Causes of diarrhea
Poisoning occurs after the penetration of various microorganisms. Severe intoxication can be caused by salmonella and staphylococcus larvae. E. coli is present almost everywhere. Getting rid of a germ is not easy.
Causes of diarrhea during poisoning:
- Ingestion of expired food products or contaminated with pathogenic microbes and bacteria.
- Using a medicinal product that has expired.
- Cooking with poisonous mushrooms or berries.
- The presence of chemical compounds in the body - nitrates, mercury or a small amount of paint.
- Drinking counterfeit alcohol.
- Failure to maintain hand hygiene when preparing food.
- Pets are the culprits of poisoning.
- Overdose of alcoholic beverages.
- Intoxication with carbon monoxide or combustion products.
After food poisoning, the duration of diarrhea is usually 1-3 days. It should go away completely within the specified time. If the situation continues for 5 days or more, it is time to consult a doctor. The longer diarrhea persists, the more damage it causes to the body. If diarrhea lasts 3 days, irreversible consequences develop in the body.
Types of diarrhea
When food poisons and toxins enter the gastrointestinal tract, their active reproduction begins. The invading bacteria die and become irritants for the stomach. Intestinal function is disrupted, salts and water accumulate in large quantities, and diarrhea begins. Intoxication of the body with a specific toxin provokes a certain type of stool.
Types of diarrhea after poisoning:
- When invasive, inflammation in the large intestine is diagnosed. There is loose stool with the presence of blood and intestinal mucus. The color of stool is yellow.
- During secretory diarrhea, the intestinal lumen fills with water. Chlorine and sodium ions accumulate. Feces are released in liquid form with bloody discharge.
- The osmotic type occurs when the body does not absorb water and immediately eliminates it.
- The hypermotor type is characterized by strong contractions of the intestinal walls.
No one can say for sure when diarrhea occurs after poisoning. Probably in 3-5 hours or later. Fecal discharge is abundant, containing intestinal mucus, pieces of food, and sometimes with admixtures of blood. Pain in the abdominal area always accompanies it and occurs in an acute form.
Symptoms of complications
The cause of poisoning is correlated with a specific symptom:
- Food poisoning, diarrhea is accompanied by abdominal pain, high fever, chills, nausea and vomiting.
- Poisoning with poisonous gases causes severe shortness of breath, suffocation and tickling.
- The toxic effect of carbon monoxide is determined by severe dizziness with pain in the temporal region of the head, nausea with vomiting, lacrimation from the eyes, and severe diarrhea.
In more severe cases, intoxication is accompanied by diarrhea and hallucinations, loss of consciousness, and slowing of blood flow. Feces may turn black, this indicates the seriousness of the current situation.
A long period of occurrence is accompanied by dehydration, heart rhythm disturbances and vitamin starvation. Calcium and potassium are actively excreted in feces. Water is also not retained, and the blood becomes thick, creating a risk of blood clots. Dehydration provokes cramps, electrolytes and chlorides are removed.
With diarrhea, kidney failure, nervous disorders and frequent loss of consciousness may develop.
Folk remedies for poisoning and vomiting
If signs of indigestion appear, do not despair. First you need to find out what caused the poisoning and try to eliminate the symptoms yourself. There are many folk remedies that adults can take.
Ginger effectively relieves attacks of nausea and vomiting. Sometimes it is enough to suck on a small piece of spice and the gagging will stop. The product helps reduce cramps and calm the stomach.
For treatment, burdock root is used, which has antimicrobial, antiemetic and disinfectant properties. Eating 2-3 peeled roots per day provides a quick improvement in digestion.
A good remedy for poisoning is sauerkraut brine, which is an excellent natural probiotic. It helps normalize the digestive system and restore beneficial microflora in the intestines.
To eliminate poisoning and its symptoms, medicinal herbs that have antiemetic and disinfectant effects are used. 1 tbsp. l. dry watch leaves are brewed with 2 cups of boiling water and left for 2-3 hours. The filtered mixture is drunk in small sips throughout the day. The infusion normalizes the acidity of gastric juice and digestion.
Children are more susceptible to poisoning, so if problems with the digestive system occur, you should know how to stop vomiting in a child at home. Help can be provided by simple and affordable means that are safe for the child’s body.
READ Help for alcohol poisoning
Tea with lemon and honey effectively eliminates vomiting. Peppermint is also used. To prepare a medicinal drink, 1 tbsp. l. crushed dry plant, pour 250 ml of boiling water. Leave for about 1 hour. Give the child 1-2 tsp. every 40-60 minutes.
A decoction of dill seeds is indicated for children and infants. 1 tsp. raw materials are added to 200 ml of water and boiled over low heat for 3-4 minutes. The strained product is taken in small portions throughout the day.
Freshly prepared juice from cabbage leaves reduces vomiting. Dosage regimen: 100 ml 2 times a day.
A remedy made from apples helps cope with the symptoms of intoxication in children. Sliced pieces of fruit are brewed with boiling water and infused for 1-2 hours. A small amount of honey is added to the resulting composition, dissolved and taken in small portions throughout the day.
Treatment
Treatment for diarrhea consists of first aid, drug therapy and a prescribed diet. Pathology must be treated in a short time. For children, this condition is especially dangerous. Lack of water and microelements will provoke the development of serious consequences. An adult experiences complications in case of intoxication and sometimes without poisoning. This is sometimes caused by diseases of other organs.
