Diarrhoea is when you are doing lots of soft or watery poo. It can happen for only a few days or for many weeks depending on what’s causing it.
what causes it?
Diarrhoea can be caused by an infection or by some medicines like antibiotics, chemo or even radiotherapy to the gut which can irritate the cells that line the inside of your bowels. This stops them from doing their job properly and they start to let lots of water into the small and large bowel. The muscles of the bowel may also start to squeeze quite tightly which makes you want to go to the toilet a lot. It can also give you cramps and make you feel sick.
how is it treated?
If you’re in hospital when your diarrhoea starts, the nurses will ask you to give them a specimen so that it can be tested for infections. If you have an infection, you may be given some antibiotics or antivirals to treat it but not anti-diarrhoea medicines because it is best to let all the infection come out with the diarrhoea. If your diarrhoea is not caused by an infection, then you will be given anti-diarrhoea medicines until you feel better.
what can help?
If you get diarrhoea while you are at home, there's not much you can do to make it go away but you can look after yourself by doing the following
- Let your GP or cancer doctors know. You might not need to go to hospital but it’s a good idea to let someone know what’s happening.
- Drink 3-4 litres of fluid a day. You will be losing water from your body due to the diarrhoea so you need to replace it. You can buy re-hydration salts to add to your water from your local chemist, which will help to replace the salts you are losing when you go to the toilet.
- Eat something salty like crisps.
- Make sure you wash your hands really well after using the toilet and before eating. Check out the eating problems section for some helpful tips.
Remember to call your GP or your local hospital straight away if
- The diarrhoea is getting worse
- Your immunity is low when the diarrhoea starts
- You see blood or puss in the diarrhoea
- You have a high temperature
- You’re being sick and you can’t eat or drink
