Traveler's Diarrhea - More Than You Probably Ever Wanted to Know

Just in time for the holiday travel season, here's more than you probably ever wanted to know about traveler's diarrhea.

Diarrhea is the abrupt accumulation of abnormally high fluid content in the stool. In its severest form diarrhea can make you "go" as many as twenty times a day. Essential fluids pour into the stool, or get pooled in places that don't do the body any good. The number one priority when you have a bout of diarrhea, then, is to replace the fluid you have lost. Even if you feel nauseated, even if you are vomiting, even if you feel bloated by gas, you must drink-or have your fluids replaced intravenously.

Since diarrhea also interferes with normal nutrition, the body absorbs water more easily if it is combined with minerals and a small amount of carbohydrate (sugar, starch, or glucose). The easiest way to of getting water into your bloodstream is to open a packet of Oral Rehydration Salts (pronounced O-R-S in most foreign languages) and dissolve them in clean water, drinking a glass or two whenever you relieve your bowels. If you can't read the instructions on the packet, be sure to find out whether the packet is designed for one glass of water or one liter of water (about four glasses).

If you can't find Oral Rehydration Salts, two heaped teaspoons of sugar or honey plus one teaspoon of salt in a liter (four glasses) of water is an acceptable substitute. Even better, add some orange, lemon, or lime juice directly from the fruit for additional potassium. You might even add half a teaspoon of salt to a bottle of soda, Other rehydration solutions are rice-water, clear soups, drinks made with Bovril, Marmite, or Vegemite, bouillon, herbal infusions, weak black tea, very weak black coffee, and chamomile or manzanilla tea, all of them taken lukewarm or cold. Hot drinks will increase the urge to defecate. The solution should not taste especially "salty," no more salty than tears.

It's important to replace not just the fluids you lose through diarrhea, but also any fluids you lose through sweat. If you become dehydrated, stomach discomfort is even worse, and there can also be dizziness and headache. Drinking water with salts makes you feel better from head to toe. Water plus salts is required for all the fluid you replace, not just the first drink. If you do not add salts, your body will not absorb the water.

Avoid milk when you have diarrhea. Temporary lactose intolerance can result.

Headache when you have diarrhea is a sign of dehydration. If you experience headache when you have diarrhea, drink fluid before you take aspirin.

Fluid replacement requirements are greater in tropical heat or at high altitude.

Bloody diarrhea after eating ground beef may be a sign of a kind of E. coli infection that attacks the kidneys. Seek medical care if you experience bloody diarrhea after eating ground beef.

Eat as soon as you are rehydrated. Several medical studies show that the course of diarrhea is shortened if eating is resumed as soon as possible. Fats and carbohydrates are more easily absorbed than proteins and fiber. Avoid hot foods, since they increase the urge to defecate.

Fiber reduces the number of times you have to go the bathroom by absorbing fluid in the intestine, but it makes rehydration more difficult.

Alcoholic drinks should never be used for rehydration. Beer, in particular, accelerates the loss of fluid because it stimulates urination.

What about Imodium and Lomotil? Never take any kind of "blocker" if you have blood in the stool.