Atomic Rooster strikes back! With a D-Attack and some questions about Imodium. Help!
#197661 - 07/20/05 08:44 AM
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professor
Reged: 07/19/05
Posts: 77
Loc: Winnipeg, Canada
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Well, I always have my D-Attacks in the morning, so I really felt like an Atomic Rooster this morning when I had another one after breakfast. Especially after having all that fun with you guys on the net yesterday! 
After my D yesterday morning: I ate these in the course of the day:
Lunch: Mashed potatoes (ok)
Afternoon snack: dry honeycoms (ok)
Dinner: Pasta with garlic salt
Then I when to see the movie Weeding Crashers, it was good, made me laugh. I had mild spasm in the theather.
Late night: Some pretzel and a cup of camomile.
After that and before bed, more spasms.
This morning: a class of cranberry juice and a bol honeycomb with rice milk.
Here's my questions:
I'm still not sure that herbal tea works for me, that it doesn't a laxative effect.
My wife says that I'm trying to introduce too much new stuff at the same time (rice milk, tea, cranberry), so I loose track of the stuff that does not work for me.
About Imodium, since i'm IBS-A, my experience with it is that it's stop the D, but then I get into C and I don't got for 4 days (which is better). Then I stop Imodium and start trying to introduce IF, it usually last with C for a week and a half, then the D starts again. The Dicetel does not seem to work for me.
So i'm thinking of a new therapy. Stop the Dicetel (since my doctor told me not to take two medications at the same time) and start taking one Imodium a day before breakfast as a preventive measure until i'm stable (like Linz did). The combination of Imodium, Benefiber and introducing gradually IF should create some sort of equilibrium that will should help me.
What do you all think of that?
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If you're going to stop the Dicetel you need to do so with your doctor.
If you take Immodium as a preventative, one, taking it daily usually means you can take less in one dose and two, you can take 1/2 a tablet or get the drug loperamide in liquid form to take a tiny amount so you should be able to find a dose that doesn't make you C.
Btw, I took LOADS of meds at once. 
Chamomile tea is NOT a laxative btw.
Also, once you've finished BTC (have you done so already?) you should be introducing some safe IF anyway.
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Thanks Linz
I took two Imodiums and I BTC. I feel quite well right now and i'm at the office.
I spoke on the phone to my pharmacist this morning and he told me something interesting about all SFS. He said I should take them, but limit the amount of water with it, otherwise it will turn into a laxative. He said to take the Benefiber with only 6 onces of water, then wait for 2 hours before taking anymore liquid. And limit the amount of liquid to 1 liter per day. He says I had D-attack because I drank too much liquid with it. I agree with his theory and gonna apply it.
And thanks for the advice on the Imodium. You're a real expert to me!!!
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Hi there,
I think you are in the same boat I was in a while back! I did exactly the same thing, would have attacks of D in the morning, take immodium, go C, stop it, go back to D... arg, it sucks!
I did follow Linz's advice at the time, though, and she really is a treasure!
I agree with Linz about the tea - it definitely shouldn't act as a lazative. Have you tried drinking peppermint tea? Or do you have trouble with any kind of reflux? (In which case, ignore that completely!) I found that peppermint tea in the morning was helpful for my D attacks, especially for the cramping that went along with it. If you do get reflux, I would also give fennel a try.
Did you have anything in the mashed potatoes? A lot of the time things added to mashed potatoes are triggers, but if you made them yourself and they were nice and safe, then I guess you can ignore this part as well, oy!
Your wife might have a point about adding things in too quicky. Ideally, we only add one thing at a time but I know how tedious and frustrating that is so it's not always possible. The tea should be fine, but maybe go easy on the cranberry juice if you are already unstable. I would also say that if you having trouble in the morning, having something at NIGHT isn't the best time because a lot of the time it's what we had the night before that attack the following morning.
When I was really unstable, I was really careful about what I ate a nighttime moreso than at lunch say.
I also used to take my fiber later in the evening so my mornings would be more comfy.
I hope some of this was at least a little helpful, I think I am rambling now, hee hee.
Cheers!
--Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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Um...you're gonna get dehydrated like that.  And that's a risk with D anyway...plus dehydration can CAUSE D. I don't think he knows alot about IBS to be honest. I think maybe you need to change SFSs.
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Ok i'm totally new at this game. So, I'm trying to get information from 1) you guys 2) my doctor 3) my pharmacist 4) my nutritionist. Some information do cross over but many remains contradictary. After my D-attack yesterday morning, I took imodium and I took two more today. Didn't go since yesterday, but I had mild cramps all day long. Did I BTC or not? How do you know you BTC?
I'm really confused about what you are saying about SFS. How can it be good for C and D at the same time. All the medical personal I talked to about it says it's good for D if you drink less water (not cut the water altogether, which would be wrong, you're right), but they all say if you drink a lot of water with it turn into a laxative. I don't no what to do. And about your experience, did you really mixed the imodium with SFS without any problems?