First aid
Without the symptoms accompanying diarrhea - high body temperature, delirium and hallucinations, suffocation - first aid is the same. You should call an ambulance or go to the hospital yourself.
At home, first of all:
- The patient needs to be given a lot of water;
- You should not eat until medical assistance is provided;
- Remove toxins from the body;
- Fresh air and peace are needed.
If the patient is unconscious, gastric lavage cannot be done. Stopping diarrhea during intoxication is not recommended. Temperature up to 37.5 degrees cannot be brought down. Before the ambulance arrives, you should not offer pills to relieve abdominal pain, even if the pain is severe. It is forbidden to do an enema at high temperatures.
Drug therapy
Only a doctor can completely cure a patient. Drug treatment is prescribed in accordance with physiological characteristics and medical indications. Medicines can stop the progression of the painful symptom. The dosage and timing of administration will be determined by the doctor.
Drug therapy consists of taking:
- Sorbents - remove poison from the body, relieve signs of bloating. Use Activated Carbon, White Coal, Polysorb, Smecta, etc.
- Rehydrona – restores water-salt balance.
- Probiotics – normalize the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract. They use Hilak-Forte, Linex, etc.
- Using droppers, saline solution is administered to get rid of vomiting and relieve the consequences of severe intoxication.
- Drugs that relieve pain spasms.
- Necessary vitamin complexes.
- Antiviral and antibacterial agents - in the presence of microbial infection.
When a person is poisoned, Imodium and Loperamide are prescribed with caution. These drugs stop intestinal motility and slow down the movement of feces, which inhibits the elimination of toxins. The patient's condition may deteriorate sharply.
Treatment with folk remedies is recommended to be coordinated with your doctor. The effectiveness of medicines and infusions from traditional medicine can only be assessed by a doctor. If this helps restore the balance of chloride and electrolyte in the body, then you need to use herbal remedies.
Diet
If diarrhea lasts more than five days or a week, essential microelements and vitamins are lost. At this time, acute dehydration occurs. The patient will be prescribed a diet to replenish microelements. The first day you will have to fast. You will need to drink a lot of water at the same time. On the second day, it is permissible to eat yesterday’s bread or crackers, rice and oatmeal cooked in water. Rice water removes toxins well; it is recommended to drink it in the first days after intoxication.
When the acute course of the disease is removed, chicken or rabbit broths are administered. Steamed vegetables will help restore vitamin balance. The pastry should be unsweetened and made from unleavened dough. Drink tea without sugar. Kefir and low fat cottage cheese.
You should not eat spicy, smoked, canned and fried foods, carbonated drinks and cabbage. It is recommended to hold off on consuming sweets. Exclude fruits from the diet in the first days. You can't drink milk.
You need to eat often, but in small portions. During the first days, it is recommended to wipe food.
What to do with diarrhea: treatment directions
Taking into account the cause of diarrhea in case of poisoning, the following drugs are used:
- enterosorbents - drugs for binding and removing toxins from the intestines;
- antibiotics - to destroy pathogenic microorganisms during intestinal infections;
- probiotics – drugs for restoring healthy intestinal microflora in case of dysbacteriosis;
- medications that slow down peristalsis;
- herbal preparations for normalizing stool - with an astringent and tanning effect.
Available medications for diarrhea: list of enterosorbents
Enterosorbents are often used for diarrhea at home, as they have a complex effect on the intestines:
- these drugs bind toxins that enter the intestines from the outside, as well as from the blood;
- absorb harmful substances in the intestines, released along with digestive juices;
- bind metabolites formed directly in the gastrointestinal tract;
- change the volume of indigestible residue;
- have a catalytic effect.
Sorbents are available in the form of tablets, powders and gels. For intestinal poisoning, the following drugs are most often used:
- Activated carbon obtained from wood and coal. It has an affordable price, but has a low sorption capacity for the intestines: diarrhea in an adult due to intestinal poisoning will require taking 50 or more tablets per day. In addition, when taking activated carbon, desorption is possible - a reverse process in which previously bound substances enter the intestinal lumen, increasing intoxication;
- Sorbents based on lignin (chemically treated wood preparations) and lactulose - for example, Polyphepan, Filtrum STI. The drugs are characterized by low sorption capacity and a tendency to help restore intestinal microflora;
- Enterosorbents based on medicinal clay (Smecta) - average degree of effectiveness, low toxicity to the intestines;
- Silicon-based sorbents are preparations with the highest sorption capacity. Available in the form of powders (Polysorb) and hydrogels (Enterosgel). The drugs help not only with food intoxication, but also, for example, with carbon monoxide poisoning.
Among the disadvantages of all enterosorbents is the tendency of the drugs to remove useful microelements, vitamins, and enzymes from the body. Therefore, they should not be taken for more than a week.
What is the best medicine for diarrhea?
When choosing an antidiarrheal drug for the intestines, several criteria must be taken into account:
- desired speed of action in the intestine;
- effectiveness against a specific pathogen or toxin;
- toxicity, side effects;
- traumatic for the mucous membrane.
As for the dosage form, we are guided by the following principles:
- if contact with a toxic substance already in the stomach is possible, then it is better to give preference to powders;
- granular preparations have a long period of exposure;
- hydrogels are easy to use. But they contain a large amount of preservatives and do not tolerate negative temperatures;
- Powdered silicon sorbents can bind poison molecules of different sizes and weights, and are safe for pregnant and lactating women, as well as children from the first day of life.
