How to stop diarrhea caused by gastroenteritis

Written by Jiang Guo Ming
Gastroenterology
Updated on May 08, 2025
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Acute gastroenteritis is one of the common diseases of the digestive system, usually prevalent in the summer and autumn seasons. It may be caused by exposure to cold or improper diet and typically presents with symptoms such as intermittent abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, bloating, and sometimes fever and chills. The stool can be watery, mucous, or even bloody. As for how to stop diarrhea, it depends on the specific cause. If it is gastroenteritis caused by a virus, appropriate antiviral medications can be used in combination with antidiarrheal drugs, such as smectite powder. For bacterial enteritis, treatment primarily involves antibacterial therapy, such as cephalosporins or quinolone medications, combined with antidiarrheal drugs, which often can achieve satisfactory results. Also, a light diet should be maintained, avoiding raw, greasy, spicy, and irritating foods. (Specific medications should be used under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Si Li Li
Gastroenterology
56sec home-news-image

Is it normal to have a fever with gastroenteritis?

If it is acute gastroenteritis, its onset is sudden and the course of the disease is short. The main symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever. The primary cause is due to unhygienic food consumption leading to bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract causing inflammation. It is a disease caused by bacterial infection. Fever is one of its most common symptoms. Thus, acute gastroenteritis does cause fever. The treatment primarily involves anti-inflammatory measures, rehydration, and symptomatic treatment. Generally, after two to three days of treatment, the disease will heal. After recovery, it is essential to pay attention to food hygiene, avoid eating overnight leftovers and spoiled food as they can easily trigger acute gastroenteritis.

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Written by Zhu Dan Hua
Gastroenterology
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What to eat for acute gastroenteritis?

For the diet of acute gastroenteritis, we recommend that patients consume easily digestible, clean foods and avoid overeating and pickled, spicy foods. It's important to maintain fluid intake to prevent dehydration. For medication, the use of anti-diarrheal, antispasmodic pain relievers, and drugs that regulate the intestinal flora can be added to treat the symptoms. Acute gastroenteritis is quite common in clinical practice, with patients presenting symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Abdominal pain often manifests as episodic colicky pain around the navel and dull pain. The main symptoms of nausea and vomiting are vomiting of stomach contents. Among these, diarrhea is the most common symptom, characterized by an increased frequency of bowel movements and watery stools, but most patients do not have symptoms of bloody stools. Of course, a small number of patients may also experience symptoms of chills and low fever. Thus, for patients with acute gastroenteritis, we can use antibiotics in small doses. (Medication should be administered under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Huang Gang
Gastroenterology
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Can you smoke with gastroenteritis?

If suffering from gastroenteritis, the main clinical symptoms usually include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or fever. If these symptoms occur, it is best to test the stool and blood to determine whether the infection is bacterial or viral, and then treat accordingly. It is not recommended for patients with gastroenteritis to smoke, as smoking primarily harms the lungs, easily causing chronic bronchitis, asthma, or even allergies. Furthermore, smoking can affect the blood concentration of medications, thus during the treatment of gastroenteritis with oral medications or intravenous infusions, smoking can affect the efficacy of the treatment. Therefore, patients with gastroenteritis should not smoke.

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Written by Zhai Guo Dong
Gastroenterology
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How long does it take for gastroenteritis to get better?

If it is acute gastroenteritis, make sure to rest in bed as much as possible, replenish with glucose electrolyte solutions, and handle symptoms accordingly. Recovery often occurs within three to seven days. If it is chronic gastroenteritis, specific analysis based on the particular conditions is required. Chronic gastritis and enteritis often cannot be completely cured, only partially alleviated in terms of symptoms.

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Written by Huang Gang
Gastroenterology
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Does acute gastroenteritis hurt?

When suffering from acute gastroenteritis, the inflammation can cause irregular and accelerated intestinal peristalsis, which may lead to intestinal spasms and colic. In such cases, the first step should be proactive anti-inflammatory symptomatic treatment. Then, applying a heat pack on the stomach and drinking more hot water can help alleviate the symptoms. If the pain is severe, and the patient is sweating profusely, looks pale, and has cold hands and feet, going to the hospital for an intramuscular injection of Scopolamine Butylbromide can relieve smooth muscle spasms and relax the muscles, thereby easing the pain. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to dietary hygiene. It is crucial to thoroughly heat or cook food taken out from the refrigerator before eating, as prevention is more important than treatment.