Stomach Flu And Food Poisoning Prevention And Treatment

Anti-diarrheal Medications

Anti-diarrheal medicines stop or slow down the frequency and intensity of loose bowel movement.  On their own or together with antiemetics, they relieve the frequent abdominal signs and symptoms of stomach flu and food poisoning.  Note, antidiarrheal medicines are not cures.  They do not eliminate the virus or bacteria causing the gastroenteritis.  Still, they are very helpful, because by slowing down the loose bowel movement, they give a person time to store up on nourishment and hydration, and therefore gain energy and strength.  This in turn helps the body get better, and resilient enough to overcome the virus or bacteria causing the illness.

Examples of antidiarrheals are:

1. Antimotility agents which slow down gut peristalsis, the wave-like muscle contractions that normally move food to different processing stations of the digestive tract.  In normal state, peristalsis is not irritating to a person.  To a person sick with gastroenteritis, this can trigger bowel movement.  Commercially available in most countries are antimotility drugs such as loperamide and diphenoxylate with atropine.
2. Antispasmodic agents such as dicyclomine and hyoscyamine ease stomach cramps by relaxing the smooth muscle of the gut.