Most women experience changes in bowel movements during menstruation. Some complaints that can be experienced during menstruation include diarrhea, constipation, and pain during bowel movements. What is the reason behind it?

What cause menstrual diarrhea?

Menstruation can cause a variety of symptoms, including headaches, lightheadedness, changes in appetite, irritability, and changes in the digestive tract, including diarrhea. It is common to have diarrhea when you menstruate. However, the cause is still unknown.

Prostaglandin hormones play a role in various functions in the body, such as muscle contraction, dilation and constriction of blood vessels, and blood clotting. The uterine lining cells produce more prostaglandin hormones prior to the onset of menstruation, which causes the uterine muscles to contract. This causes blood to leak from the uterus and menstruation occurs. This increased release of hormones is also what causes menstrual pain and diarrhea in the first few days of menstruation.

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When the prostaglandin hormone increases, there is a certain amount of prostaglandin that enters the bloodstream and circulates to several organs, including the intestines. The intestinal wall has soft tissue, similar to the tissue in the uterus. The high level of prostaglandin hormone will make the intestines contract, resulting in diarrhea. The release of prostaglandin hormones can also cause other menstrual symptoms, such as headaches, nausea and vomiting.

On the contrary, some women experience constipation during menstruation. This is the result of a high level of the hormone progesterone. Progesterone can cause diarrhea in certain people and constipation in others. Progesterone plays a role in the re-thickening of the uterine wall that falls off during menstruation.

Along with constipation and diarrhea, some women report changes in the smell of their stools, which get stronger when they are menstruating. According to Healthline, an increase in the hormone progesterone during menstruation is often associated with an increase in excessive appetite. This change in eating habits can cause foul-smelling stools.

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How to manage menstrual diarrhea

Menstruation-related diarrhea can be treated by treating diarrhea in general. Some of the things you can do include:

• Increase fluid intake

Diarrhea can cause the body to become dehydrated. You can increase your fluid intake by drinking more water or by eating foods high in water content, like fruits, vegetables, and soups, to help prevent dehydration.

• Avoid eating foods that trigger diarrhea

Certain foods, including sweets, dairy products, spicy foods, and caffeine-containing beverages, are known to aggravate diarrhea.

• Taking diarrhea medication

To relieve the symptoms of diarrhea, you can also take over-the-counter diarrhea medications such as kaolin pectin or other antidiarrheal medications. In addition to diarrhea medication, you can also consume yogurt, which is good for digestion.

Diarrhoea during menstruation is normal. You can treat diarrhea during your menstrual cycle by taking medication and avoiding foods that cause diarrhea.

If you need medical advice or consultation, you can either visit a doctor or make use of the consultation features that are available in the Ai Care application by downloading the Ai Care application from the App Store or Play Store.

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