What is slimy diarrhea?
Mucilaginous diarrhea refers to a change in bowel movements. Diarrhoea is defined as an increase in the frequency of bowel movements to at least three bowel movements per day. However, bowel movements with a water content of more than 75% may also be present; in this case, too, it is called diarrhea.
In addition, an increased stool weight can also be decisive for the diagnosis of diarrhoea. The term slimy also refers to the consistency of the diarrhea. This refers to a consistency that must be distinguished from liquid diarrhea. Sticky, shiny diarrhea is more likely to occur when we speak of slimy diarrhea.
Causes
The psyche plays an important role in the development of diseases of the digestive tract. Often, however, psychological causes are not the only triggers of slimy diarrhea. Rather, it comes to an irritation of the gastrointestinal tract (intolerances, inflammations, pathogens, etc.).
These manifest themselves in the form of nausea, vomiting and slimy diarrhea. Additional physical and/or psychological stress can aggravate the symptoms or lead to a longer duration of the symptoms. Especially in chronic diseases of the digestive tract, psychological stressors also play an important role in the symptomatology and processing of the disease.
In the case of slimy diarrhea in connection with psychological causes, one speaks of psychosomatic diseases (psyche and body both contribute to the development of the disease through interaction); irritable bowel syndrome can also be counted among them. Antibiotics are to be seen in connection with slimy diarrhea usually rather as cause of the complaints. The use of antibiotics (especially when taken orally, for example in the form of tablets) allows a large quantity of the active ingredient to enter the digestive tract.
There, a sensitive balance of naturally occurring intestinal bacteria normally exists. By antibiotics some of the intestine bacteria are killed, others increase against it. The digestive balance is disturbed and stool irregularities such as slimy diarrhea, changes in color and smell occur. Only in rare cases, when a bacterial infection is proven to be the cause of the slimy diarrhea, can a therapy with antibiotics be considered to eliminate the pathogens and thus improve the symptoms. The antibiotic should be carefully selected so that the normal intestinal bacteria are not inadvertently killed and the diseased bacterial strain can then multiply more quickly.
