 [ Symptoms ] how is diarrhea treated [ Disease ] absorbents absorbents are compounds that absorb water absorbents that are taken orally bind water in the small intestine and colon and make diarrheal stools less watery the two main absorbents are attapulgite and polycarbophil and they are both available without prescriptions examples of products containing attapulgite are donnagel rheaban kaopectate advanced formula parepectolin diasorb examples of products containing polycarbophil are equalactin konsyl fiber mitrolan polycarb one concern is that absorbents also can bind medications and interfere with their absorption into the body for this reason it often is recommended that medications and absorbents be taken several hours apart so that they are physically separated within the intestine antimotility medications antimotility medications are drugs that relax the muscles of the small intestine andor the colon relaxation results in slower flow of intestinal contents cramps due to spasm of the intestinal muscles also are relieved by the muscular relaxation the two main antimotility medications are loperamide imodium which is available without a prescription and diphenoxylate lomotil which requires a prescription both medications are related to opiates for example codeine but neither has the pain relieving effects of opiates diphenoxylate is a man made medication that at high doses can be addictive because of its opiate like euphoric mood elevating effects in order to prevent abuse of diphenoxylate and addiction a second medication atropine is added to loperamide in lomotil if too much lomotil is ingested unpleasant side effects from too much atropine will occur loperamide and diphenoxylate are safe and well tolerated there are some precautions however that should be observed antimotility medications should not be used without a doctor is guidance to treat diarrhea caused by moderate or severe ulcerative colitis c difficile colitis and intestinal infections by bacteria that invade the intestine for example shigella  their use can lead to more serious inflammation and prolong the infections diphenoxylate can cause drowsiness or dizziness and caution should be used if driving or performing tasks that require alertness and coordination antimotility medications should not be used in children younger than 2 years of age acute diarrhea should improve within 72 hours if symptoms do not improve or if they worsen a doctor should be consulted before continuing treatment with antimotility medications bismuth compounds many bismuth containing preparations are available around the world bismuth subsalicylate pepto bismol is available in the united states it contains two potentially active ingredients bismuth and salicylate aspirin pepto bismol is well tolerated minor side effects include darkening of the stool and tongue there are several precautions that should be observed when using pepto bismol patients who are allergic to aspirin should not take pepto bismol pepto bismol should not be used with other aspirin containing medications since too much aspirin may be ingested and lead to aspirin toxicity the aspirin in pepto bismol can accentuate the effects of anticoagulants particularly warfarin coumadin and lead to excessive bleeding it also may cause abnormal bleeding in people who have a tendency to bleed because of genetic disorders or