozoa (giardia) enter the intestines. Giardiasis can be contracted by eating unwashed fruits and vegetables. Diarrhea in this disease is the main symptom. The stool has a bad smell.

Pathological impurities (mucus and blood) are absent. This is a valuable diagnostic criterion. Diarrhea with blood in an adult is possible with acute intestinal infections (dysentery). You can get sick by drinking unboiled, Shigella-infected water, as well as poor-quality food. With dysentery, the frequency of stools can reach 10 times a day. There is blood and mucus in the stool.

The presence of green loose stools, resembling swamp mud, indicates the development of salmonellosis. This disease is more severe. It is less common in adults than in children. Liquid feces of gray color, with a shiny and oily surface is a sign of enzymatic insufficiency of the pancreas. Thus, the appearance of diarrhea in an adult may be a sign of intestinal or pancreatic diseases.

Most adults are accustomed to the fact that a person's stool should be hard, densely formed, brownish in color.

And when the stool becomes liquid, there is a panic, what to do?

First you need to find out why loose stools appeared, and only then sound the alarm, if necessary.

Loose stools or diarrhea

Loose stools are a normal condition of the body, which is accompanied by the excretion of a large amount of liquid feces due to the physiological needs of the body. A person should have a chair every day or twice a day, but not more often. Normally, the stool is firm, but sometimes it is slightly liquid, but not watery. If a person has a chair more than 3-4 times a day, then here we can already talk about diarrhea or diarrhea.

Diarrhea is a symptom of improper bowel function or diseases of the body.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between these two concepts, but it is possible. To do this, it is necessary to take into account such criteria as:

stool frequency;
consistency;
color and smell;
side symptoms (twisting the stomach, flatulence, pain during bowel movements, weakness, nausea);
the presence of inclusions in the stool (pus, blood, undigested food residues).

Depending on what indicators are missing or not up to standard, it can be argued that this is loose stools, but not diarrhea, or vice versa.

And in order to distinguish loose stools from diarrhea, you can use the table below.

Criterion	loose stool	Diarrhea (diarrhea)
Bowel frequency	1-2 times a day	3-4 times a day or more
Consistency	mushy	Liquid
Color	Dark yellow to brown	Yellow, red (with blood), white, black, brown
Peculiarities	Uniformity	Heterogeneity, presence of foam
Presence of inclusions	Possible clear mucus	Clear or green mucus, undigested food
Smell	Characteristic	Pungent, offensive, sour

If in all respects it is clear that this is loose stool, then the adult has no reason to worry. But if diarrhea is diagnosed, then it is better to seek the advice of a doctor in order to avoid the undesirable consequences of this phenomenon. He will tell you what to do in this case and how to treat diarrhea.

What causes loose stools?

The reasons for the appearance of daily loose stools can be completely different. Namely:

Diarrhea differs from loose stools in that there is a lot of watery discharge, going to the toilet more than five times a day, the stomach constantly hurts and weakness is felt, symptoms of intoxication are noted, namely:

nausea;
vomit;
pallor of the skin;
dark urine;
temperature rise;
feces are mixed with mucus, pus, or even blood.

Diarrhea is already a sign of a serious illness, or a pathological condition of the digestive tract. Diarrhea can be caused by:

Infectious diseases such as cholera, salmonellosis, shigellosis, typhoid fever. Each of these diseases will differ in the nature of the stool, its consistency, color, smell, there may be tenesmus, characteristic symptoms of the disease.
Viral hepatitis.
Gastrointestinal bleeding. Extremely dangerous for the body and are marked by characteristic diarrhea.
Operations on the digestive organs: pancreas, stomach, intestines, liver.
Crohn's disease.
Diverticulosis.
Nonspecific ulcerative colitis.
Bowel cancer.

If the cause of frequent loose stools is one of these diseases, then you should immediately consult a doctor to stop the disease at an early stage.

One of the main causes of constipation and diarrhea is use of various drugs. To improve bowel function after taking the drugs, you need every day drink a simple remedy ...

Child chair

Young mothers always panic when they see something in their baby that they are not used to noticing in themselves. And very in vain.

Children's chair has different characteristics than an adult. The baby can empty up to 15 times per knock after each meal, and this is normal.

