Mineral Supplements Health Products
Offers
Reviews
 |
Dioralyte Sachets
by Aliasfan INTRODUCTION My first encounter with Dioralyte was in Hong Kong in summer 1994. I was travelling in my gap year, and spent three weeks volunteering to train youngsters in English. My first week was spent in a training centre and on the second day I must have eaten some bad bean sprouts because I. Was. Sick. Really ... sick. The next morning I stumbled out of my cabin and met up with the other Brits who were in a neighbouring hut. One of them, an older gentleman who'd travelled for decades, took pity on me and gave me some sachets of Dioralyte from his own medical kit. At this point I was willing to try anything as I was jetlagged, homesick and feeling desperately unwell. I made up the sachet according to the instructions on the pack and sipped the resulting concoction very, very slowly. By some miracle it stayed down, and within an hour I was able to start getting some more liquids down. Within a day or so I was able to participate in activites again, and went on to have a fantastic time for the rest of my trip. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Dioralyte is a product designed to help replenish salts and essential electrolytes lost during bouts of acute vomiting and/or diarrhoea. What I didn't know until I encountered this product is that when you are suffering from this sort of illness you need to replace more than just water. Dioralyte comes in a variety of flavours, the most commonly available (and palatable) being the blackcurrent. It's normally sold in boxes of 6 sachets for around £3.50. Cheaper own-brand versions are available and are just as effective, but they don't taste as nice and when I'm really ill I want to take the most pleasant product available. The back of the Dioralyte box contains comprehensive instructions on dosage, use and precautions, and even some simple graphics for when you're so ill you can barely think straight. Inside are six single-dose sachets and a clear, detailed information leaflet. USER EXPERIENCE I'm unlucky enough to be one of those people who catches a vomiting bug with annoying regularity so I always make sure I have sachets of in-date Dioralyte in the house. Each sachet is easily torn open to reveal the product which is a white, granular powder. I think it has a chemically smell, but considering it's packed full of all the salts your body is crying out for when you're suffering acute illness, I don't care! It dissolves easily in water with minimal stirring. When you are suffering acute illness it can be very hard to keep fluids down, and so it is recommended that you sip Dioralyte slowly to minimise the risk of triggering more vomiting. This is where having a palatable product is essential for me and the reason why I choose to buy the branded product rather than a cheaper, generic alternative. If I need to sip something slowly I want the taste to be something I can (literally!) stomach. Once made up with water I don't notice the chemically smell of Dioralyte Blackcurrent which makes it easier to face drinking. It tastes very salty (due to the essential ingredients it contains). The blackcurrent flavour masks it sufficiently for me to be able to sip the made-up liquid with no problems. CONCLUSION Ever since my experience in Hong Kong all those years ago I have learned to take rehydration very seriously when I am ill. Dioralyte is an excellent product that helps me start that process quickly and is now the first thing I attempt to drink after an acute bout of illness. Once I have managed to consume a Dioralyte drink I am usually able to start drinking plain water, so this product is an essential first-step in recovery for me. Read the complete review |
 |
Dioralyte Sachets
by Tolteca As I've said before, I've done a lot of travelling in my life. For some of those trips, this has meant that I have had some experience of epic stomach bugs. I lost a stone in three and a half weeks in Nepal, a stone in three weeks in India and as a result, dehydration - I know. Big Time. This is a product designed to rehydrate ... the body when it has and is going through a bout of the trots, be it the moderate or losing fluids from both ends versions. They key to its sucess is that is restores the right balance of salts and sugars as well as potassium which are lost when afflicted. This is essential as simply drinking (safe) water is not enough. Diarrhoea and vomiting both rip electorlytes from the body and water alone cannot restore these. Restoration requires both salt and sugar or the body will remain dehydrated. Dehydration is what kills. It is not just something that makes you look drained and knocks the stuffing out of your skin. It is what kills babies and children every day in this world and it can kill adults, even ones from the Western World with the bodily reserves to cope with losing a stone in a very short period