Understanding stomach bug symptoms

Of all the colitis symptoms that appear, diarrhoea is of course the most readily recognisable yet there is often misunderstanding, particularly by those newly diagnosed of what they are about to face in terms of how such a symptom can and will dictate their life when a relapse happens or even when in remission.

Whilst in remission, diarrhoea mixed with blood can occasionally appear though this does not necessarily suggest that a relapse is imminent. When a relapse unfortunatley occurs, the days and nights will include numerous trips to the toilet whereby it can become the main focus of your attention. The sole focus should be on ensuring that the number of trips is not exacerbated by unintentionally provoking the bowel into increased activity. You will have to appreciate that the severity of this diarrhoea will not be like anything that you may have experienced before by way of dealing with a stomach bug. When colitis is involved, the passing of diarrhoea will occur often, there will be pain and there will most likely be blood. A stomach bug this is not.

When there is active inflammation, blood will appear with the diarrhoea. In fact, it can often be the case that when the bowel is emptied, blood is the only thing that makes an appearance. This of course can be rather distressing yet the amount of blood that is passed is often much less than first imagined. It is accepted that the larger the area of the colon that is subject to inflammation, the greater the incidence of blood appearing.

In addition, there can often be experienced the passing of mucus when the bowel is opened. This is again quite normal and it is in fact the naturally occurring mucus within the colon that is normally absorbed into the faeces. As you will be eating less, there will of course be less waste to pass and hence less matter for the mucus to be absorbed into.

The important point to realise is that with all this liquid being ejected by the bowel, it requires to be replenished by way of ensuring that sufficient water is consumed to maintain adequate hydration levels of the body. It is all too easy to become dehydrated when suffering from colitis due to the amount of times that you have to go to the toilet.

A person diagnosed with colitis must appreciate how serious this can be and what affect it will have on their daily lives when an attack occurs. The consequences of such are the realisation that a lot of time will be spent in the toilet, recovering from going to the toilet and preparing for the next visit. There are methods to ensure that a sufferer is not antagonising the inflammation during a relapse which can result in an immediate requirement to go to the toilet. By careful colitis management, the number of toilet visits can be brought under some control which can be the key to coping with this very difficult colitis symptom.