Diarrhea

The "BRAT" diet is recommended for toddlers and children who have vomiting and diarrhea; it is useful as well for teenagers and adults with upset digestive tracts.

BRAT stands for:

• bananas
• rice
• applesauce
• toast, no butter or extremely light butter

The BRAT diet has been proven to "rest" the stomach, using easy to tolerate foods. As well, each food has a "binding" effect which helps absorb the fluid of watery diarrhea. Within a few days, the stool becomes a little bit formed, with less runny diarrhea. Once the stool has begun to be more formed (and if there is no vomiting), the person can begin to eat normal meals.

The BRAT diet is easy to use. A banana for breakfast helps replace electrolytes plus firm up the stool. Avoid cereal and milk for at least several days since milk can cause some people problems. Do not use jams or jellies on the toast because those contain sugars which can be harder to digest and can affect blood sugar. Avoid putting vegetables with the rice since those are harder to digest when ill. And although dry toast doesn't sound too appetizing, your "gut" (tummy and intestines) will appreciate having the plain starchy food rather than a mixed meal. Dry toast with a warm cup of tea goes down easily and will help calm the stomach and slow the diarrhea.

Once the diarrhea has slowed, slowly add in regular foods until you feel well enough to eat normally. Remember that your body needs more fluids--not less--during diarrhea because of all the fluid being lost in the stool.

You can also use traditional over-the-counter anti-diarrheal preparations to slow diarrhea (example: Pepto-Bismal, the "pink stuff"), but remember to drink water with every dose or else you could push your body into constipation.

Recurrent "rotten-egg" tasting burps associated with diarrhea could be a symptom of Giardia lamblia infection. Giardia lamblia is a parasite that colonises and reproduces in the small intestine of humans, but is also one of the most common parasites infecting cats and dogs. Symptoms of infection could also include excessive gas, bloating and nausea. Usually the body will clear this parasite out on its own over time, but there are also medical treatments available.

People who have had similar symptoms due to other causes have listed some additional ideas below:

______

1) Could be a gastric-emptying problem (aka motility problem).

2) I have the same problem from time to time. Doc can't put his finger on it. I tried many of the prescription and more exotic drugs for stomach disorders and got zero relief. As a last resort I tried Bismuth subsalicylate and got IMMEDIATE relief. Yes Pepto-Bismol was my answer, as silly as it might seems.

3) I suffered this burps myself as a teen and it wasn't until I was about 22 that I realised it was actually an allergic reaction to some of the food I'd eat. For example when I was a teen my mum used to give me swede all the time for dinner, I used to love the stuff but I stopped eating it and the burps stopped, I didnt think nothing of it until I ate swede again when I was 22 and the next day I had these burps which would last for several days. Used to be embarrassing at School cos I could not help but burp and the classroom used to smell of rotten egg. When I burped quietly I just sat by the window and burped out of the window lol

No don't drink milk.

Even if you don't suffer from lactose intolerance, it might be a good idea to avoid dairy products for a while after suffering from a bout of diarrhea. Diarrhea can cause a lessening of the amount of the enzyme lactose. Lactose is needed in order for the body to digest lactose, the sugar found in dairy products. If this "milk sugar" goes undigested, it can result in further symptoms of gas, bloating, nausea and diarrhea. Here are some common lactose-containing foods:

• Butter
• Cheese
• Ice cream
• Milk