Chronic Diarrhea for Over a Year - Please Suggest Remedies

Hello Charisse,

Since this condition has continued for so long and, there can be many causes, are you able to see a holistic physician or a holistic oriented gastrointestinal doc for testing?

Again, there are many causes for chronic diarrhea including: persistent parasitic infections (often protazoan), IBDs, diverticulitis, malabsorption disorders, medications, toxicity such as glyphosate (roundup), SIBO, IBS, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, Bile Acid Diarrhea, food intolerances - especially from gluten and foods contaminated with glyphosate (see Dr Peter Osbourne's website - Gluten Warrior), specific artificial sugars, persistent bacterial or other pathogenic intestinal infections, and other more serious conditions.

To start, consider the following suggestions:

1. TESTING

If I was in your position, I would complete the stool/urine tests from ParaWellness Research Lab in Colorado. They test for many parasitic and pathogenic infections that cause chronic diarrhea (e.g. Cryptosporidium, Blastocystis Hominis and Giardia). These infections are actually more common than most know.

2. HYDRATION & ELECTROLYTES - IMPORTANT

Very important to regularly take electrolytes and stay hydrated - diarrhea depletes your body of electrolytes and water.

Also, it would be prudent to take a good vitamin and mineral supplement.

There are many remedies one could try (essential oil blends, silver, iodine, herbal tinctures, medications, etc.) however, trying to figure out what the cause(s) is will save you time/money. So, it is important to take a personal "history."

3. HISTORY

When did this start? What do you think caused it? Did you eat or drink something before it started? Did it occur after you traveled? Did it start after a diet/food/beverage change? What makes the condition better or worse? Did it start after drinking water? Keep a journal of what you remember. Taking a very detailed history often provides answers or direction.

I have a personal experience with this as I and a few others picked up E. coli after drinking an iced latte purchased from a grocery store in Maui .... the stomach issues started after this drink. Later, the news indicated the water supply was contaminated with E. coli, ugh.

It is estimated that ~ 1/3 of the city water supply and public pools in the U.S. are contaminated with a protozoa.

You could try a couple remedies known to treat some forms of diarrhea - check with your physician first:

4. CHARCOAL + BENTONITE CLAY

High quality activated charcoal (e.g., Takasumi - Supreme Nutrition) with bentonite clay. Take 2-3 capsules or 1 Tablespoon/each, 3x/day, preferably on an empty stomach, with one glass of water. Make sure you are hydrated. Try this for about 3 days and see if it makes a difference. GI Detox also includes these ingredients.

5. TEMPORARY ELIMINATION DIET

Try eliminating the most common suspects for at least 3 weeks and see if there is improvement, often you can identify the culprit(s): e.g.s: common food allergens, gluten/grain, sugars, dairy, raw foods, moldy foods, etc.

6. ESSENTIAL OILS

There are quite a number of essential oils that have been used to treat diarrhea: e.g., caraway seed, caraway seed with peppermint, cassia bark, etc..

And, there are several very effective essential oil blends that are used for diarrhea. They can be applied in different ways - rubbed on the abdomen; orally 1-3 drops after meals in Manuka honey, with water on bread, pr place drops in capsules with another carrier oil; etc....

Always start with lowest dose (do a sensitivity test first), go slow, and build up.

NOTE: use high quality and tested essential oils, preferably organic.

Blend #1: ginger, peppermint, juniperberry, anise, bitter fennel, lemongrass, patchouli. 1-3 drops in capsule with a carrier oil, take after meals or on empty stomach.

Blend #2: black cumin carrier oil, caraway seed, lavender, bitter orange, thyme ct thymol, 12-20% essential oil blend.

If you are interested, I can share the holistic protocol I followed for various intestinal protozoan infections acquired over the years. Though, I am sure there are simpler protocols out there.

Wishing you recovery, soon!

Sherri

You may not want to take prescription medicine, but my husband who had horrible diarrhea finally got some relief from chlorestymine (I think that is the right spelling). It is a powder you mix with water/gatorade, and it did wonders. He would take up to 8 imodium a day w/no relief and this would take effect overnight. He had to keep taking it as his was caused by mestasized rectal cancer, which does not mean at all, that your is caused by that. This medicine just worked when nothing else would. Most pharmacies do not carry this all the time and may have to be ordered. Made in France. This would be for a long term, chronic problem, but it works. He could even take 1/2 an envelope at a time and get relief. Good luck.

Find and Read:

Hi Charisse,

I had diarrhea for over a year in 2023 and had an episode of 5 months about 12 years ago. I had and still have a Candida overgrowth. I also have heavy metals and issues with my liver, autoimmune, etc. Once the liver is overloaded, in my case, the diarrhea starts. I used Chlorine Dioxide to get rid of a severe infection and I thought it would control the diarrhea but it didn't (it did get rid of the infection). I did clays, charcoal, diatemaceous earth, am gluten, dairy free, low sugar, and cholestyramine, but ended up with vertigo after that, and only 1/4 of the dose. I finally began having glutathione IV's to clear the liver and once I got to a larger dose, the diarrhea stopped that week. For six months I had a normal bowel movement and now diarrhea has begun again. According to bloodwork, there could possibly be parasites. Maybe that has been an issue all along as I have had them before, or maybe never completely got rid of them. I met a doctor at a conference and she said to take something for at least 3 months. For that I am taking fenbendazole, 4 days on 3 days off, and mimosa pudica 3 x a day. I noticed with the mimosa an immediate calming of the gut. At any rate, testing would help you to know what it is, but remember that parasites are often undetected. IV's help the entire body. But it was years before I could afford that. You may want to consider zeolite which will pick up heavy metals and other toxins.

God bless you - it is awful to live with, but there is hope.

You did not mention your age. Do not start any remedies, find out the cause. Doctors are probably dismissing you, but there are videos on YouTube, just type “chronic diarrhoea”.