Diarrhoea

• Tell your doctor if you have diarrhoea. They can investigate the cause, and prescribe some anti-diarrhoea medicines.
• Make sure you drink plenty of fluids to replace the water lost with the diarrhoea, but avoid alcohol, coffee and orange juice.
• Acidophilus or other bacteria found in live yoghurt can help to ease diarrhoea caused by antibiotics. Antibiotics can kill off the healthy bacteria normally found in the bowel, but the bacteria found in live yoghurt may replace them.
• Eat small, frequent meals made from light foods – dairy produce, white fish, poultry, eggs (well-cooked), white bread, pasta or rice. Avoid highly spiced or fatty foods and eat your meals slowly.

If your diarrhoea is caused by radiotherapy, changing your diet is unlikely to help, and it is important that you take the anti-diarrhoea medicines prescribed by your doctor. You may also have diarrhoea if you have had surgery for bowel cancer. If this happens you should discuss it with your doctor or specialist nurse before changing your diet.