of time. It can be prevented by clean water and a fanatical devotion to germ and bug avoidance, but even when doing this if a bug from the dust makes its way into the gastro-intestinal tract, you need rehydration not just a bottle or two of mineral water. Sachets like this do make this easier. They can be made much cheaper from salt and sugar and supplemented with a banana when food can be faced, but sometimes all you can manage is to tear open one of these and add to the prescribed 200ml of clean, safe water and neck. Especially for children, this water should be boiled and then cooled. Adults, especially travellers, may find that sealed, bottled water is the safest option as well as the easiest. It is how I used it. When the water is in the clean and safe glass, pour 200ml, and tip the contents of the sachet into it. Allow them to dissolve and drink. This should be done within an hour, though it can be used for up to a day. Since 200ml is not that much fluid when faced with a bad attack of the trots, 200ml should be consumed within that hour, though if fluid retention is an immediate issue, sipping until it stays down may well be the best way to go. The taste is vaguely blackcurrentish. Though Ribena levels of blackcurrenty scruminess is not on offer. It is salty, which makes sense given that salt is an major ingredient. There is sweetness from the glucose, but it is the cloying and not so palatable version of 'sweet'. Does it work? Yes. It is the branded and as such pricier version of a product widely used to save lives in the developing world. It re-balances the electrolytes and allows water to be retained in the gut, where it is needed. With rebalanced electorlytes, good, clean, simple water can do its normal job and rehydrate the body normally. It is safe for use by pregnant and breastfeeding women. Though diabetics and those with kidney and liver conditions should take care. If the attack persists, medical help should be sought - though where I've used these medical help has not been possible. They are also handy for the dehydration caused by Winter Vominting Bugs and hangovers. These can be bought at Boots at £4.25 or 425 Advantage Points for six sachets. These sachets do last well when stored in a dry cool place, which helps with the cost. All great, right? You do get all this. It does work. But you can get essentially the same effect from letting a glass of full sugar Coca-Cola go flat and drinking that and eating a bit of banana. It will taste much better, gives you much more fluid, the same benefits and a caffeine fix to perk you up when you need it and is a lot cheaper. That is what I use now. Though I do still have some of the sachets in the first aid box just in case I can't find a bottle of Coke. Though this is unlikely as where I tend to need this treatment safely packaged Coke is often easier to find than clean, safe water to mix this product with. Read the complete review |
 |
Dioralyte Sachets
by xmum2threex Why we used it? Since we returned from holiday we have had some sort of virus that cannot make up its mind as to if it wants to be flu or a stomach bug. My youngest son who is only two was hit really hard with it, and he was finding it hard to keep fluids down. On top of that he had really watery stools many times a day, so ... being a little over the top I took him to A and E just to check he was not dehydrated. Once they had checked him over they advised me to pick up some of this for him. It does state on the box it should only be used by children after speaking to a doctor. It should not be used at all by infants under three months old, and for infants aged 3 months - 2 years old it should only be used under medical supervision. You can use up to five sachets a day for up to three to four days, but then seek medical attention if the problem persists. We were lucky we still had 5 of the 6 sachets remaining from when I had an upset stomach previously, but we did pop to the chemist to check how it should be used for a smaller child. We were so relieved he was ok we hadn't asked how it should be used with a small child. The box doesn't really help much on how to administer it to a small child and I knew he would not be able to drink a full glass. Making it up and using The chemist advised us to give him small amounts after each watery stool to make sure he was still getting enough water. She also advised us to give him a little after he was sick as any fluids he was drinking were coming straight back up. As my son was finding it difficult to keep anything down we were advised to give him 5mls of this at a time. To make the contents of these sachets you need to all of the powder to 200mls of drinking water. Then simply stir the contents until it turns into a milky consistency. It does state it should not be used after an hour of being made up, but it can be kept made up in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. While