Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

diarrhea

I have chronic diarrhea, once a week it subsides but it always returns. I can't drink milk, only skim milk, I can't touch extreme spices [eg: chilli], fruit, and I can't drink alcohol either for fear of serious diarrhea. Not being able to eat fruit is a serious disadvantage, as it's not healthy for you.

I drink water excessively, I go through 10-15 cups of tea per day, and about 20-30 glasses [500mls] of water per day.

I am a smoker, and I have frequent stomach cramps and migranes/headaches. I do take a lot of Pain killers.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all as to what is wrong with me?
11 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
I have stopped drinking coffee for about a week. I ran out of diet coke which is about all I ever drink. As a substitute I drank about 6 big glasses of black tea. Then about 8 hours later my stool had the consistancy of milk. It actually sounded like I was urinating. I hear pizza constipates you and that is all that I have eaten today with the exception of a taffy bar. I doubt sugar is the cause because I am known to bing on sweets. They have never given me the runs before.
I'm wondering if drinking a lot of tea like this might be useful in flushing out my system and maybe loosing some weight.
Helpful - 0
3 Comments
Purple welches grape juice helps with digestive issues. Try the purple wedges grape juice with each meal. It only takes a 3/4 cup to one cup to help your digestive system. It does wonders for gallbladder problems and liver problems.
Welches purple grape juice.
I wouldn't recommend Welches.  While the underlying question of whether grape juice with it's very high sugar content is the best thing for digestive issues or the liver is highly questionable in and of itself, as there are other things that are probably better for those things, even assuming this is a good remedy Welches has additives in it and does not make organic juice.  If you're going to use any kind of juice for any purpose, especially a healing purpose, remember that grapes are one of the most pesticide intensive foods you can buy, which makes it quite inappropriate for liver issues and probably not the best thing to use regularly.  When you juice, you use a lot of fruit, and therefore consume a lot of pesticides, far more than if you just munch on a few grapes.  There are several pure concentrated grape juice products out there that use organically grown grapes and have done so for many years while Welches has been knowingly poisoning people by adding sugar to its grape juice until it had to try to catch up to current trends by making some products that don't do that.  Don't reward them.  Buy Knudsen's or Lakewood or other health food store brands that have been making organic pure dark grape juice for many years.  Peace.
Avatar universal
it may be just chronic gastric irritation which do cause increased bowel movements....smoking tea and pain killers are the cause...avoid then or atleast reduce them:)
Helpful - 0
164559 tn?1233708018
I have irritable bowel syndrome.  I have discovered certain triggers whi are guaranteed to give me the runs.  ( or as I call them, the GRIPPERS, as I can have a lot of pain)

1.  Fried foods (not good for you anyway
2.  Foods prepared with additives
3.  Too much sugar
4.  Too many raw veggies
5.  overeating
6.  Menstruation
7.  Swiss chalet
8.  Too much caffeine.

And sometimes I have NO idea what caused it.  I avoid fried foods and limit raw veggies.  Which is hard because I prefer them raw.

Good luck.

Oh and perhaps you should provide your doc with a stool sample.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
"As far as all the tea and drinking, it will not cause diarrhea"

Tea contains caffeine and caffeine causes diarrhea in some individuals if they consume more than a certain tolerable "threshold".  If someone has chronic diarrhea then cutting out caffeinated beverages would, at least, be an easy modification that could be made to their diet to assess the impact.  Although it may not be the route cause of the diarrhea, it could stilll exhasibate the situation.


Crystalcat:  did you find out the cause of your diarrhea?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sometimes diarrhea can be caused by lack of good bacteria in the intestines.  You should look into probiotics.  You can get them on line @ www.naturessunshine.com or @ any health food store.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The color of stool is determined by the amount of bile in the gut. It is also determined by dyes in foods and seasonings.  In the absence of dyes, stool is normal from a mustard yellow to a dark brown. When you eat a fatty meal, the stomach makes more acid to break it down.  When the food leaves the stomach it enters a small section of bowel called the duodenum where messages are sent to the pancreas for insulin and bile.  The pancreas tells the liver to release bile into the gut.  The amount of bile is determined by the amount of fat in the digested food. The more fat, the more bile.  The more bile, the more yellow the resulting stool. When the food enters the large intestine the texture of the stool is determined. The higher the bile content, the more water is released into the bowel and the "wetter" the stool is.  So, if you ate a low fat diet with no or little fiber, drank very little water, or got somewhat dehydrated, the stool will be firmer and darker in color could (you could even be constipated). You may even skip a bowel movement altogether. Tomorrow you eat a high fat meal and get lots of bile to help break it down.  You may get the darker colored dryer "plug" from the firmer stool in the bowel followed by a yellow loose stool or a watery diarrhea afterward. An ultrasound of the gall bladder/liver may find some sandy like stones in the gallbladder sac.  As far as all the tea and drinking, it will not cause diarrhea.  It will cause a lot of urinating, though.  You can decrease your fatty meals and increase your consumption of fiber to help keep your stools firm and soft, which is what you want.  Good luck
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It sure does!

This link discusses caffeine in tea:
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/caffeine.html

And this one gives caffeine levels in different beverages:
http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

Based on this information and depending on what kind of tea you are drinking, you are consuming between 2-11 cans of Redbull a day (or 4-23 cans of Pepsi)!  Im guessing you drink a regular brew which probably puts you somewhere in the middle of this range which is a considerable amount of a diuretic!

Good luck!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I didnt think tea had caffine in it o.0

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,

One thing you can try is cutting the tea out of your diet.  Tea is caffeinated and since caffeine is a diuretic it will likely worsen diarrhea and, in some people, it actually causes diarrhea!  This link has some info on this:
http://www.ucheepines.org/caffeine.htm

Since you are drinking 10-15 cups of tea a day I would certainly look at the effects of cutting back.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It varies in colour. Yesterday it was like urine, and extremely yellow. Today it's normal in colour.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Have you had your gallbladder checked out? What color is your stool?
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Nutrition Community

Top Healthy Living Answerers
Avatar universal
Arlington, VA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
14 super-healthy foods that are worth the hype
Small changes make a big impact with these easy ways to cut hundreds of calories a day.
Forget the fountain of youth – try flossing instead! Here are 11 surprising ways to live longer.
From STD tests to mammograms, find out which screening tests you need - and when to get them.
Tips and moves to ease backaches
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.