Frequent loose stools in infants are due to the immaturity of the food system. When the baby begins to eat, like adults, then his stool will look like their stool. It is important to say that the consistency and color of feces in babies is unstable. It can be yellow, light yellow, with white patches, but absolutely odorless. And even more so, normally it should not be offensive. If, with frequent bowel movements, the baby remains cheerful and continues to eat well and gain weight, then there is no reason for concern. It's just loose stools, not diarrhea.

Diagnostics

If your stool becomes plentiful, there are various kinds of impurities and the general condition of the body leaves much to be desired, then this is a reason to see a doctor.

The specialist will prescribe you tests and examinations that will determine the cause of this phenomenon. A coprogram, an analysis for an eggworm, ultrasound of the abdominal organs, colonoscopy, endoscopy will allow you to find out what could be causing liquid feces.

Further treatment will be aimed not only at eliminating the symptoms, but also at eliminating the cause of such a failure.

Treatment

Having identified the disease that provoked the appearance of liquid or semi-liquid feces, the doctor will prescribe medication with antibiotics, antihelminthic drugs, enzymes, hormones, or whatever the circumstances require. But the most important thing and the first thing the doctor will prescribe is a diet. Diet for loose stools, as well as diarrhea should be as follows:

Can	Product group	It is forbidden
Wheat bread crackers, yesterday's white bread, dry biscuits	Bread and flour products	Other bakery products
On fat-free low meat or fish broth with the addition of mucous decoctions of cereals, steam quenelles and meatballs	Soups	Soups with cereals, vegetables, pasta, dairy, strong and fatty broths
Low-fat meats, skinless poultry, steamed or water-boiled cutlets, dumplings, meatballs. Minced meat with boiled rice. Boiled meat soufflé	Meat and poultry	Fatty meats, cut meat, sausages, smoked meats and other meat products
Low-fat types of fresh fish in pieces or chopped (quenelles, meatballs, cutlets), steamed or in water	fish	Fatty species, salted fish, caviar, canned food
Freshly prepared calcined or unleavened pureed cottage cheese, steam soufflé	Dairy	Whole milk and other dairy products
Boiled and steam pureed	Vegetables
Pureed cereals on water or low-fat broth - rice, oatmeal, buckwheat, cereal flour	cereals	Millet, pearl barley, barley groats, pasta, legumes
Up to 1-2 per day, soft-boiled, steam omelet and in meals	Eggs	Hard boiled eggs, raw, fried
Kissels and jelly from blueberries, dogwood, bird cherry, quince, pears. Pureed raw apples. Sugar - limited	Fruits, sweet dishes, sweets	Natural fruits and berries, honey, jam and other sweets
Tea, especially green tea. Decoctions of wild rose, dried blueberries, black currants, bird cherry, quince. If tolerated - diluted fresh juices, except for grapes, plums and apricots	Beverages	Coffee and cocoa with milk, carbonated and cold drinks

In addition to diet, it is important to lead an active lifestyle and stick to a daily routine. If you follow all the recommendations of the doctor, then loose stools will soon acquire a normal consistency and will no longer bother you.

Video: How to stop diarrhea?

Almost every person has experienced such a problem as diarrhea. But what to do if diarrhea does not go away for a week in an adult?

Description of the disease

Diarrhea is the condition of a person in which loose stools are released several times a day. This state has 2 forms:

acute. Diarrhea may not stop for up to two weeks;
chronic. Diarrhea may last more than two weeks.

Diarrhea is not considered a separate disease. Rather, it is a symptom that indicates any malfunction in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Diarrhea can be caused by various reasons. It manifests itself in adults and children. The condition is unpleasant, brings a lot of discomfort if it occurs in adults. But, if it is observed in a child, parents are overwhelmed with anxiety and not in vain.

You can ignore the malaise, which lasts 1 - 2 days, but if the diarrhea cannot stop on the 6th day, you need to contact a specialist. If you do not seek help in a timely manner, various complications can occur. It is very important to know for what reason there is prolonged diarrhea, how to get rid of diarrhea.

If there is no pain in the stomach in the presence, then the body cleanses the gastrointestinal tract on its own from toxins, mucus, decay products that accumulate after stagnation inside the tract. Such a functional disorder may pass on the second day after dieting. If diarrhea persists for 4 days or more, contact a specialist.

