"Experiencing Symptoms of Allergic Gastroenteritis? Three Tips to Help You Find Relief"
The quality of our gastrointestinal tract directly impacts our health, yet it is understood that many individuals in daily life suffer from gastroenteritis. While prevention strategies for this common ailment have been discussed previously, let us now delve into allergic gastroenteritis.
Causes of Allergic Gastroenteritis
Allergic gastroenteritis arises from IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated immune responses triggered by certain foods or food additives, leading to abnormal reactions within the digestive system or throughout the body.
Symptoms of Allergic Gastroenteritis
The symptoms of allergic gastroenteritis primarily manifest in three aspects: abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea.
Symptom 1: Abdominal Pain
- Abdominal pain is the most common symptom, often accompanied by changes in bowel habits.
- The pain is commonly felt in the lower left or upper right abdomen, with varying descriptions such as cramping, distention, severe pain, stabbing, or tightening.
- The pain may last for minutes to hours after passing gas, having a bowel movement, or undergoing an enema.
- In some patients with high and elongated splenic flexures of the colon, the pain is primarily located near the right costal margin and axillary anterior line, radiating to areas below the sternum and the left upper arm. Certain foods like strong condiments, wine, coarse-fibered vegetables, and fruits can trigger abdominal pain.
Symptom 2: Constipation
- Constipation is common, characterized by low stool volume and difficulty in passing stools, occurring once or twice a week, or occasionally for over 10 days, leading to frequent laxative use.
- Stools may sometimes be pencil-shaped due to anal sphincter contraction.
Symptom 3: Diarrhea
- Diarrhea occurs once or multiple times a day.
- Some individuals experience multiple bowel movements only after breakfast, with no diarrhea at other times, occasionally exceeding 20 times daily. Diarrhea does not occur at night and does not disturb sleep or cause incontinence. Some patients' stools contain large amounts of white or transparent mucus, or even entirely mucus.
- During diarrhea episodes, periods of normal bowel movements or constipation may alternate with diarrhea.
Treatment Methods for Allergic Gastroenteritis
1. Traditional Chinese Medicine
If you're seeking treatment, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be an option. One recommended recipe involves decocting 50 grams of raw astragalus in water, taking two doses daily. A 15-day course can be effective, and continuous use for up to six months is advisable. This treatment nourishes Qi and strengthens the spleen, primarily treating allergic enteritis, chronic abdominal pain, recurrent diarrhea, copious mucus and undigested food in stools, borborygmi, accompanying stagnation, abdominal distension, fatigue, pallor, and weakness.
2. Avoidance of the Allergen
Once the allergen is identified, strictly avoiding it is the most effective prevention and control method. However, "avoidance" should be targeted. For instance, while egg whites are the most allergenic part of eggs, the edible yolk is generally tolerated by most. Additionally, cooking or heating can reduce the allergenicity of many food antigens.
3. Medication
Long-term preventive use of medications like ketotifen and corticosteroids is generally not recommended. The efficacy of oral cromolyn sodium is uncertain, and food immunotherapy (IT) is not typically advised. However, oral allergen-specific immunotherapy (OASIT) with offending pollen can reduce sensitivity to pollen and plant-based foods in most patients after a year. When food-induced symptoms arise, symptomatic treatment is necessary.
