Diarrhoea

Treatment

How you can treat diarrhoea yourself

Diarrhoea should go away on its own within a few days. It's normal to also have stomach cramps.

It's important that you drink enough fluids to avoid dehydration. Your pee should be light yellow or clear.

As soon as you feel able to eat, go back to your normal diet.

If you have a high temperature of 38C or more, take painkillers like paracetamol.

A pharmacist can help with diarrhoea

You can take medicines to help reduce the diarrhoea and shorten how long it lasts. But you don't have to take these and they won't cure your diarrhoea.

Describe your symptoms to the pharmacist. They can recommend the best medicine for you.

Frail or elderly people can dehydrate more easily. You can get sachets with salt, sugar and minerals at the pharmacy, which you can use in addition to your normal diet. They're called oral rehydration solutions.

See a GP if:

you feel very sick and keep vomiting
you have no appetite and you're losing weight
your poo is very dark and smelly (this may indicate there's blood in your poo)
the diarrhoea doesn't go away
you have recently taken antibiotics or been treated in hospital

Diarrhoea can be infectious. Check with the GP before you go in. They may suggest a phone consultation.

Babies and toddlers: treating diarrhoea

You can often safely look after your baby or toddler at home. But it's very important to watch out for signs of dehydration.

Babies and toddlers can become dehydrated more quickly than older children when they have diarrhoea and vomiting.

If dehydration becomes severe, it can be dangerous, particularly in young babies.

Do

give them enough to drink in small sips – they dehydrate very quickly
continue breastfeeding or formula as normal
to ease the pain, you can give liquid paracetamol for children
if your child is eating solid foods, offer them their usual food if they want it

Don't

give them medicines to stop the diarrhoea
give them fruit juice and fizzy drinks (they can make the diarrhoea worse)

Take your baby or toddler to the GP if they:

had 6 or more bouts of diarrhoea in the past 24 hours
vomited more than 3 times in the past 24 hours
have watery or bloody poo
show signs of dehydration (for example, fewer wet nappies)
have severe stomach ache or one that doesn't stop
still have diarrhoea after 5 to 7 days

Diarrhoea can be infectious. Check with the GP before you go in. They may suggest a phone consultation.

Take your baby or toddler to the GP urgently or go to A&E if they:

have a high temperature and you can't bring it down (over 38C if under 3 months old, and over 39C if 3 to 6 months old)
have blood or mucus in their poo
have severe tummy pain
are getting worse quickly