I give my wife different foods all the time thinking she might be allergic to them but she continues with the diarrhea. Is this a natural thing with older people?
She has almost stopped eating entirely thinking she will get over it. I give her foods with no spices, skim milk, no tomatoes but she keeps me going. Now she won't hardly eat anything and that scares me.
I had an idea and started eating about 1/8 of a jar of Dry Roasted Peanuts or Honey Roasted Peanuts a day. They do a good job of firming up your bowels. Should I have a day when I haven't stuck to my routiine, I am sure to have a bout with diarrhea. I've been doing this for almost all of the last four years and I've shared this with friends from our Forgetful Friends Group and have been told it has also worked for them. I hope others will fine this a worthy tip.
God bless you!
My ex was able to give up his addiction to pop, when he got a soda stream. Turned out it was the mouth feel of fizzy drinks that he could not give up. Once he had full time access to fizzy water at home he was able to give up the pop.
Before getting the soda stream he bought 2L bottles of carbonated water to see if he liked it. You can add a bit of juice to it for flavour.
Especially no milk products or spicy foods.
Also, I don’t see what conditions your wife has, but my mom was prescribed metformin for stage II diabetes.
Her insurance requires her to get generic medicines and I found volumes of testimonials saying the generic version of metformin gives people diarrhea no matter what the pharmacists say.
Some people said they went back to their name brand medicine and the diarrhea went away. Maybe there are other medicines like this.
One other thing: it’s recommended you give pedialyte rather than Gatorade if possible because it has more electrolytes. I found a powdered version that comes in packets you put in 16 oz. water bottle. That way I keep it on hand.
My mom still has diarrhea often, and constipation alternatively, but not uncontrollable blowouts like she used to. It’s difficult to keep her at an even keel. It is why she quit socializing long before she needed to.
Good luck,
charlotte
P.S. My mom has discovered, and confirmed with her doctor, that some of her sugarless candy and cough drops too, give her diarrhea because they contain sucralose, which is a laxative in other applications.
I recently got my mother-in-law Saccharomyces Boulardii (a yeast) and a probiotic for diarrhea (some are for constipation so be careful) at Whole foods and that stopped her soft stool after a round of antibiotics.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics-what-you-need-to-know
Add 'binding' foods such as rice to her meals.
His dr. wants him to go on to Viberzi, still waiting for the prescription. . I explained that I was having in a similar thing with my husband having to clean up poop off the toilet, walls, and floor several times a day. I started giving him imodium 1/day. It worked for a couple of days but diarrhea has come back . I am going to try the BRAT diet. He has difficulty swallowing pills. He has been using THICKET for liquids and they said to use pudding, for his pills. but since that has milk in it I will try using the applesauce for the pills.
I need to try to get this fixed asap because we are moving the end of May l have to drive from San Antonio to St. Augustine, Fl. I don.t have a clue how we will make it that far if this continues.
If she is diabetic Metformin can cause diarrhea, as can sugar free sweets.
As some one who has suffered from IBS for many years, the FODMAP elimination diet was a godsend. It helped me to figure out what foods were triggers for me, which I can have in small quantities and which are 'safe' for me to eat. I did it under the guidance of a Dietician at my local hospital.
Before doing the diet, I knew cows milk dairy and wheat were issues. I have since learned that Brussels Sprouts and cauliflower are on the limited intake list. No more roasted sprouts or Aloo Gobi for me.
When things are bad for me, I have white rice with butter or olive oil and Soy Sauce (wheat free). I eat that for several meals. I also will eat Kettle potato chips in Salt and Vinegar flavour.
2. Also, my family has had great results with Activated Charcoal capsules. They're pretty easy to swallow. Follow the directions on the label. They should work within a few hours. After the first week, try giving the charcoal to her just "as needed". Don't be alarmed because it will temporarily change the color of her stools to dark green. Charcoal is a very old detoxing remedy from the old days. It worked really well with my mother and also helps with gas and gas cramping. She doesn't need to take it too often anymore, but she does carry a bottle of the capsules with her every time we go out in case of an emergency. You can get them over-the-counter at any pharmacy. Make sure your wife drinks a full 8-oz. glass of water with them, not a little sip.
3. If she does not have kidney disease, you should also be giving her a small (4 to 6 oz.) juice glass of chilled Vita Coconut Water with Pineapple every day. It's a wonderful way of replenishing her electrolytes and will give her energy. It will keep her from becoming dehydrated from the diarrhea. There's no sugar or artificial flavors in it and it is flavored with pineapple puree. (It isn't recommended for kidney patients because it has potassium in it.)
4. Definitely keep her away from dairy until this gets under control; however, the grated cheese should not have an adverse effect on her, since it has such a low water content. It should also provide her with just the right amount of sodium without affecting her blood pressure, as she is losing sodium with the diarrhea.
