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What Causes Diarrhea For 3 Weeks?
Question: My wife has had very loose stool for 3 weeks! She will not go to a dr. Is there any over the counter med I can buy to solve this problem? Oh yes she takes 5 to 7 ( lomitol) 2 times a day!
Brief Answer:
needs further evaluation
Detailed Answer:
having diarrhea for over 2 weeks, is considered to be "chronic diarrhea". this needs further evaluation, and she is already taking what is available over the counter without relief.
There could be many issues going on. the most common would be an infection, and this could be due to a bacteria or parasite, particularly because she was in the hospital recently due to her stroke.
Other problems to take into account are medication side effects (did she start any new medications recently?). Also hormonal changes can cause diarrhea, particularly in the thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can cause diarrhea. That what I would start ruling out. Again for all these she needs to go to a doctor, preferably a gastroenterologist for further evaluation. If no diagnosis is found by investigating the above issues, and she remains with very loose stools, she may need an endoscopy and a colonoscopy.
needs further evaluation
Detailed Answer:
having diarrhea for over 2 weeks, is considered to be "chronic diarrhea". this needs further evaluation, and she is already taking what is available over the counter without relief.
There could be many issues going on. the most common would be an infection, and this could be due to a bacteria or parasite, particularly because she was in the hospital recently due to her stroke.
Other problems to take into account are medication side effects (did she start any new medications recently?). Also hormonal changes can cause diarrhea, particularly in the thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can cause diarrhea. That what I would start ruling out. Again for all these she needs to go to a doctor, preferably a gastroenterologist for further evaluation. If no diagnosis is found by investigating the above issues, and she remains with very loose stools, she may need an endoscopy and a colonoscopy.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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