Most cases of the runs clear up on their own within two to three days. In the meantime, the right combination of fluids, food choices, and over-the-counter medication can shorten the episode and keep you comfortable. Here’s what actually works.
Replace Fluids Before Anything Else
Diarrhea pulls water and essential minerals out of your body fast. Dehydration is the main risk, not the diarrhea itself. Plain water helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing with every trip to the bathroom. That’s why oral rehydration solutions work better than water alone.
You can buy premade solutions like Pedialyte or Drip Drop, or make your own at home using the World Health Organization’s formula: mix half a teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of salt substitute (like No Salt), and half a teaspoon of baking soda into 4 cups of water. The sugar isn’t just for taste. It helps your intestines absorb the sodium and water together, which is the whole point. Sip steadily rather than gulping large amounts at once, since a full stomach can trigger more cramping.
Avoid coffee, alcohol, and sodas while you’re symptomatic. Both caffeine and alcohol promote fluid loss, which is the opposite of what you need right now.
What to Eat (and What to Skip)
The classic BRAT diet, bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast, remains a solid starting point. These foods are bland and low in fiber, so they’re easy on irritated intestines. Bananas and apples also contain pectin, a soluble fiber that binds excess water in the gut and helps firm up your stools. Bananas have the added benefit of replenishing potassium. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts to soluble fiber during digestion, which has the same water-binding effect.
Other safe options include brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal. Once your stomach starts to settle, you can add more nutritious foods: cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without the skin, cooked squash, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These are still gentle on the gut but give your body the protein it needs to recover.
Until you’re feeling better, stay away from:
- Dairy products. During a gut infection, the cells lining your small intestine can temporarily lose the ability to break down lactose, the sugar in milk. That means cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream may make the diarrhea worse.
- Sugary foods. Excess sugar draws extra water into the colon, which is exactly what you’re trying to prevent.
- Fried and fatty foods. They sit in the stomach longer and can worsen nausea.
- Raw vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and beans. The insoluble fiber in these foods speeds up bowel movements and can cause gas and bloating when your intestines aren’t working normally.
- Spicy or acidic foods like citrus, tomato sauce, and vinegar-based dishes, which can irritate an already sensitive stomach.
Over-the-Counter Medications That Help
Loperamide (sold as Imodium) is the most widely used option. It works by slowing down the muscle contractions in your intestines, giving your gut more time to absorb water from stool. The standard adult dose is two capsules (4 mg) after the first loose bowel movement, then one capsule (2 mg) after each subsequent one, up to a maximum of eight capsules (16 mg) in a day. Children under 2 should not take it, and for older children, dosing depends on weight.
Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) is another option. It coats the lining of the stomach and intestines, reduces inflammation, and has mild antimicrobial properties. It’s a better choice when nausea and cramping are part of the picture alongside the runs.
One important note: if your stools contain blood or you have a high fever, skip the loperamide. In those cases your body may be trying to flush out a bacterial infection, and slowing that process down can make things worse.
Probiotics Can Shorten the Episode
Certain probiotic strains help your gut recover faster. The most studied strain for acute diarrhea is Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast you can find in products like Florastor. A meta-analysis of clinical trials found that this strain reduced the duration of diarrhea by roughly a day and a half compared to no treatment. Doses in the studies ranged from 125 mg to 500 mg per day.
Probiotics won’t stop an episode in its tracks the way loperamide does, but they support the recovery process by helping restore the balance of microorganisms in your gut. They’re worth adding alongside other measures, especially if you’re dealing with diarrhea after a course of antibiotics.
Herbal Teas Worth Trying
Chamomile tea has some genuine evidence behind it. In a clinical trial of patients with diarrhea-dominant irritable bowel syndrome, chamomile extract taken twice daily reduced the frequency of bowel movements from about 3.4 per day down to 1.3 after four weeks. Among the participants who started with watery diarrhea, 95% had normal stool consistency by the end of treatment. That study looked at chronic symptoms rather than a short bout of the runs, but chamomile’s anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic properties make it a reasonable comfort measure for acute episodes too.
Peppermint and ginger teas are traditional options for settling the stomach, though the clinical evidence for diarrhea specifically is thinner. At minimum, warm tea helps with fluid intake and can ease cramping.
How Long the Runs Typically Last
Most viral and bacterial stomach bugs resolve within one to three days. You should notice improvement within two to three days of when symptoms first appeared. If you’re still having frequent loose stools after that window, something else may be going on, whether it’s a food intolerance, a medication side effect, or a more stubborn infection that needs treatment.
Signs You Need Medical Attention
Most episodes of diarrhea are annoying but harmless. A few warning signs change that picture:
- Duration. Diarrhea lasting more than two days in adults, or more than one day in infants and young children.
- Frequency. Six or more loose stools per day.
- Blood or pus in the stool, or stools that are black and tarry.
- High fever.
- Severe abdominal or rectal pain.
- Signs of dehydration: extreme thirst, dark urine, dizziness, urinating much less than usual, or skin that stays “tented” when you pinch and release it.
In infants, watch for no wet diapers for three or more hours, no tears when crying, a sunken soft spot on the skull, or unusual drowsiness. These all signal dehydration that needs prompt treatment.