More treatments for gastroenteritis in adults?
Medication
Anti-diarrhoea drugs are not usually necessary. However, you may wish to reduce the number of trips to the toilet. You can buy anti-diarrhoea drugs from pharmacies. The safest and most effective is loperamide. The adult dose of this is two capsules at first. This is followed by one capsule after each time you pass some diarrhoea up to a maximum of eight capsules in 24 hours. It works by slowing down the gut's activity.
Note: do not give anti-diarrhoea drugs to children under 12 years. Also, do not use anti-diarrhoea drugs if you pass blood with the diarrhoea. People with certain conditions should not take loperamide. Therefore, read the leaflet that comes with the medicine to be safe. For example, pregnant women should not take loperamide.
Paracetamol or ibuprofen are useful to ease a high temperature or headache.
If symptoms are severe, or persist more than several days, a doctor may ask for a sample of the diarrhoea. This is sent to the lab to look for infecting germs (bacteria, parasites, etc). Sometimes an antibiotic or other treatments are needed, depending on the cause of the infection.
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jeanett, about 1 year
we live in Spain and my husband has been told he has gastro enteritis he has had severe tummy pains, has felt sick but not been sick and is always sleeping as he is very tired has a little bit of Diarroea this has been going on now for9days he is having some soup but that is all he says that thought of food is making him feel sick, he has had a blood test at the hospital and this is clear anything else we can do? Jeanette Cairns
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