[DeeDee]

Has anyone used activated charcal for diaharea, and how did it workI went to a health food store yesterday and the girl tol me activated chacoal was wonderful for diaharea so I bught some wodered if anyone ele knows anything about it

 

[Kathleen M.]

Generally it is promoted more for gas than diarrhea, so not sure about how wonderful it is for chronic diarrhea.The problem is if you have to take it every day to get it to work it can absorb nutrients from your food or from vitamins and then you just poop them out rather than get the benefit. It may also darken stools which can make people worry they are getting the dark/black stools that indicate upper GI bleeding.

 

[transatlanticist]

Hi DeeDee,I tried activated charcoal for a while to reduce gas pains. Like Kathleen mentioned earlier, I haven't heard much about it being used to treat diarrhea, and it didn't alleviate this problem for me. If it made a difference in terms of gas, it wasn't noticeable enough for me to continue taking it. My GI also warned me that taking activated charcoal tablets with medication could reduce their effectiveness since it absorbs so much of what you ingest. Best of luck!transatlanticist