How does diarrhoea affect a person?
Diarrhoea is when bowel motions are watery, soft or mushy. Sometimes there can also be stomach cramps or pain and a sick feeling. Diarrhoea can cause a person a lot of stress because their bowel motions are hard to hold on to. Many people who have regalar diarrhoea:
- avoid situations where they are not sure where they can find and use toilets quickly
- are at risk of social isolation and depression.
When people with diarrhoea need to leave the house, they usually need to plan their trip carefully. They may need to:
- take spare pads, plastic bags to throw away used pads, washing equipment, and spare clothes and underwear
- wear a continence pad or pants, as well as underwear
- look into where they are going using the National Public Toilet Map so they know where to find toilets
- look for toilets when they first get somewhere so they know where to go if they need to
- avoid public transport, in case they need to quickly get to a toilet.
What causes diarrhoea?
Short-term diarrhoea can be caused by:
- food poisoning, lactose intolerance or infections
- eating too much fruit
- not eating enough fibre
- eating certain foods (especially spicy, greasy or oily foods) or drinks (e.g. too much coffee).
Long-term diarrhoea can be caused by:
- medical conditions, such as bile acid malabsorption, dumping syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, coeliac disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, hyperthyroidism
- taking too many laxatives
- taking some medicines, such as antibiotics or chemotherapy.
What should you do if a person you support has diarrhoea?
- Start recording the bowel motions on a bowel diary using the Bristol Stool Chart.
- Avoid food and drinks that cause problems – the person may need to visit a dietitian to work this out.
- Increase fibre intake and make sure the person drinks more water.
- Treat their constipation if they are constipated. Constipation sometimes causes an ‘overflow’ of wet bowel motions, which can be like diarrhoea
Important cautions:
- Don’t restrict fluid intake. This won’t help the diarrhoea and may cause dehydration.
- Don’t give the person medicines for their diarrhoea unless a doctor has prescribed it.
What can a health care professional do?
Book an appointment with a health care professional. They can:
- diarrhoea and organise treatment for any medical conditions that are causing the diarrhoea
- treat the diarrhoea, possibly involving some anti-diarrhoea medicines
- adjust other medicines and supplements
- provide pelvic floor muscle training to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
Need more help? Call the National Continence Helpline on 18OO 33 OO 66 and talk to a continence nurse advisor.
