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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

Diarrhea is usually caused by the body dumping water into your intestines so I was wondering if holding it in would help with dehydration?

I currently have food poisoning so that's why I thought of this.

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[-] SloppyPuppy@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Eventually the pressure will overcome your sphincter strength. And its fluid - it only needs a tiny tiny hole to Come out. And its going to happen much faster than you think.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

yeah, don't hold diarrhea, you will not win.

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Doctor: You're actually even more full of shit now.

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is stupid because you'd essentially be holding onto the toxins that your body is trying to expell. Please just shit and drink water.

[-] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A major function of the colon is water absorption. The membrane is so small that viruses would be too large to get through.

[-] filcuk@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

If you have diarrhoea, it may have been caused by bad food, something you may not want to be absorbing, which may be why the body is trying to purge it ASAP.

You wouldn't be absorbing "bad food". The body has diarrhea because it is unable to absorb water in the colon. It's unable to absorb water in the case of food poisoning because the bacteria that grew in the food is creating a protein that blocks the water absorption receptors in the colon lining.

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 1 points 1 day ago

Okay...but you certainly want to be getting rid of toxins, not holding them in your body. That makes no sense.

The body does not have diarrhea as a protective mechanism to purge the bacteria that caused the food poisoning. The bacteria is secreting a protein that inhibits water absorption which causes diarrhea.

Preventing or reducing diarrhea would be a beneficial outcome for a bacteria infection such as ETEC whose cause of death is dehydration.

This is by no means an endorsement of OP's hold it in strategy.

[-] BlindFrog@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

I really liked this explanation going beyond the webmd "BaCTeRiA & ViRuSes caused ur diarrhea", and I really like sources and further reading material, so

"Gut Microbiota and Diarrhea: An Updated Review"
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.625210/full

Right after the Introduction section is "Gut Microbiota-Mediated Diarrhea and Its Mechanism". The authors go into how some example bacteria/fungi/viruses stimulate diarrhea.

My take away has been 1) drink water, 2) if it doesn't feel like a one-time wee out the wrong hole, probably go see a doctor

[-] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

That was a fascinating read. Thanks for sharing.

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 1 points 1 day ago

Ok well let's just pretend you have food poisoning and you hold in the bacteria but still somehow shit the rest of the food/water out, but you keep hydrated. Like what happens to all the bacteria you're now holding in your body? I'm genuinely curious. I'm not arguing against you at all!

[-] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

The reason one feels sick is because the bacteria found in the food were able to make a colony despite the innate defenses of the immune system such as the gut biome. As the bacterial colony is established, it creates an environment that is beneficial to the bacteria, but not beneficial to the surrounding tissue. This leads to cell death of the tissue. Upon cell, there are chemical markers released and enter the surrounding tissue and then the blood stream. Both of these signal to nearby and far off cells and tissues that there is somerhing happening and the cellular immune system, white blood cells, responds. These white cells have a host of defenses including raising the body's temperature resulting in a fever.

From here many things can happen, but in the case of most healthy people in the developed world, the type of bacteria faced in food poisoning will be dealt with with little need for any medication that directly assists the immune response. Staying hydrated helps and mitigating digestive discomfort are the best things.

[-] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 28 points 1 day ago
[-] Uruanna@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Having a drink?

[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 day ago

Yes, but that would be a bad thing

Your body is flushing all that water into your intestines because it detected something bad and decided to get rid of it fast. The longer the bad thing stays, the worse, so it just firehose blast it out.

If you keep it in, first you'll have to deal with the increased pressure, not good for your intestines. Then your body will have to deal with whatever it is that is bad for you.

Better just go to a bathroom and a doctor if you're still having it after 2 days

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

Holding it in is antithetical to the concept of diarrhea

[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 212 points 3 days ago

Hopefully not. Diarrhea is used to flush bacteria and poisons out of the body. I guess if the body would regain the water it could also regain the bacteria.

Just drink a lot of water and let your body do the work it needs to do.

In case you question my credentials, I'm the developer of Diarrhea 4.

[-] hakunawazo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Thanks for that.
Most fitting game music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdd4rBlsj2o

[-] Walican132@lemmy.today 74 points 3 days ago

Play the fartastically funny new game Diarrhea 4 (not to be confused with Disgaea 4).

This fucking killed me thank you for it.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

"Hopefully my bowels aren't able to absorb water?"

That's literally their job. There are filters, you don't absorb waste from your colon, but water and nutrients.

The colon is the longest part of the large intestine. It receives almost completely digested food from the cecum, absorbs water and nutrients, and passes waste (stool or feces) to the rectum. The colon is divided into 4 parts: The ascending colon is the start of the colon.

Diarrhoea is often a problem with the absorption of water in the colon instead of the body "flushing water" into your digestive tract.

Like the main job of the colon is water absorption, so the digested mush turns into stool that can be deposited in the rectum for to be expelled through the anus.

If that absorption doesn't work then it's just coming thorough and that's diarrhoea

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[-] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 123 points 3 days ago

It's not to be reabsorbed, just absorbed.

Your body uses water to absorb nutrients. Diarrhea is when your colons run in overdrive and pump out their contents before the water is properly absorbed.

If your body thinks whatever is in your bowels is not safe and dumping it out the other end, you should find a toilet.

[-] skeezix@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

Some people think it’s funny but it’s really wet and runny.

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 23 points 2 days ago

... in an expedited manner.

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[-] pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 days ago

Yeah, if you hold it in you will absorb more of the water. Generally, though, your body dumping stuff out of it is a defense mechanism for expelling stuff that's probably better off left alone. Though I guess you could do and hold some enemas for the same effect without potentially retaining things your body wants to expell.

[-] 14th_cylon@lemm.ee 92 points 3 days ago

Have you had lot of success in your life trying to hold diarrhea?

[-] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 44 points 3 days ago

For the most part yeah. Just don't trust a fart.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 28 points 3 days ago

I have a pretty decent collection of plugs; one of them oughta be enough to hold back the deluge. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[-] Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 54 points 3 days ago

Just remember that it’s a two-ended pipe, even if a long one.

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[-] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 50 points 3 days ago

I have IBS and yeah, if I can successfully hold it in the urge goes away for a couple hours and a more normal BM is the result.

The challenge is knowing when its worth trying to hold it in. It's like a 10% of the time kind of thing.

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[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 27 points 3 days ago
[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I read that and I regret it. Like I have crippling horny disease too but that's too much even for me.

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 2 points 1 day ago

Like I have crippling horny disease too …

Lol I read that and I think I regret it. What is crippling horny disease? What does it have to do with that infamous post?

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It just means I'm horny as most of us are. What I meant is I understand horny makes us do things, as it made OP barely eat for 3 days for anal sex I assume. I'm not as dedicated as OP.

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 1 points 1 day ago

I don't have any personal experience with it, but a buddy of mine who does once explained to me that unless you like it poopy then your bowels should be voided much sooner than three days ahead of anal sex.

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

That sounds impracticable.

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 1 points 1 day ago

I recall my friend explaining that you should avoid dairy for three days beforehand, but that there are products that can help clear you out right away if necessary.

[-] Noedel@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

Holy fuck that was TWO YEARS AGO!?

[-] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 36 points 3 days ago

Your colon is very good at extracting water; if you can hold it in then yes in theory it could remove some of the water. However in reality when you have diarrhoea your colon is inflamed and irritated during and you can't really stop it happening. You'd have to overcome the cramping and the body trying to push the contents outwards.

The most likely outcome of trying to hold it in is it gets worse and you get an explosive and even less controlled expulsion.

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this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
187 points (96.5% liked)

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