Acute diarrhea guide

Acute and traveler's diarrhea treatment online in Virginia and West Virginia

Oral rehydration, loperamide, and bismuth for sudden-onset non-bloody watery diarrhea, plus a short traveler's-diarrhea antibiotic only for a fever-free, non-bloody illness after recent international travel. Bloody or dysenteric diarrhea, high fever, dehydration, severe pain, and possible C. difficile are all referred in person.

Start online

Start a $59 online review for Diarrhea (sudden & traveler's).

Most sudden watery diarrhea is self-limited and improves with rehydration and simple symptom relief. Online care fits only an uncomplicated, non-bloody, fever-free illness under 14 days: any visible blood, fever of 102°F or higher, dehydration, severe or one-sided belly pain, bowel-obstruction warning sign, known inflammatory bowel disease, recent antibiotics or hospitalization, immune suppression, or pregnancy is a non-bypassable stop. Empiric antibiotics are offered only after recent international travel, because domestically-acquired bloody diarrhea can carry Shiga-toxin E. coli and antibiotics can then precipitate hemolytic-uremic syndrome.

If treatment is appropriate, your physician can send a non-controlled prescription to your pharmacy and provide portal instructions for the next step.

Start this visit See response windows

Quick facts

You must be physically in Virginia and West Virginia at the time of request
Starts at $59
No insurance needed
No app download
Physician review around the clock
Non-controlled prescriptions can be sent to your pharmacy when appropriate
A work or school note can be included when medically appropriate
Response windows: 24/7, every day

Common symptoms

Several loose, watery stools a day without blood
Mild cramping, gas, or nausea
Symptoms that started within the last two weeks
Recent international travel with watery, non-bloody stools

May fit online care

Adults 18 and older
Sudden watery diarrhea for less than 14 days
No blood in the stool and no fever of 102°F or higher
Able to keep some fluids down with no fainting or confusion
Not pregnant, not immunocompromised, and no recent antibiotics or hospitalization

Look for another care setting

Visible blood, black/tarry stools, or vomiting blood
Fever of 102°F or higher, severe or one-sided belly pain, or a rigid abdomen
Fainting, confusion, no urination for 8+ hours, or inability to keep fluids down
Known IBD, recent abdominal surgery, obstruction signs, recent antibiotics/hospitalization, immune suppression, pregnancy, or diarrhea for 14+ days

What to have ready

How long the diarrhea has lasted and whether there is any blood
Your temperature and any dehydration warning signs
Any recent international travel, antibiotics, or hospitalization
Your allergies, blood thinners, heart-rhythm history, and pregnancy status

What happens next

Standard

$59

Within 6 hours

Priority

$99

Within 3 hours

Rush

$149

Within 1 hour

Start the request on the website, answer the fit questions, and choose the response window you want. If the concern still fits this service, a physician reviews it and sends a secure update after sign-in. When appropriate, non-controlled prescriptions can be sent to your pharmacy, and a basic work or school note can be included at physician discretion.

Your physician

Every visit is personally reviewed by Ankur Fadia, MD — board-certified, cardiology-fellowship-trained, and Alpha Omega Alpha. Licensed in Virginia and West Virginia — your care is never handed off.

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What can be prescribed?

Oral rehydration salts, loperamide (self-care dosing up to 8 mg per day), and bismuth are the first-line options. For a non-bloody, fever-free traveler's illness after recent international travel, a physician may add a single short course of azithromycin (or ciprofloxacin only when a macrolide cannot be used, or rifaximin for watery non-invasive diarrhea) once the drug-safety gates are enabled. Ondansetron may be added for nausea that limits rehydration.

Why won't you treat bloody diarrhea online?

Visible blood can mean dysentery, a GI bleed, or Shiga-toxin E. coli. In that setting both anti-diarrheal drugs and empiric antibiotics can be harmful and can precipitate hemolytic-uremic syndrome, so any blood in the stool stops this pathway and is referred for in-person testing.

When is diarrhea an emergency?

Seek emergency care now for fainting, confusion, no urination for 8+ hours, inability to keep fluids down, large-volume bloody stools, vomiting blood, severe or one-sided belly pain, a rigid abdomen, or signs of hemolytic-uremic syndrome after bloody diarrhea (much less urine, easy bruising, or unusual pallor).

Do you also need a short work or school note?

The treatment visit and a documentation request are separate. If you need a basic note for up to five days and the request fits that lane's timing and purpose limits, use the dedicated sick-note visit.

Read the work and school note guide