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Suggest Treatment For Prolonged Severe Diarrhea
Question: Yes, thank you. My brother has had diahhera for about 8 months now. He has been to multiple doctors and had multiple testing with no diagnosis. He said he had been to the bathroom already 20 times today..could you please help?
Brief Answer:
Kindly provide the requested data...
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
It has passed too long living with such severe diarrhea (turned into chronic diarrhea). Can you please provide the reports of the tests he had done in order to give specific suggestions? Can you also provide the medications he is currently taking?
For the time being, I advise to give him:
- tasectan to stop the diarrhea
- OTC probiotics to normalize intestinal flora
- advise him to drink lots of water and take OTC O.R.S to replace the lost fluids and electrolytes with diarrhea
Further tests are needed to exclude organic problems:
- stool culture
- examination of stool for ova/parasites
- colonoscopy
- abdominal ultrasound
- liver/kidney/pancreas function tests
- malabsoption test
Looking forward to have the requested data in!
Dr.Albana
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
We were not able to get the Tasectan....we were told that it is not sold in the United States...We got Immodium...what are your thoughts on that. Like I said all tests have come out Negative except he was told he had a fungal infection. What are the appropriate Medes for that. Another question....would an over the counter pinworm treatment be something that may help him? What is OTC O.R.C.? Thank you
Brief Answer:
Following answers to your queries...
Detailed Answer:
Hi there,
He can take Immodium for only 2 or 3 days. You can ask for Lomotil or Pepto-bismol at your local pharmacy instead and can use for longer period.
Fungal infection can explain his diarrhea. Unfortunately, the anti-fungal drugs are given by prescription. Nystatin is the drug of choice, but is not sold over-the-counter. Culture of stool and sensitivity testing is necessary to determine the right (sensitive) antifungal treatment.
If pinworm is noticed,then, can take over-the-counter mebendazole for 3 consecutive days.
OTC O.R.S. = over-the-counter oral-dehydration-salt (used to prevent dehydration).
Hope it answered to your queries! Let me know if you need further clarifications!
Wish fast recovery!
Dr.Albana
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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