What causes diarrhea for 21 days?

I have IBS. I recently came down with diarrhea that didn't go away for 21 days, accompanied with intermittent vomiting. I went to the doctor and they found high white blood cell count in my stool but didn't find the cause. The doctor suspected it was some sort of bug or that it was from something I ate. The doctor prescribed me some antibiotics and after 7 days the diarrhea disappeared. Does anyone know what could have caused this? Is there a more serious underlying cause or am I just freaking out over a terrible case of diarrhea?

Infection can cause some serious diarrhea. It's clear that you had an infection since the problem cleared up when you took the antibiotics. It's impossible to say what caused the diarrhea in the first place because we don't have the results of any lab tests which might identify an offending germ.

sounds like you had a bacterial or viral infection in your intestinal tract. since the antibiotics took care of it, and you saw your doctor, you should be good to go now.

If you've travel out of counrt you could have gotten some kinf of parasiteWormin stomach...Good luck

Sounds like it could have been a bacterial infection, maybe from food that was improperly cooked (food poisoning) or water that was not clean. This can happen due to travelling, but also e.coli has been in the news with the bagged spinach that was bad, and Dole pre-made salads gave some trouble a while back.

I hope you took the antibiotics for the entire duration, as directed (even if you felt better half-way through the prescribed period.)

Here is some information that might be of interest about salads and such that have caused troubles. That's not to say that this was the cause of your trouble. I would think that the doctor and the labs should have been able to identify the exact cause (type of bacteria, etc.) and to sort out the cause.

Sounds like what the doctors thought I had (but I didn't). It is called C. Diff., for short, and can cause persistent diarrhea, vomiting and an elevated white blood cell count.

Most people take a course of antibiotics and that cures it.

With some people it is persistent and hangs on.

My suggestion is that you ask your doctor what the diagnosis is and why he prescribed antibiotics for diarrhea!

BTW during any course of antibiotics you should take acidophilus because antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. That is what causes the diarrhea when one takes antibiotics. A very good, but more expensive acidophilus or probiotic, is Culturelle.

I recently took this during a course of antibiotics and had no diarrhea! That is a first for me. I was taking it 3 times a day, in between the doses of antibiotics. I am continuing to take it after I've stopped the antibiotics as directed on the Culturelle package.

Culturelle is one of the most potent probiotics on the market. For more information check out the website below.

Go to the doctor immediately.you should leave right.........now