Most cases of diarrhea clear up on their own within a couple of days, but the right combination of fluids, food choices, and over-the-counter medication can shorten that timeline and keep you comfortable. What you should take depends on how severe your symptoms are, what’s causing them, and whether the person affected is an adult or a child.
Fluids Come First
The biggest immediate risk from diarrhea isn’t the diarrhea itself. It’s dehydration. Every loose stool pulls water and electrolytes out of your body faster than normal, so replacing those losses is the single most important step you can take. Water alone helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. Oral rehydration solutions (sold as Pedialyte, DripDrop, or store-brand equivalents) are specifically designed for this. Sports drinks are a second-tier option since they contain more sugar than ideal, but they’re better than nothing.
Sip small amounts frequently rather than gulping large volumes at once, which can trigger nausea. If you’re urinating less than usual, your mouth feels dry, or you feel lightheaded, you’re already behind on fluids and need to increase your intake.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Loperamide
Loperamide (sold as Imodium) is the most widely used OTC antidiarrheal. It works by slowing down the movement of your intestines, giving your body more time to absorb water from stool. The standard adult dose is two tablets or capsules (4 mg) after your first loose bowel movement, then one tablet (2 mg) after each subsequent loose stool. The daily maximum depends on the formulation: up to 8 capsules (16 mg) per day for capsules, or 4 tablets (8 mg) for OTC tablets. Don’t exceed these limits.
Loperamide is a good choice for uncomplicated, watery diarrhea. It’s not appropriate if you have a high fever or bloody stools, because in those situations slowing the gut down can trap a bacterial infection inside rather than letting your body flush it out.
Bismuth Subsalicylate
Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol, Kaopectate) takes a different approach. It reduces inflammation in the gut lining and has mild antimicrobial properties. It’s particularly useful for traveler’s diarrhea and cases with nausea or stomach upset alongside loose stools.
There’s an important catch: bismuth subsalicylate contains a compound closely related to aspirin. If you’re allergic to aspirin or NSAIDs like ibuprofen, skip it entirely. Children and teenagers recovering from the flu, chickenpox, or any viral infection should not take it due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious condition affecting the brain and liver. It can also turn your tongue and stool black temporarily, which is harmless but alarming if you’re not expecting it.
What to Eat During Recovery
You may have heard of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) as the go-to recommendation for diarrhea. That advice is outdated. Clinical trials have shown that eating a normal, balanced diet as soon as you can tolerate food actually leads to lower stool output, shorter illness duration, and better nutritional recovery compared to restricting yourself to a handful of bland foods. Sticking to only BRAT foods can even contribute to malnutrition during illness, especially in children.
That said, some foods are easier on an irritated gut than others. Lean proteins, cooked vegetables, and simple starches like potatoes and rice tend to be well tolerated. What you want to avoid are foods that speed up digestion or draw more water into the intestines: greasy or fried foods, dairy (if you notice it makes things worse), high-sugar drinks, alcohol, and caffeine. If you’re breastfeeding an infant with diarrhea, continue nursing. Formula-fed infants should stay on their regular full-strength formula.
Probiotics
Probiotics, particularly the yeast strain Saccharomyces boulardii and the bacterial strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, are commonly recommended for diarrhea. The idea is straightforward: flooding the gut with beneficial organisms helps crowd out whatever is causing the problem and supports the gut lining’s recovery. Evidence for their benefit is strongest in antibiotic-associated diarrhea and in shortening the duration of infectious diarrhea in children by roughly a day. For adults with a standard stomach bug, the benefit is more modest, but probiotics are generally safe and unlikely to make things worse.
You can find these strains in supplement form at most pharmacies. Yogurt with live cultures provides some probiotic benefit but at much lower concentrations than a dedicated supplement.
Zinc for Children
For children with acute diarrhea, zinc supplementation is a WHO-recommended treatment that many parents in higher-income countries aren’t aware of. The recommended dose is 20 mg per day for 10 to 14 days for children over six months, and 10 mg per day for infants younger than six months. Zinc helps reduce the duration and severity of the episode and may protect against recurrence in the following weeks. This is especially important in parts of the world where zinc deficiency is common, but it’s a useful tool everywhere.
When Diarrhea Needs More Than OTC Treatment
Most diarrhea is caused by viruses and resolves without prescription medication. But certain infections, particularly those caused by parasites like Giardia or bacteria like C. difficile, require specific prescription treatments. Traveler’s diarrhea caused by certain strains of E. coli may be treated with a gut-specific antibiotic that stays in the intestines rather than entering the bloodstream. Your doctor will determine whether testing and prescription treatment are needed based on your symptoms and history.
Certain warning signs mean you should talk to a doctor right away rather than managing things at home:
- Duration: diarrhea lasting more than 2 days in adults, or more than 1 day in infants and young children
- Frequency: six or more loose stools per day
- Blood or pus in stool, or stools that are black and tarry
- High fever
- Severe abdominal or rectal pain
- Signs of dehydration: very little urine output, dry mouth, dizziness, or in children, unusual irritability or lack of energy
- Frequent vomiting that prevents you from keeping fluids down
For infants, any fever alongside diarrhea warrants a call to the pediatrician, as does refusing to eat or drink for more than a few hours.