Avoid milk, which can be hard to digest during a bout of diarrhea.Avoid caffeine-containing beverages like coffee, because coffee makes the bowel work faster.Drink plenty of clear liquids such as water, flat ginger ale, or sports drinks.More severe symptoms may warrant a medical evaluation and occasionally hospitalization. Mild symptoms can often be treated at home. The treatment of your diarrhea depends on its cause. Breath tests may be ordered to investigate conditions such as lactose intolerance and bacterial overgrowth. Occasionally, you may be asked to collect your stools for 2-3 days in order to document fat malabsorption. A flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is frequently indicated, but this depends on your age, severity of symptoms, and the timing and results of any previous colonoscopies. A variety of stool tests may be ordered to search for an infectious agent. Your provider may order blood work including a complete blood count, thyroid function tests, serum electrolytes, and a blood test for celiac disease.

This depends on the duration and severity of your symptoms.

Neuroendocrine tumors (gastronoma, VIPoma, carcinoid syndrome).

Radiation injury to the small bowel or colon.

Post-cholecystectomy (following removal of the gallbladder).

Malabsorption syndromes (from conditions such as lactose intolerance, celiac disease, or chronic pancreatitis, bacterial overgrowth, or previous surgery to the small bowel or colon).

Microscopic colitis (lymphocytic or collagenous colitis).

Ischemic colitis (This results from low blood flow to the colon).

Inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, CrohnвЂ™s disease).

Some infectious agents can cause prolonged symptoms

Irritable bowel syndrome, from disordered motility and erratic fluid absorption.

Medications, including over-the-counter drugs and supplements.

Protozoa include Giardia, Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium. Previous antibiotic use or underlying inflammatory bowel disease can be associated with Clostridium difficile infection. Bacterial infections include Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and E.

Viral infections are common, but the exact type of virus causing the diarrhea can rarely be identified. Infection, from viruses, bacteria, and less often, protozoa.вЂњAlarmвЂќ symptoms which generally require medical evaluation are severe abdominal pain, high fever, bloody stools, or symptoms of dehydration (dizziness, dry mouth and tongue, rapid pulse, dark urine). Symptoms may be mild, such as painless and watery bowel movements, or more severe. In general, acute diarrhea is defined as less than 14 days in duration and chronic diarrhea is defined as more than 30 days in duration. Because the range of normal stools is broad, it is not defined by the number of stools a person passes per day. Diarrhea, is derived from the Greek word вЂњto flow throughвЂќ, and is a common problem for many people.

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