Too much Immodium?
#275878 - 07/27/06 11:43 AM
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Digby
Reged: 07/31/04
Posts: 453
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I had increased my Immodium from 1/2 tablet a day to 1 or 2 tablets a day. I had bad stomach cramps that woke me in the night, which is unusual for me. I emailed my doc, and she thought I should ease back on the Immodium because that can cause cramping. Has this happened to anyone else?
I also had several episodes of D the next morning, but things appear to have calmed down somewhat since then. I'm back on the bland blah diet.
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I had terrible cramps from using Immodium when I had some sort of food poisoning or virus. Some of the IBS-D folks here can have huge amounts of Immodium without cramping, though.
Might it be possible that your current D isn't so much IBS as a bug or food poisoning? It's better to use Pepto-Bismol (and a nice bland SF diet) if so.
--AC
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Hi,
I'm an IBS-D and use Immodium frequently. I do not tend to get cramps from taking them, nor suffer from constipation after taking it. But I know it is a problem for some people.
I agree with AstroChick, maybe it is something besides your IBS.
I hope you feel better soon. Take Care!
--------------------
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away
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Good point. It's so hard to know if it's my IBS or a food contaminant. Arrgh. I started having this episode a couple of weeks ago on vacation (triggered by anxiety). When I got home I started doing better, then got bad again. I was following the SF diet, and then started incorporating IF foods gradually. I had some lentil soup with pita bread and my tummy started rumbling. I can usually tolerate this soup just fine. Then after some grapes later in the day my tummy sounded like the Pacific Ocean! That night I had the stomach cramps.
I'm back to the SF diet and want to start easing into other foods, but I'm reluctant to do so! 
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Maybe you just need to stay with SF and very very safe IF (smoothies and the like) for a while. Sometimes the IBS fairy comes to visit and wants to hang around for an obnoxious length of time!  It'll pass, but I think the safest thing to do is to forget the Immodium if it's cramping you up and just stick with very safe foods. I promise, you'll be eating veggies soon.
BTW, hot & humid weather really reduces my stability, so maybe you'll feel better once fall arrives!
--AC (IBS-C, but eating extra SF these days due to the heat)
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You could try easing back on your dosage of Immodium and see if things improve. Then, if you are daring enough, increase it again and see what happens. If your symptoms return you know it's the Immodium. I know it's draconian, but I had to do that to see if my problems were from the Immodium. They weren't, luckily. Probably from stress.
However, I know that if I take too much Immodium (like if I have an attack) I won't go to the bathroom for a couple days or so. Then when I do go again, it's usually a few times that day and sometimes not as well formed as normal. I think your body just needs to expel everything that's accumulated.
I take one Immodium a day, by the way. I don't have any problem with cramping on that. Hope you are feeling better!
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