Why does diarrhea occur?

Diarrhea that lasts 1 to 2 days without pain can be caused by:

food poisoning;
alcohol poisoning.

Loose stools for 1, 2, 3 days can be observed during pregnancy, menstruation. The body is cleansed, then the work of the digestive tract is adjusted.

May be:

neurosis;
food poisoning;
intolerance to certain foods;
acclimatization of the body;
long-term medication (anticoagulants, laxatives, synthetic sweeteners, antiarrhythmic drugs).

Diarrhea, which arose for one of these reasons, passes very quickly, literally in 3 to 4 days. If diarrhea was caused by one of these factors, it will not be difficult for you to calculate it. If the stool disorder does not go away after 3-4 days, seek help from a specialist.

Weekly diarrhea may indicate one of the following diseases:

intestinal infection (rotavirus, influenza, cholera);
dysentery;
intestinal tuberculosis;
salmonellosis;
exacerbation of an existing chronic disease (dysbacteriosis, colitis);
enzyme deficiency.

Features of diarrhea provoked by various factors

With diarrhea, the following processes occur in the body:

increased excretion of salts, water into the intestinal cavity;
failures in the process of absorption of food (digested) from the intestinal cavity;
accelerated intestinal peristalsis;
indigestion of food.

OKI. Diarrhea caused by acute intestinal infections occurs due to the impact of various microorganisms on the work of the gastrointestinal tract. Microbes produce toxins that paralyze the intestines. Usually, with AII, diarrhea has an acute form, sometimes it develops into a chronic one (with dysentery).

Dysbacteriosis. It is characterized by a violation of the normal intestinal microflora (there is an increase in bacteria that are not characteristic of the intestinal microflora, a decrease in the number of “beneficial” microbes. Diarrhea is characterized by a chronic course. Diarrhea can last three days or more.

Chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Diarrhea can last all day with various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:

chronic enteritis;
Crohn's disease;
chronic colitis;
ulcerative colitis.

The risk of prolonged diarrhea in a child

If diarrhea is not in an adult, but in a child, you need to be careful. If diarrhea is severe and lasts 2, 3, 4 days, signs of dehydration may appear. This condition is dangerous by the occurrence of dysfunction of all internal organs. When diarrhea is observed for a long time in a child, you need to carefully monitor his condition, any changes, deviations from the norm. The doctor must be called in the case when the diarrhea does not stop for several days, there are pains in the abdomen.

If, dehydration occurs, which is not safe, especially for the child's body. The child may lose about 3% of the weight. To determine the moisture balance, you should monitor the frequency, amount of urination. Warning symptoms are:

darkening of urine;
concentrated urine;
long breaks between urination (more than 8 hours).

In this case, the patient is observed:

nervousness;
dry mouth;
dizziness;
depression;
orientation disorder.

If diarrhea does not stop within a week, it can cause coma, death without timely treatment. You should not postpone going to a specialist if the child has a greenish color of the secreted liquid.

First aid for diarrhea

If you have prolonged diarrhea, you need to visit a specialist to determine the cause of its occurrence, the selection of a suitable treatment. should be the impetus for making a decision about diagnosis, treatment. You don't have to endure diarrhea every day. You can try to eliminate this unpleasant symptom yourself, for this you need:

Take a sorbent preparation (Smecta, Activated charcoal, Filtrum-Stee).
Drink plenty of water (boiled), weak weak tea. This will help avoid dehydration.
To restore the supply of lost nutrients, minerals, vitamins, it is recommended to drink herbal teas. In the presence of temperature, it is useful to drink tea with currants, linden.
Cleansing enema (it can be delivered 1 time). Through a cleansing enema, we remove bacteria from the intestines. Also, this procedure helps to lower the temperature due to the absorption of water into the walls of the intestine.

The need for a diet for diarrhea

Diet for diarrhea is also important. Past diarrhea can return after the substances that provoked it (poor-quality food, medicines, bacteria) enter the body. Having passed the treatment recommended by a specialist, you need to be more attentive to your body. To restore the normal functioning of the digestive tract, a diet is needed. Its experts recommend observing adult patients, children.

