Everyone from young children to adults often suffer from these two problems. In most cases, these problems are caused by bacteria entering the stomach and resolve within a few days.

The same advice for diarrhea and vomiting is the same for diarrhea alone or vomiting alone.

Symptoms of diarrhea: How to understand diarrhea?

Soft or watery stools three or more times a day is called diarrhea. However, if for some reason your stools are already soft or thin, then if you have stools more often than usual in a day, consider it as diarrhea.

Breastfed babies’ stools are naturally somewhat soft and sticky. That’s not diarrhea.

Home Remedies for Diarrhea and Vomiting

You can usually treat yourself or your child at home. The most important thing in this case is to drink plenty of fluids and eat food to avoid dehydration.

What to do:

• Take adequate rest at home.
• Drink and eat plenty of fluids, such as water, saline, bran water, rice starch, or canned water. You can add a little salt to the rice flour. If you feel nauseous, try taking small bites.
• Avoid market-bought fruit juices, soft drinks, coffee, tea with sugar. Because eating these can make diarrhea worse.
• Eat whenever you feel you can.
• No specific diet is required. For example, there is a common belief that a person with diarrhea can eat nothing but white rice and chickpeas. This idea is not correct.
• After each bowel movement, children under 2 years of age should be given 50-100 ml of liquid, children between 2 and 10 years should be given 100-200 ml of liquid, and children above 10 years and adults should be given as much liquid as they can drink.
• Continue to breastfeed or bottle feed the baby. If the child vomits, you can feed little by little.
• Give small sips of water between meals for babies who are on formula or solid food.
• Feed the baby every three to four hours. It is better to eat little food at a time rather than giving too much food at once.
• Prepare and feed baby formula as per instructions. Do not make a thinner formula and feed the baby.
• You can take paracetamol if you feel uncomfortable. Before giving the medicine to the child, read the instructions that come with the medicine carefully and make sure to give the right amount of medicine according to the age.
• You can give zinc tablets or syrup to the child as per doctor’s advice to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and speed up recovery. It is generally recommended to take zinc for 10 to 14 days.
• Do not give anti-diarrhea medicine to children under 12 years of age.
• Do not give medicines containing aspirin to children under 16 years of age. Check whether the word “aspirin” is written in small letters under the name of the medicine.

How long can diarrhea and vomiting last?

Common in adults and children

• Diarrhea stops within 5-7 days.
• Vomiting stops within 1-2 days.

What can you do to prevent diarrhea and vomiting from spreading to others?

Stay at home for at least two days after the vomiting or diarrhea subsides. Do not go back to school or work. Otherwise, vomiting or diarrhea may spread to others.

To prevent the spread of diarrhea and vomiting:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water.
• Separately wash clothing or bedding that has come into contact with feces or vomit in hot water.
• Clean faucets, doorknobs, toilet seats, flush handles, surfaces that may come in contact with germs daily.

What not to do when sick:

• If possible, avoid cooking for others.
• Do not share your dishes, cutlery, towels, clothes with anyone.
• Do not enter the swimming pool until 2 weeks after the symptoms are gone.

Diarrhea when to consult a doctor?

1. You feel worried about the health of a baby under one year old
2. A child under five shows signs of dehydration – such as less wet diapers, nappies or diapers than before
3. Reduces baby’s intake of breast milk, bottle milk or formula
4. If you or your child over 5 years of age still have signs of dehydration after eating saline
5. If you or your baby passes blood with the stool or passes blood through the stool
6. If there is vomiting for more than 2 days or diarrhea for more than 7 days

Causes vomiting and diarrhea

The exact cause of vomiting or diarrhea may not be known, but treatment for the underlying causes of vomiting or diarrhea is essentially the same.

The most notable factors are:

1. Gastroenteritis
2. Norovirus (also known as vomiting bug in Western countries)
3. food poisoning

Some other causes of diarrhea are:

• Different medicines – read the instructions that come with any medicine to see what the side effects of the medicine are
• Allergy to certain foods or intolerance to certain foods
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome/IBS)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease/IBD)
• Celiac disease
• Diverticular disease

Vomiting can be caused by the following:

• pregnancy
• Migraine pain
• Labyrinthitis
• Different medicines – Read the side effects leaflets with any medicine
• Reflux – food comes up in the baby’s mouth (spits out).
• Other infections, such as urinary tract infection