ours did not sit that long it did keep for a good three hours perfectly in the fridge. We just gave it a little stir each time as the powder tends to begin to set at the bottom. It has a blackcurrant flavour to it and my son was happy to take it with a syringe as he did not like the appearance in a cup. Even after taking it a few times he was still happy, and actually seemed like he knew it was helping him. The taste is rather unpleasant, there is still a slightly medical taste to it and not something you would take for fun, but it tastes good enough to keep a two year old happy. I have used this before and I have to admit I found it difficult to drink. It stays a thin consistency, but there is certainly a powdery taste to it especially as you reach the bottom of the drink. Even with constantly stirring it the powder begins to settle at the bottom which makes it harder to drink the further you reach to the bottom of the glass. It is drinkable but certainly not pleasant. Results I have to say this worked fantastically. My little boy had been very poorly for days mainly sleeping on the sofa getting cuddles from Mummy. He was reluctant to take it at first thinking it was just another medicine, but once we managed to give him the first lot he was happy to take it each time after. We used it slightly differently to how an adult would take it as we had to give it in small amounts. Adults should drink the whole glass at once, and the box states it is important to make sure you drink the whole substance including the more powdery bottom. Instantly he seemed to perk up a little which I thought was great. We did have another nappy change soon after and found it to be the same consistency, but thankfully this was the last of it. After around an hour my little boy perked right up and actually began asking for another dose of the medicine which is unusual for him. While he was still not able to keep juice down, we found that this stayed down without any problems at all. When I had used it previously it had the same effect on me. After forcing myself to drink the full glass I found my stomach settled and my headache disappeared. While it is stated that it can be used up to five times a day in our experience we have never had to use it more than once. It seems to help balance the body back to its usual water levels making us both feel better almost instantly. From that point on he began getting back to his usual self. His stools returned to a more normal consistency, and while they were still happening more often they were definitely becoming a little healthier. We only had to use the one sachet and even then he never finished the whole of it, but it seemed to have a magic effect on him. By that evening he was eating and drinking normally, and the next day seemed back to himself. While I'm not saying this medicine was a miracle worker as he had already been poorly for a number of days, it does help settle his stomach, and it was after he had this that he began to perk up. The full night's sleep it provided without two nappy changes meant he was able to rest fully and he returned to his usual self. Summary I would recommend this to both adults and children that are suffering with diarrhoea or dehydration. It worked perfectly in both cases, and we only needed to use the one sachet to get back to normal. It is blackcurrant flavour, but I would still say it is a little horrible to drink. My son found it perfect having small amounts at a time even when he was unable to keep anything else down. Maybe as I was giving it to him in the syringe it had less of a powdery taste, and the fact he never needed to reach the bottom of the glass. At around £4 for 6 sachets they are a fair price, but do try larger pharmacies and supermarkets first as looking at the box I can see I paid a whopping £6.50 for ours. Read the complete review |
Mineral Supplements Health Product |
||
|---|---|---|
|
31 reviews Replaces body fluids and salts lost during illness / Health Product / Recommended for the correction of water and salt loss in infants, children and adults and in the treatment of diarrhoea / available in a range of flavours including Blackcurrant and lemon / pack of 20 sachets. - Fast and effective replac... |
|
|
2 reviews Brand: Boots / Health Product / Type: Mineral Supplements - Epsom Salts |
|
|
Health Product / These capsules contain liquid calcium that is bonded with Vitamin D for increased absorption. It is encapsulated for easy consumption. Calcium has been clinically shown to help prevent osteoporosis. |
|
|
Health Product / A European designed formula fortified with selenium, copper and zinc for optimum benefit. |
|
|
Health Product / Selenium Plus was designed by Dr. Wallach as a mineral supplement. He suggests this product be used for maintaining good health. |
|
| Mineral Supplements Health Product Recommendations 1 | ||
| dooyoo Results 1 - 5 of 5 | ||
