I have had an upset stomach since Tuesday last week, when I went to the mall to get my company’s promotional tote bags. At first, I thought it was just something I ate, or perhaps even a stomach bug. So I wrote it off as diarrhea and went through the normal process of eating healthy food to detoxify and to help whatever I ate get out of my system immediately. At the same time, I took hydrite to make sure I don’t get dehydrated.

My excretion narrowed to once a day but it’s still watery. After one week of my excretion being in the same consistency, I decided to have fecalysis for fear that my amoebiasis might have been triggered. After all, in the majority of cases, amoebas remain in the gastrointestinal tract of the hosts. However, they did not find anything in my fecalysis. The doctor just advised me to change my diet – eat healthy food such as psyllium and oatmeal. That’s what I did.

Still, nothing happened. So I consulted my doctor again and she said the first signs of diarrhea may be easy to recognize, but pinpointing the cause often is not. Consequently, we tracked back to what had been happening in my life and realized that all this time it was stress that’s producing that effect. I was actually quite surprised by this fact. My symptom of being really stressed was vomiting. I did some research and found out that:

Stress can also make conditions that cause diarrhea, such as irritable bowel syndrome, worse. Here’s how it happens: stress or nervousness can cause the bowels to move faster. As a result, stool moves more quickly through the large intestine. Normally, water is reabsorbed into the body from the stool as it passes through the large intestine. The faster the stool moves, the less time there is for water to be reabsorbed. Therefore, more water remains in the stool. The result? Frequent, watery stools, otherwise known as diarrhea. Not only is the diarrhea uncomfortable, it can also interfere with your life. Fortunately, if you are a healthy adult without a fever or bloody stools, there’s no need to let the diarrhea “run its course”. Instead, you can treat diarrhea and get back to life. (http://www.imodium.ca/en/imodium-en1.asp)

Managing stress is one way to help your body systems return to normal and prevent diarrhea and other stress-related digestive problems. One of the most effective methods of dealing with stress is to recognize the source and either avoid it, if practical, or find healthy coping methods.

According to an article I read, one of the healthy coping methods include aerobic exercise which, it turns out, is also good for the digestion. Experts recommend performing about 20 minutes or aerobic exercise most days of the week. Stretching is a good way to relieve muscle tension. I have had no time to exercise for the past months, so I guess now is a good time to get back on track with sports, perhaps swimming.

Diarrhea is uncomfortable, but often preventable. Then again, when prevention does not work, and over-the-counter medications do not help treat diarrhea, it may be time for you to see your doctor.