The diet is based on the use of a large volume of liquid. After diarrhea, the patient must follow the basic rules in nutrition:

Eat liquid foods (light mashed potatoes, low-fat soups, broths).
Cereals from cereals should be cooked mucous, semi-mucilaginous. It is forbidden to use large grains so as not to injure the intestinal walls.
You should eat foods containing a lot of fiber (dried fruits, bananas, apples).
Bread should be eaten white, bran.
You can eat lean meat, fish.

From the usual products should be excluded:

vegetables, fruits (fresh);
canned food, smoked meats;
dried products;
tea (green), coffee;
seasonings;
salt, sugar in large quantities;
dairy products;
soda;
fatty food.

Medical treatment for diarrhea

If diarrhea does not go away on the third or fourth day, contact a specialist to find out the cause. After the diagnosis, clarification of the cause that provoked the onset of diarrhea, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate treatment. Usually it consists in taking such funds:

Sorbents ("Smekta", "Activated carbon").
Antidiarrheals (Imodium, Loperamide).
Preparations aimed at restoring the ionic balance ("Regidron"). They are needed after dehydration.
Pro / prebiotics ("Lineks", "Bifiform"). They are needed to restore the microflora inside the intestines.

If diarrhea has an infectious nature of development, the specialist prescribes:

Intestinal antiseptics ("Sulgin", "Ftalazol", "Furazolidone").
Antibiotics (macrolides, tetracyclines, amoxicillins).

Do not use these medicines for self-medication with diarrhea. Each of the drugs should be selected taking into account such features as: the condition of the patient, the cause of diarrhea. Medications are prescribed in a course that should be completed to the end, and not stopped after the disappearance of an unpleasant symptom (diarrhea). Also, do not forget about the diet. It is an important aspect in the treatment of disorders of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

The presence of persistent or frequent liquid stools in adults is an indicator of diarrhea. A pathological condition of this kind can be of two types - chronic or acute, depending on the cause. Serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract develop due to a viral or bacterial infection that has entered the body. However, these are not all possible causes that can provoke liquid feces.

What is liquid stool

A disease for which the characteristic symptoms are the appearance of liquid or foamy stools is commonly called diarrhea in medical practice. This syndrome is often accompanied by pain in the intestinal tract, indigestion, or high fever. Possible causes of acute or chronic diarrhea are intestinal infections and food poisoning.

An unformed stool in an adult for a long time is a very dangerous syndrome that can lead to dehydration and serious health problems. Violation of the water-salt balance in the body threatens the development of irreversible pathological changes, therefore, if signs of indigestion are found, you should immediately seek help from a doctor.

The reasons

Watery stools cause a number of causes, the most common of which are intestinal disorders due to poor-quality or spoiled food, as well as acute infections such as salmonellosis and dysentery. Diarrhea or liquid stools can be affected by chronic inflammatory diseases. The appearance of watery prolonged diarrhea is also influenced by other factors:

the response of the body to taking drugs;
metabolic disease;
symptoms of dysbacteriosis;
chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
stress;
irritable bowel syndrome;
worms;
damage to the intestinal mucosa;
food allergy.

Loose stools in an adult for a long time

With a high frequency of bowel movements in adult patients, there are complications in the gastrointestinal tract, which are accompanied by vomiting and other unpleasant symptoms. In some cases, liquid stools are considered normal, such as during pregnancy. All other precedents indicate an intestinal disorder, so profuse infectious diarrhea with a fetid odor can only be stopped with the help of therapy.

Soft stools in an adult have long been considered an unfavorable condition that causes signs of dehydration. To prevent liquid feces, doctors recommend that men and women follow a few rules. Be sure to wash fruits and vegetables before eating and cook meat or dairy products. It is important to always check the expiration date of the purchased product and in no case eat spoiled food.

Loose stools but no diarrhea

Few people know, but there is a difference between liquid stool and diarrhea. In a healthy person, defecation occurs once or twice a day, which is considered to be the norm. With an increase in the amount of fluid, a change in the consistency of feces occurs, which indicates health problems. Unlike diarrhea, which is temporary, the duration of such a phenomenon is a couple of weeks.