5. If none of these suggested remedies help, then please have her evaluated by a GI specialist and a nutritionist.
Chronic diarrhea are no fun, but can be managed. I'd have mom evaluated by a good GI and follow the instructions as to food management, etc. It's more common to occur in older folks, but no one should have it chronically.
if so, ask if she can simply be taken off of it. It has been my experience that the frail elderly are often on a dozen or more meds and many of them fall under what I call the “ why not” category. The doctor prescribed them, not because they’re curative, but because they might possibly have some very minor benefit (which can be greatly outweighed by negative side effects - something that doctors don’t often give very much weight in their decision making). Seniors wind up on drugs for months and years that they aren’t truly deriving much of anything from.
Please give her vitamins and calcium supplements. Pick good vitamins and calcium supplements - should dissolve in a glass of water in 24 hours or less.
The Hospice nurse also said that sometimes taking vitamin C can cause diarrhea, so we stopped that.
We stopped using lots of black pepper too. And milk, including most kinds of Boost, Ensure, etc., which contain milk solids. And overly acid foods. And anything with lots of sugar. It helps to keep a food diary for a week or two so you can try to identify the "triggers."
If someone has an overgrowth of yeast in their intestines, it can cause either diarrhea or constipation, or alternately, both! There are treatments for that, but most doctors don't even test unless you ask. Still, it is a very common condition, especially if someone has taken antibiotics that have killed off all of the competing bacteria (in its absence, the yeast fungus thrives).
Please make sure that your wife drinks copious amounts of water (I know ... I know, but do it anyway) because diarrhea can easily make her become severely dehydrated. If you use Gatorade or Pedialyte, mix it with at least half water. She will also lose lots of weight because she's going to the bathroom so fast that she's not absorbing enough nutrition. Malabsorption, which is what that is called, can kill people.
Last, use diapers or Depends pull-ups plus disposable bed pads under your wife at all times. I have 3 permanent quilted-fabric bedpads for the main ones (I rotate them: one underneath, one ready-to-use, another in the washer) and they really do save money. But whenever you change her, put either a disposable one or a small towel on top of it, just in case. And have a bedside commode WITH LINERS that can be tied off and simply thrown away. These last few things will change both of your lives for the better!
My Dad was having issues and when I finally convinced my Mom to let Dad try "Lactaid" brand milk, and for her not to give Dad cottage cheese, ice cream, regular cheese, or anything containing dairy for two weeks. Sure enough it was the dairy.
Thank goodness for "Lactaid" brand. Both my sig other and I use this brand of milk and it taste the same as regular milk. Lactaid also makes lactose-free ice cream. If you wife loves cheese, she can still have it, as Lactaid also makes a pill one can take before eating dairy that helps the tummy not get upset.
Thus, stay away from all things dairy for 2 weeks. Then after 2 weeks add in the Lactaid milk, it taste just like regular milk, and it also comes in 2%.
My husband has had diarrhea for many years. I let him handle it himself. Now that he is sinking into Alzheimer's I can see the day I will have to change him myself. I mentioned it to the primary doctor, I got a rolling of the eyes and a "well if he has had it for that many years.....". I started crying, I told that ass that he was blowing me off and I didn't see how I could clean up poop off the toilet, walls, and floor all the time. My breakdown, and I don't do that easily, got his attention, he assured me he wasn't blowing me off, Yeah right! Anyway, we ended up with a NP in Gastroenterology that did a bunch of tests. It turns out that his problem is caused by the fact that since he had his gall bladder removed, his liver is dumping too much gall into his colon. Some powder in his orange juice every morning has pretty much stopped it.
Guess what! It worked! Almost too well sometimes as mom had a faucet that she didnt even need to turn on.
Call her doc to clear it before you give it a try..
Stick with what doesn’t give her diarrhea. Not knowing her history speak with her doctor about what sort of diet she should be on. Try a bland diet now to try to see if that improves her diarrhea.
She may have lost her appetite or trying to avoid getting diarrhea by not eating.
You know to keep her well hydrated with water and drinks like Gatorade, but be careful as sugary drinks/foods are usually not good to have with diarrhea. Milk also may not be a good choice while she's got diarrhea (milk has sugar); skip caffeine, too.
Cut back on solid food for a day or two until diarrhea lets up. It gives the digestive system time to rest, recover. Try clear, plain broths (chicken, beef) and look for those with no MSG or sugar, and sugar free jello.
Add a little solid food once her diarrhea stops. That solid food should be bland and small portions as she can tolerate. Some starches are ok (like plain white rice) and help once she can eat solid food, but too many carbohydrates can bring on diarrhea or make it worse. Good choices: eggs, plain saltines or other cracker (not buttery) or unbuttered toast ~ not wheat as it's harder to digest for her right now, plain skinless potato.
Get her some probiotics to help her digestive system, and aloe vera (non bitter) to drink to help heal her digestive system.