If you come down with a sudden case of diarrhea, you should take Pepto-Bismol, two tablets or tablespoons four times a day, until the diarrhea clears up. In severe cases, your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic called Bactrim, which you’ll take in pill form twice a day for three to five days. A newer antibiotic known as Cipro, which is usually taken in 500-milligram doses twice a day for five days, can also be effective.
Viral diarrhea usually responds to over-the-counter measures such as Kaopectate, taken in doses of one or two tablespoons three or four times a day.
Whenever you cook chicken, it is very important to wash the chicken before you cook it. You should also be careful that any utensils or plates that have touched the raw chicken don’t touch the cooked chicken; this is how salmonella spreads. You should also wash your hands after cleaning the chicken and make sure you cook it all the way through.
When you’re traveling to a foreign country that’s known for traveler’s diarrhea, you shouldn’t drink the water or use ice in drinks unless you are sure it is pure. Also, don’t drink or eat from any of the food stands, since there is a high risk of contracting parasites that might strike in your digestive system weeks or months later.
If you’ve recently begun a new medication and have had no other changes in your lifestyle that I’ve described, ask your doctor if you can stop taking the medication and request an alternate. If your diarrhea clears up within a day or two, the medication was the cause of your diarrhea.
Special Mention for the Elderly
I once treated an elderly patient whose family always left him a plate of cooked chicken in his refrigerator. One day, his power was out for several hours, which gave the salmonella bacteria on the chicken a great opportunity to multiply. The man didn’t eat the chicken until a week later, and he developed acute salmonella poisoning from the tainted chicken and unfortunately died from the attack.
If you regularly provide food—especially chicken—for an elderly relative or friend, make sure that the refrigerator is working properly, that the chicken is cooked all the way through, and that it is thrown out after a few days if it goes uneaten.
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