Liquid feces is a chronic ailment that, without proper treatment, can become a constant companion of a person. This reaction on the part of the body sometimes occurs due to a sharp change in diet, for example, vegetarianism. In this case, the color of the feces will have a greenish tint, which indicates a large amount of absorbed fiber. The reason for the constant urge to go to the toilet may be an infection, so it is possible to normalize bowel function only after undergoing treatment.

Twists the stomach and loose stools

Stress, overeating, food poisoning can lead to the fact that the stomach will twist. However, if semi-liquid feces are added to this symptomatology, then there is reason for concern. Unlike babies, the appearance in an adult of constant mushy discharge throughout the week signals disturbances in the work of the stomach. The consistency of fecal masses in this case can take a different form depending on the cause of the disease. Frequent liquid bowel movements cause:

oncological diseases;
intestinal infection;
Crohn's disease;
stomach ulcer;
appendicitis.

In the morning

Some people suffer from daily discomfort in the abdomen in the morning. This problem does not have a gender identity; both women and men equally suffer from it. The provoking factors of discomfort, which may be accompanied by flatulence, are considered to be pathologies of the abdominal organs or other systems. Patients present with somatic and visceral pain.

The first type is typical for irritation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, which is a frequent companion of chronic gastritis. Unpleasant sensations in the abdomen become regular, poisoning a person's life. Visceral pain appears as a result of the reaction of nerve endings to various stimuli. With this pathology, discomfort is not localized in different places.

The stomach does not hurt, but the stool is liquid

Digestive disorder, which is characterized by the absence of manifestations of diarrhea, such as temperature, indicates the presence of a pathological process in the human body. In the case of mild food poisoning, liquid diarrhea without abdominal pain should resolve on its own within a couple of days. If the situation remains unchanged for a long amount of time, then there is every reason to seek medical help.

Rotavirus infection in most cases occurs among young children. However, adults can also be affected by it. Doctors know exactly what to do with loose stools, so if you suspect an infection, you should immediately go to the hospital. Sometimes mushy discharge appears due to severe stress or nervous tension. To solve the problem, you should at least temporarily change the type of activity.

Liquid yellow stool

The color of bowel movements can say a lot about a person's health. So, if a patient regularly has black liquid feces, then an open ulcer is present in the stomach. Yellow and green stools are characteristic of a bacterial infection, in which a person is forced to visit the toilet six to ten times a day. If any problems arise, the body seeks to remove negative invasions through the mouth or anus. A liquid stool with impurities of mucus or blood is a serious symptom, the appearance of which should call a doctor.

After meal

Liquid diarrhea after every meal is called functional diarrhea. Such a reaction of the body to food indicates violations in the work of the intestines. They can be both temporary and permanent. The probable causes of liquid feces are: dysbacteriosis, intestinal infection or "bear disease". If the body can not cope with the digestion of food, then it will try with all its might to cleanse the digestive tract, which leads to diarrhea.

Diarrhea and gas

Flatulence and diarrhea often appear together due to the interconnected functioning of all systems of the gastrointestinal tract. With the accumulation of gases in the intestines, pathological processes are triggered in the body that interfere with its normal functioning. Therefore, soon a person has diarrhea. For a child in the first months of life, this state of affairs is considered the norm. As for adults, liquid green feces and flatulence signal the presence of diseases such as hepatitis or dysbacteriosis.

With traces of blood

Blood impurities in the feces are an unfavorable symptom that can be caused by ailments of various parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Allocations are not always visible to the eye, sometimes special laboratory tests are required to detect them. However, if blood impurities are visible, then the localization of damage is at the level of the intestine. Traces of fresh blood in liquid stools indicate cracks in the anus or hemorrhoids.

Diagnostics

If you experience symptoms of diarrhea, it is recommended to consult a proctologist or gastroenterologist. The specialist conducts a comprehensive examination of the patient's digestive tract, having previously carried out an external examination. With the power of instrumental endoscopic techniques, the doctor can detect damage to the mucosa or other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. If necessary, the following procedures are carried out:

coprogram;
bacteriological culture;
examination of feces for eggs of worms;

Treatment

To restore the work of the intestines, complex therapy is used, which involves the use of a variety of methods for healing the body. For the duration of treatment, the patient must follow a strict diet and temporarily exclude foods that stimulate the secretion of hydrochloric acid from the diet. In addition, antibacterial drugs are used, which should be taken every day.

