Have you ever had a stomach flu accompanied by bouts of vomiting and diarrhea?

What is gastroenteritis in adults?

Gastroenteritis, or gastroenteritis, is a disease resulting from a bacterial or viral infection that affects the digestive system, causing several disturbing symptoms, such as: vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and severe colic. It is known among patients as a stomach cold or stomach flu.

What is the treatment for gastroenteritis in adults?

Gastroenteritis usually disappears on its own within about a week, but the loss of fluids and nutrients as a result of vomiting, diarrhea, juices, water, and light foods must be compensated so that the body can recover quickly. Below we explain to you how to treat gastroenteritis for adults at home:

Treating gastroenteritis at home

The following instructions help speed up the recovery process from gastroenteritis in adults:

1. Drink plenty of fluids, equivalent to 2-3 liters of water, to avoid dehydration that may result from vomiting and diarrhea.
2. Adhere to the medications prescribed by the doctor, such as pain relievers, intestinal disinfectants, anti-vomiting and anti-diarrhea medications, and antibiotics if the cause is a bacterial infection.
3. Make sure to get enough rest to allow the body to recover.
4. Take rehydration solution or take intravenous fluids if vomiting and diarrhea are severe, to replace lost electronics and minerals.
5. Eat light foods, such as soup, rice, dry bread or rusks.
6. Avoid fatty, sugary, high-fiber or spicy foods and caffeine. 

Read also: When do the symptoms of gastroenteritis go away and how are they treated?

Gastrointestinal treatment for adults from the pharmacy

Internists prescribe several medications from the pharmacy to treat gastroenteritis, in addition to the previous home instructions, which include the following:

• Paracetamol to relieve pain and reduce fever.
• Ondasterone to stop vomiting.
• Metronidazole to cleanse the intestinal tract and stop diarrhea.
• Nitazoxanide or loperamide to treat diarrhea.
• Antibiotics if the cause of gastroenteritis is bacterial infection.

Causes of gastroenteritis in adults

Infection is the most common cause of gastroenteritis, and includes:

• Viruses, such as norovirus, rotavirus, or sapovirus.
• Bacterial infections, such as: Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, or Staphylococcus.
• Parasites, such as: giardia, amoebic dysentery, or candidiasis.

There are other causes of gastroenteritis, but they are less common, and include the following:

• Poisoning by heavy metals due to their presence in water, such as: lead, cadmium, or mercury.
• Plant toxins, such as poisonous mushrooms or marine algae.
• Eat plenty of citrus fruits, such as tomatoes.
• Chemotherapy drugs.
• Excessive use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and some other medications, such as antibiotics, laxatives and antacids 

Symptoms of gastroenteritis for adults

Symptoms of gastroenteritis in adults appear for approximately 2-3 days, and the body can overcome the disease on its own, but in some cases the infection may require a longer period or taking medications until it disappears and you are completely healed.

Symptoms of gastroenteritis include:

• الإسهال.
• القيء والغثيان.
• Anorexia.
• Colic and abdominal cramps.
• High body temperature.
• goosebumps.
• Body aches and a broken feeling.
• الشعور بالتعب والضعف العام.

Book your consultation now at مركز أمراض الجهاز الهضمي At Al Mousa Specialist Hospital.

When is gastroenteritis dangerous?

Gastroenteritis is considered dangerous if it reaches the stage of dehydration, because it may threaten the patient’s life, or if blood or pus appears in the stool. In this case, you must immediately go to the hospital to take intravenous solutions to replace the lost fluids and electrolytes, and prescribe the necessary medications to treat diarrhea and relieve the blood and accompanying pain.

Ways to reduce and control the symptoms of gastroenteritis at home 

There are some simple steps that you can follow to reduce the severity of gastroenteritis symptoms and improve the outcome of gastroenteritis treatment for adults, which are as follows:

• Drink fluids in an appropriate amount, in order to compensate the body for the fluids it loses through diarrhea, vomiting, or sweating, to prevent the risk of dehydration that may threaten the patient’s life.
• Avoid drinking or taking diuretics such as caffeine because it exacerbates fluid loss, and also avoid alcohol because it irritates the stomach.
• Make sure to eat food that is easy to digest and rich in carbohydrates that provide the body with energy and replace nutrients lost as a result of diarrhea and vomiting.
• Avoid eating fatty or salty foods, as well as spicy foods, as they irritate the stomach.
• Get enough rest and sleep and reduce your usual activity to give your body a chance to recover and fight the infection causing gastroenteritis.

When should you visit a doctor? 

In general, in cases of simple or moderate gastrointestinal infections, the symptoms disappear within a day or a few days by following home methods of treatment and applying advice to reduce the severity of the symptoms. However, cases of severe gastrointestinal infections require a visit to the doctor. 

If you suffer from symptoms of gastroenteritis or someone around you suffers from it, you must monitor the appearance of these symptoms that require going to the doctor immediately, which are as follows:

• Diarrhea is one of the dangerous symptoms that cause doctors to faint when suffering from gastrointestinal diseases, as it threatens the life of the affected person. You can notice symptoms of dehydration, which include decreased urination as the color of urine turns dark, dizziness and lightheadedness, dry mouth and throat, and inability to produce tears.
• The presence of drops of blood in the stool or vomit, as this indicates internal bleeding or a serious infection.
• High temperature and severe fever, which usually do not respond effectively to antipyretics, indicate the presence of a bacterial infection that needs to be treated for gastroenteritis in adults by taking antibiotics appropriate to the type of bacteria. 
• Suffering from severe and persistent abdominal pain that does not respond to taking painkillers. This may result from an intestinal obstruction or appendicitis. 
• Persistent vomiting or chronic diarrhea for more than a few days. 

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest treatment for gastroenteritis?

In cases of treating gastrointestinal flu in adults, whether with home remedies or going to the doctor, there is no such thing as a magic cure that eliminates gastrointestinal flu immediately, but there are some steps and advice that help in healing faster and alleviating the symptoms effectively. 

Commitment to taking prescribed medications, taking adequate rest and taking sufficient fluids to replace the body while avoiding any stomach irritants is the magic and quick remedy for treating intestinal diseases. 

What does a person with gastroenteritis eat?

A person suffering from gastroenteritis suffers from a sensitive digestive system, and therefore one must be careful to eat everything that calms the stomach and facilitates the digestion and absorption process to help the body compensate for the nutrients it loses during vomiting and diarrhea. 

Here are some easy foods that you can stick to while suffering from gastroenteritis:

• Fluids in general, especially light herbs such as mint and chicken broth, as well as dehydration solutions to replace the body’s salts and minerals.
• Mashed bananas because they contain potassium. 
• Well-cooked white rice is easy to digest and low in fiber. 

• Toasted bread is free of fat and crust. 
• Carrots and mashed potatoes are good sources of vitamins and energy and are easy to digest. 

How many days does gastroenteritis last in adults?

In general, the persistence of gastrointestinal symptoms varies from one to two days and in some cases up to a week, and this depends on several factors such as:

• Severity of injury. 
• The age of the injured person and his general health. 
• The type of infection is viral or bacterial. 
• Rapid intervention with medications and adherence to the required instructions. 

In the end, after you learned with us about treating gastroenteritis for adults at home and with medications, we advise you to adhere to the doctor’s instructions and be sure to wash your hands well after going to the bathroom and before eating, and to ventilate and clean seating and resting places well, in order to limit the transmission of the disease to the rest of the family, especially if there are young children or the elderly.