About the tea, you said we can have all the tea we want. And what is Reflux? Sorry if i'm asking questions you probably heard a few thousand times.
Thanks a mil
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Okie dokie
#198361 - 07/21/05 06:31 PM
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Stephie
Reged: 03/10/04
Posts: 2696
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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Hi again! Just thought I would keep your post in here so I could try and answer your questions specifically. Here goes...
Quote:
Ok i'm totally new at this game. So, I'm trying to get information from 1) you guys 2) my doctor 3) my pharmacist 4) my nutritionist. Some information do cross over but many remains contradictary.
First I just wanted to say that is totally normal. Everyone has different advice it seems and the thing about IBS that I have found not only for myself but for so many of the other people who have it is that IBS is an extremely personal thing. What works for one person, may not work for another and so forth. This is when things like food diaries, and just paying extra careful attention to the new things you are doing AND having an open mind and be willing to try different things comes in handy. After my D-attack yesterday morning, I took imodium and I took two more today. Didn't go since yesterday, but I had mild cramps all day long. Did I BTC or not? How do you know you BTC?
I'm sorry, but I am unfamiliar with this term. What does BTC mean? I will address the cramping, though.. A lot of times immodium can help people with cramping, but some people find no relief in any symptom from immodium except for the D.
I'm really confused about what you are saying about SFS. How can it be good for C and D at the same time. All the medical personal I talked to about it says it's good for D if you drink less water (not cut the water altogether, which would be wrong, you're right), but they all say if you drink a lot of water with it turn into a laxative.
Okay, keeping in mind that I am not a doctor or anything, I can't say live by my advice BUT I have never heard of anyone saying that drinking water was BAD for you. I do know people that end up drinking SO MUCH that they strip some things they are putting in their body but to get to that point you have to be drinking and absurd amount of water.
Water is very important to keeping your body hydrated, especially if you are having frequent D. Water is not a laxative. Fiber and water go hand and hand and oftentimes fiber is not very effective without sufficient water.
For more information on Soluble fiber, try reading HERE and it will give you a better idea of what it is and what it does.
It DOES work for both IBS-D AND C. Before I was taking anything else, I started taking fiber and although it is a rocky road at first while your body adjusts to it, it did help. It helps by binding all the stuff in you together and absorbing the extra water that would cause the D. It's not drinking water that causes this, by the way.
I don't no what to do. And about your experience, did you really mixed the imodium with SFS without any problems?
Yep, sure did. I started taking fiber as an every day way of controlling my IBS. I took immodium as a preventative and only AS NECESSARY to help me stabalize. Fiber is not something you take when you get an attack, so you should look at it as something you are adding in to your every day routine to help prevent more symptoms in the long run.
About the tea, you said we can have all the tea we want. And what is Reflux? Sorry if i'm asking questions you probably heard a few thousand times.
When I was really unstable, I probably drank about 6 cups of tea a day and they did give me relief. Now that I have found other things that help me, I drink tea less often but I have never had a bad reaction. I could still drink 6 cups of tea a day if I wanted to and not expect any problems whatsoever.
Reflux is when acid from your stomach comes back up your esophagus. It is an upper GI problem that unfortunately lotsa IBS folks tend to have in different severities. It's heartburn/indigestion.. that sort of thing. If you have reflux, peppermint becomes a problem because it can cause the reflux to get worse and you'll be more likely to get indigestion and that throat burning awfulness. You'd know if you had it, most likely but there are tests for it.
Thanks a mil
No problem!! Hope some of this helps, good luck! Don't forget to have a good look around the site, especially the Frequently Asked Questions link to find out some of the more asked questions. It might help take some of the confusion out for ya!
Cheers!
--Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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You put so much time and effort into your replies! We are so lucky to have you! BTW, Did he BTC= did he "brake the Cycle", I'm pretty sure.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Thanks for your patience Stephie!
Just had a peppermint cup of tea, it stopped the cramps!
I'm having another one right now, feels so good...
I'm trying to put my picture on the board. But in the meantime if you want to look at other things i'm doing in my life, if you in my profile you will see the address of my web page (most of it is in french, some of it is in english. And my picture is on it, I certaintly do not have your wonderful reassuring smile.
If I can do anything for you or if you pass by Winnipeg, you are always welcome! And this goes for everybody who's been helping me tremendously in the last few days.
So, thank you again
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Quote:
Did I BTC or not? How do you know you BTC?
I think Stephie handled all your other questions in her usual great fashion, but I'd like to address this one. I assume you're talking about "Breaking The Cycle". In here, that just refers to going on Heather's Break The Cycle diet for a few days. You eat nothing but SF for 2-3 days to let your gut calm down, then start adding back in safe protein, IF, and fat - cautiously. So the idea of breaking the cycle is not something you can, say, do this afternoon because you had a bad morning. You can, however, eat nothing but soluble fiber this afternoon because you had a bad morning, so maybe that's what you're getting at.
I hope this makes sense and I didn't just totally misunderstand what you were saying.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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