Medical treatment

Before getting rid of liquid stools, patients undergo antibiotic therapy, including drugs to suppress pathogenic microflora in the intestine. These include prebiotics, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and enterosorbents. Treatment is prescribed only by a specialist. The best choice are combination products such as Nifuroxazide, which do not cause additional harm to the body. This drug is detrimental to most intestinal infections, for example, for Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella, Klebsiella.

It has a pronounced bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect, the result depends on the dose taken. The drug disrupts the process of protein synthesis and inhibits the activity of the dehydrogenase enzyme. Nifuroxazide does not affect the normal intestinal microflora, therefore, it does not harm the patient's health. As symptomatic preparations for liquid feces, adsorbents are used, which slow down the peristalsis of the stomach and contribute to thickening of the stool. These include drugs such as Loperamide and Somatostatin.

They successfully regulate intestinal motility and affect the secretory function, thereby reducing the amount of fluid and feces released. The drugs increase the tone of the anal sphincter, due to which the retention of feces occurs. If liquid stools were caused by an infection, then drugs that reduce intestinal motility are not used.

sparing diet

With liquid and smelly stools, it is recommended to follow a diet that excludes the use of fatty, salty or smoked foods. The diet should mainly consist of fresh vegetables and fruits, meat products should be properly thermally processed. It is allowed to eat boiled or baked foods. Wash your hands thoroughly before eating to avoid intestinal infections and food poisoning.

Video

Who doesn't know from TV commercials what to do when adult diarrhea occurs? Drink a "magic" pill that will instantly stop diarrhea! However, any doctor will say that such a “treatment” at best will not help, and at worst it will harm. Firstly, drugs for diarrhea do not act instantly, they only reduce, and secondly, the use of such drugs is contraindicated in a number of diseases. What to do when tormented by loose stools?

Diarrhea is not a disease, but a symptom that indicates problems in the gastrointestinal tract or in the body as a whole. Therefore, it is impossible to cure diarrhea without knowing what causes it. Diarrhea is the discharge of liquid stools both once and with an increased frequency of bowel movements. If such a violation passes in 2-3 weeks, we are talking about acute diarrhea, more than 21 days - chronic.

In the normal state, the body of a healthy adult excretes 100-300 g of formed feces daily or at other intervals that are comfortable for a particular gastrointestinal tract. Liquefaction and accelerated evacuation of the stool occur due to a sharp increase in water content: with diarrhea, feces are 90% liquid. The amount of feces suggests the etiology of diarrhea:

violations of intestinal motility usually do not increase the daily volume of feces, it is excreted often, but in small portions;
if the problem is in the absorption of substances by the intestinal wall, there is a significant increase in the volume of feces due to the mass of undigested food.

The main causes of loose stools in adults:

Such diarrhea usually resolves in 3-4 days, and the sick person is likely to be able to associate the onset of diarrhea with previous events.

However, the causes of diarrhea in an adult can be more serious:

infection with bacteria, viruses, protozoa (dysentery, salmonellosis, intestinal flu);
inflammatory diseases of the digestive system (gastritis, hepatitis, ulcers);
functional insufficiency of organs (deficiency of certain enzymes);
diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of unclear etiology (Crohn's disease);
toxic damage (poisoning with lead, mercury).

In such cases, it is not enough just to stop diarrhea: it is necessary to establish a diagnosis and conduct qualified treatment, often in a hospital. As for the clinical manifestations of diarrhea, they may be mild. This applies to ordinary indigestion, when, in addition to loose stools, spastic abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms (seething, bloating,) can be observed.

In the case of food poisoning, pain is accompanied by weakness, fever, nausea and vomiting, refusal to eat, and the temperature may rise. Similar signs are accompanied by intestinal infections and viral diseases.

Warning signs that require an immediate response are symptoms of dehydration. Dry skin and mucous membranes, chapped lips, intense thirst, rare urination, dark urine occur with debilitating diarrhea, and this condition is very dangerous: the pulse increases, blood pressure drops, and muscle cramps may begin.

What to do with diarrhea in an adult - first aid

In order to prevent dehydration, the water and salts lost by the body must be compensated by drinking plenty of water: it is best to take rehydrating solutions (Rehydron and analogues), in their absence, you can drink saline, salted water, chamomile tea. Prevention of dehydration should be started as soon as it becomes clear that loose stools are not an isolated case.

