Underlying Disease As A Cause
• If you do not have a sudden bout of diarrhea and cannot identify the cause from those mentioned here, you may have one that is chronic due to some major underlying causes which you should discuss with your healthcare provider. Some of these are:
• Lactose intolerance (lack of enzymes to digest milk sugar) is another common cause.
• Gluten intolerance. You may not be able to tolerate certain foods that contain gluten (wheat, oats, rye and barley). See celiac disease below.
• Various types of bowel problems, such as bowel cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• A hyperactive thyroid can also cause diarrhea.
• Food allergies are a very common cause of diarrhea. Proper testing will discover which one(s) you are allergic to. Eliminating the offending food may well stop the diarrhea. Have a blood test done or try an elimination diet to find out what is causing the diarrhea.
• Celiac disease. This is a disease where the person is allergic to gluten, a protein substance found in wheat, barley, oats and rye and, therefore, in a wide variety of foods. Many individuals with celiac disease are deficient in vitamin B-6 and magnesium. Magnesium is necessary to utilize vitamin B-6. Your doctor can test for gluten intolerance.
• A deficiency in niacin.
• A deficiency in folic acid.
If you have chronic diarrhea you may be suffering from malabsorption of food which may include deficiencies in vitamins, minerals and enzymes or have food allergies. You and your healthcare practitioner will have to correct the digestion problem or discover the source of your allergy in order to stop the diarrhea.
Many traditional doctors try to stop the diarrhea before it has done its job, and some of the remedies they use, such as the drug calomel, as well as castor oil, leave the patient constipated afterward.
Over-the-counter remedies to stop diarrhea are not recommended. Let Nature take her course and rid the body of the toxins that caused the problem; many doctors recommend doing nothing for 6 to 12 hours, then begin antidiarrheal remedies. However, if the diarrhea persists for two or three days, looks like black tar or there is blood in the stool, or if you have a fever, see your doctor.
If persistent, this type of diarrhea may be caused by parasites and should be treated by a doctor.
