Reason For Waking Up In The Middle Of The Night With Diarrhea

Waking Up In The Middle Of The Night With Diarrhea?

One of the most frustrating things to experience is diarrhea at night. This will certainly disrupt your good night sleep and make you experience some discomfort. For some, you might just experience mild diarrhea which will likely pass after a day or two. Whereas, for some, it might take more than four weeks. The latter is called chronic nocturnal diarrhea.

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This article provides comprehensive information on few reasons for waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea and some effective ways to treat yourself when you're in such conditions.

But first, let's have a look at some kinds of diarrhea and some few differences between them.

What Is Nocturnal Diarrhea?

Basically, Diarrhea is when you have watery bowel movements. And as stated earlier, this can be unpleasant. 

While nocturnal diarrhea are technically diarrhea that occurs during or in the middle of the night. This can be mild or chronic diarrhoea. The latter however might be a sign of a more serious medical condition that requires medical attention. Hence, you should consider visiting your doctor if the diarrhea becomes persistent more than the usual.

Before considering the few reasons for waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea, it's equally important for us to note the list of the symptoms of nocturnal diarrhea. 

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The Symptoms Of Nocturnal Diarrhea

With the following symptoms, you can be able to determine whether you're suffering from a mild nocturnal diarrhea or chronic nocturnal diarrhea.

Hence, if you're suffering from nocturnal diarrhea, you are more likely to experience:

• watery, loose, or thin stool
• pain in your abdomen
• sensation of an upcoming bowel movement
• nausea
• bloating
• fever

Also, to clearly differentiate between the two condition and determine the medical urgency of your condition, there are some slight differences between chronic and mild nocturnal diarrhea.

They are:

As for mild diarrhea, you will experience some or all of the aforementioned symptoms. This might take place within a day or two and have difficulty sleeping at night. But it's even more probable that the diarrhea will wear off within a day or two.

However, for chronic diarrhoea, you might experience these symptoms several times a day for more than a month. As stated earlier, waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea might several times might be a sign of a more serious medical condition. Some additional symptoms of chronic nocturnal diarrhea is blood in your stool and severe pain.

Finally, let have a look at some few medical condition that can cause waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea.

Health Conditions That Cause Waking Up In The Middle Of The Night With Diarrhea

1. Inflammatory bowel disease

This can be caused by several other medical conditions. This includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease and occurs when you there's a chronic inflammation within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Some of the symptoms of this disease can cause some symptoms related to waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea. Such as experiencing mucus or blood in your bowel movement, as well as , fatigue, weight loss, anemia, and chronic abdominal pain.

It seems more glaring from the aforementioned symptoms that this disease might cause you to waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea

2. Diabetes mellitus

Another reason for waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea is Diabetes mellitus. This happens if your glucose level is poorly controlled and you depend on insulin.

With this, you might experience nocturnal diarrhea occasionally or frequently.

3. Microscopic colitis

Lastly, this condition tends to inflame your large intestine and cause you to experience nocturnal diarrhea. This is so even if you are fasting.

Treatment To Prevent Waking Up In The Middle Of The Night With Diarrhea

Here are some of the common treatment for mild nocturnal diarrhea. However, before proceeding with the treatment, you should consider visiting your doctor for more medical advice as to its usage. Additionally, you doctor might prescribe other medicines that would prevent you from waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea.

Your nocturnal diarrhea may occur in isolation or it may be the sign of a chronic underlying condition. Treatments vary based on the cause of the nocturnal diarrhea. You should see your doctor before treating persistent diarrhea to receive a specific diagnosis and management plan. Stay hydrated by drinking diluted liquids that have nutritional value like fruit juices, sports drinks, and broth.

Eat bland foods that do not contain very much fiber and stay away from heavy, greasy food.

Try over-the-counter antidiarrheal medications.

Reduce caffeine intake.

Avoid drinking alcohol.

Prevention tips

Experiencing mild diarrhea is normal and may occur once or twice a year.

Conclusion

Waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea is undeniably a condition you'd want to put to stop. Following this guides might stop you from waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea. 

However, if the condition is chronic nocturnal diarrhea, you should visit your doctor. Your doctor may prescribe or recommend certain medications to treat chronic diarrhea, including antidiarrheal or antibiotic therapy.