Especially if the diarrhea is profuse and persistent, has been going on for several days, accompanied by vomiting. It is necessary to pay attention to the presence of blood in the feces. It can appear with dysentery, ulcerative colitis,.

Depending on the established diagnosis, the doctor will select a specific treatment, but there are general rules that must be observed in any case of diarrhea. This is diet food, taking adsorbing drugs, enzymes.

Diet for diarrhea in adults

The nature of the diet obviously affects bowel movements. Many products have an irritating effect on peristalsis, and they should be forgotten with diarrhea until complete recovery. These are spices, raw vegetables, plums and other laxatives.

Some foods have a fixing effect, so in the first few days of the diet, you need to limit yourself to the following set of dishes:

wheat bread croutons;
vegetable purees;
mucous porridges;
pureed meat and fish of lean varieties (steam, boiled);
tea, blueberry jelly, decoction of bird cherry fruits, rice broth.

You can start the diet from a "hungry" day: drink only strong sweet tea (8-10 cups during the day).

If diarrhea is caused by lactose, gluten intolerance, then diet is the main, and often the only, factor in treatment. In these diseases, therapeutic nutrition is prescribed, which completely excludes products containing milk sugar and cereal protein gluten.

The diet is important: you need to eat often (every 3 hours) and in small portions.

The diet must be followed throughout the treatment and beyond, but after the first "hard" days, you can remove the restrictions and expand the diet, adhering to the following principles:

Thus, we list the products under the ban:

any fried meat;
offal;
saturated broths;
fatty fish cooked in any way, and lean if it is fried, canned, smoked;
milk, high-fat cream;
scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs;
cabbage in any form, beets, spicy root vegetables, turnips, radishes, cucumbers;
canned vegetables;
mushrooms;
sour berries and fruits;
pastries and bread;
carbonated drinks, kvass, cold drinks.

What then can you eat with diarrhea in adults? Here is an approximate list of dishes from which it is recommended to make a diet menu:

steam cutlets from minced meat, meat puree (can be from "children's" jars), soufflé;
boiled fish (such as pollock, cod), fish meatballs, steamed cutlets;
cereals boiled in water, you can add a little milk, a piece of butter to the finished porridge;
rice pudding;
puree soups on vegetable or weak meat broth;
boiled pasta;
fermented milk drinks;
fresh cottage cheese;
omelet, soft-boiled eggs;
boiled, baked or mashed vegetables: potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, green beans;
baked fruits, in compote, some fresh strawberries;
jelly and mousses from berries and fruits;
crackers from white bread, drying, biscuits like "Maria";
water, tea, compote, cocoa without milk.

In addition to diet, it is important to organize the correct drinking regimen. The fluid entering the body should be several liters in volume in order to fully compensate for the loss of water with diarrhea.

Since trace elements are washed out with loose stools, plain water is not very suitable for drinking. It is better to take glucose-salt drinks, which will replenish the loss of electrolytes, maintain normal blood sugar levels, besides, salt contributes to fluid retention in the body.

There are special preparations for the preparation of rehydrating drinks, these are Regidron, Citroglucosolan, Gastrolit, but in their absence, you can prepare the liquid with your own hands by diluting it in a liter of water:

Instead of potassium chloride, you can pour a decoction of dried apricots, freshly squeezed orange juice into the solution. You need to drink in small portions, but constantly throughout the day.

Medications to treat diarrhea in an adult

As an important piece of advice, it should be noted that diarrhea in an adult that has not gone away in 3 days is a reason to see a doctor. Chronic diarrhea can indicate the presence of serious diseases, it even happens with some forms of cancer.

It is also worth seeing a doctor if the temperature during diarrhea rises above 38, signs uncharacteristic of indigestion or poisoning appear: rash, yellowness of the skin and eyes, dark urine, sleep disturbances. Constant excruciating pain in the abdomen should not be the norm (spastic pain before and during defecation is acceptable).

Black or green diarrhea, vomiting mixed with fresh or clotted (dark) blood, fainting, signs of severe dehydration indicate the criticality of the situation: an ambulance must be called urgently.