5 Tips on How To Cure Diarrhea at Home

Most of the time, diarrhea goes away on its own. However, knowing how to cure diarrhea at home can help you recover from it sooner, and with much less discomfort. Here are some tips that you need to remember when you have diarrhea.

5 Tips on How To Cure Diarrhea at Home

Diarrhea usually lasts about two days minimum, or two weeks at most for acute diarrhea. This means that if you do get diarrhea, you’ll probably be staying at home, since there’s usually no need to visit the doctor.

Here are 5 things that can help you get recover sooner, and lessen the symptoms and discomfort of diarrhea:

1. Stay hydrated

One of the biggest problems when you have diarrhea is that you might get dehydrated. This happens because as you experience watery or loose stools, you’re also losing a lot of the water and electrolytes in your body. Every time you go to the bathroom, you’re losing fluids—and if they are not replenished, you’ll suffer from dehydration.

Be sure to avoid this by drinking lots of fluids. You can also take oral rehydration salts as this can help prevent dehydration while trying to cure your diarrhea at home. Alternatively, you can make your own oral rehydrating solution (ORS) by mixing 6 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 1 liter of water.

A good rule to thumb would be to drink at least 1 cup (about 250 ml) of water every time you have a bowel movement. This should help compensate for the loss of fluid that you are experiencing.

2. Watch what you eat

Another important thing to remember is that when you have diarrhea, you need to watch what you eat. This is because your diarrhea can get worse if you eat certain types of food. As a rule, it would be best to avoid the following if you have diarrhea:

• Milk and any dairy products
• Oily, fatty, or greasy food
• Spicy food
• Heavily processed food
• Raw vegetables
• Pork

A good rule of thumb would be to eat easy-to-digest foods such as crackers, white bread, and soup. Clear soup, in particular, is great for people who have diarrhea since it replenishes any fluids that the person might have lost, has a lot of nutrients and minerals, is easy to digest, and helps soothe the stomach. It’s also a good idea to take probiotics (e.g. lactobacillus) in the form of yogurt and other gut-friendly foods.

3. Get lots of rest

On the topic of how to cure diarrhea at home, rest is an important thing to remember. If you have diarrhea, try to rest as much as possible. Without rest, it will be more difficult for you to work and/or study and may increase the time you need to recover.

Be sure to not just get lots of sleep, but to also sleep early. Getting enough sleep is important because it helps your body rest and recuperate from whatever might be causing your diarrhea.

4. Drink medicine if needed

Most of the time, you shouldn’t need to take any medicine for your diarrhea. After all, your body is simply trying to expel harmful organisms in your stomach, so it would be a good idea to just let your body do its thing.

However, there are situations where you might feel very uncomfortable. In these cases, it would be okay to take diarrhea medicine, especially if it helps soothe any symptoms you’re feeling. If you have a fever, feel free to take fever medication as well.

Another thing to remember when trying to cure your diarrhea at home is to never self-medicate. Ask your doctor before taking any medicines and don’t take antibiotics on your own for your diarrhea, as it might do more harm than good.

5. If it doesn’t go away, visit your doctor

Lastly, if you’ve been having diarrhea for a long time or are experiencing chronic diarrhea (2 weeks at least to more than a month), it would be a good idea to visit the doctor.

The reason behind this is that you might already be suffering from a more serious illness. Anytime you don’t feel okay, or you have the urge to see the doctor, you should do so. Your doctor can provide you with the best advice regarding your condition.

Learn more about Digestive Health here.