Anti-Diarrhea Medication

If you don't actually have diarrhea it is not advised to take anti-diarrhea medication. Even if you are really panicked about getting a case of the runs while on a trans-atlantic flight.

Not that I would have done such a thing.....but a "friend of mine" was so freaked out about the possibility of getting sick that she consumed 1 and 1/2 doses of a certain medication in order to ensure she wouldn't need to use the lavatory on the plane.

The night before we left Virginia, Gabriel woke up in the middle of the night because he needed to poo. Then he woke up hourly for further poo needs. By morning, I was exhausted from being up all night and poor Gabe was struggling to keep his bowels under control. We were set to leave in less than 12 hours and Gabe was going through unders by the hour and I was starting to panic. I took some anti-diarrheal medication as a preventative measure. The result was a minor case of dehydration. I was thirsty and a little dizzy and shaky. I was soo thirsty that I ended up consuming large quantities of water for a few hours. Instead of making frequent trips to the toilet for diarrheal needs, I had to pee from all that water I was drinking. By the time we arrived at the airport in Baltimore, the medication wore off and I was back to normal.

Lesson learned. Don't take something to stop some type of ailment if you do not in fact have the ailment.