Levsin: the good, the bad?
#59449 - 04/08/04 10:38 PM
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Megs
Reged: 04/03/04
Posts: 43
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Hi everyone, I just went to the gastro doc for the first time in about 2 years after going to my regular doc and being referred and he prescribed Levsin and 2 doses daily(all at once) of Citrucel. Has anyone had experience with this pill? I originally started going to the doctor with IBS-d and I am so afraid of it coming back that for the last month or so I have only been eating bread, pasta, potatoes and chicken if I eat and am now apparently IBS-c(BAD!). I am so afraid of having a problem with d again that I can't eat food properly, will this actually help?!?! Ick, sometimes being so neurotic is just too much work 
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Hi - you definitely need to add some variety to your diet. You need insoluble fiber to take care of the C and to just be healthy in general.
Levsin is an antispasmodic and it helps with pain.
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no ugly!
#59518 - 04/09/04 08:19 AM
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jenX
Reged: 08/11/03
Posts: 3252
Loc: Richmond, VA
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...well, for me anyway.
it's the first thing found that helps slow the really bad cramps that lead to diarrhea. i keep it in my purse right next to my Equalactin.  HOLY HECK! I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING: i haven't needed my levsin for over two and a half months!
WOW!
lemme get back on track. that was exciting. sorry! 
AHEM. anyway, i think it's good to have that around in case you have diarrhea on its way. however, i (used to!) have to take more than directed. when i felt the bad bad bad and ugly cramps coming (you know the ones i mean!), i would immediately pop 2 under my tongue and start deep breathing and praying. then i often ended up taking at least one more within about 2 hours... but that usually did it.
concentrate on your soluble fiber supplement and making that the base of your meals, as you have been doing. if you don't feel like you're tolerating the citrucel, you may want to try acacia or another soluble fiber. i wasn't happy 'til the acacia. (and you see how great THAT'S been working!)
anyway, good luck! 
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Quote:
however, i (used to!) have to take more than directed. when i felt the bad bad bad and ugly cramps coming (you know the ones i mean!), i would immediately pop 2 under my tongue and start deep breathing and praying. then i often ended up taking at least one more within about 2 hours... but that usually did it.
concentrate on your soluble fiber supplement and making that the base of your meals, as you have been doing. if you don't feel like you're tolerating the citrucel, you may want to try acacia or another soluble fiber. i wasn't happy 'til the acacia. (and you see how great THAT'S been working!)
Oh interesting! I popped one levsin sublingual yesterday at noon but at 2 p.m. couldn't resist the urge any longer and had D  -- I was too chicken to up my dosage by taking another.
Re the acacia, I am taking citrucel tablets because I CANNOT stand drinking the goop -- does acacia come in tablet form??
Thanks!
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I also started IBC-D and changed to IBS-D. Acacia and Peppermint tabs worked better for me than even prescription meds. Try them and perhaps you can avoid meds altogether! It has changed my life completely!!
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God is Faithful!
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Ok, I took one of the Levsin last night(i'm a bit confused as to how I am actually supposed to use this because my doc said to only take one at night instead of as needed) and woke up at 7 this morning doubled over in pain. Coincidence? I went to bed feeling not so good as I sought solace in a box of corn pops, that may be the issue but I didn't know if that is a possible problem. Took the citrucel today and immediately ordered the Acacia. I also got the hypno cds today too. I can't wait. Thanks for the advice and congrats to you Jenx for not having to take the pills for so long! I can't wait to be there too 
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More info on my experiences with levsin/levbid/etc.:
Okay, what I take now is the sublingual tablet form -- it is meant to dissolve under your tongue and you take it as needed.
A few months back (last summer?) I tried the pill form that you take regularly (rather than as needed), but woke at 4 in the morning with sharp searing pain so bad that I considered going to the emergency room. This was *nothing* like my normal IBS issues, so I stopped taking the pill immediately, but don't know for sure that there was a connection.
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er...
#59685 - 04/09/04 01:26 PM
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jenX
Reged: 08/11/03
Posts: 3252
Loc: Richmond, VA
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maybe someone else will field that one... i was told to use the Levsin as needed....
(but this was by my GP who is kinda a moron, so you can never tell with junk he tells me...)
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Acacia
#59699 - 04/09/04 01:36 PM
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Heather
Reged: 12/09/02
Posts: 7799
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Hi - Acacia doesn't come in tablet form (yet - we're working on it). But it's nothing like drinking Citrucel or Metamucil. It doesn't get thick or goopy, it has no flavor or color - it just disappears into water or any other liquid. Or you can add it to any moist foods - smoothies, hot cereal, pasta, tuna fish sandwiches, mashed potatoes, pudding, etc. It's totally undetectable like that. Personally, I just add it to water because it doesn't really change the texture or flavor at all, so I don't notice it.
- Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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Quote:
Re the acacia, I am taking citrucel tablets because I CANNOT stand drinking the goop -- does acacia come in tablet form??
AHA!!!!! But the acacia is not goop.... I SWEAR IT! it is clear, and it dissolves REAL nicely. no joke! i'm not big on drinking "straight" water unless it's certain kinds of bottled water (i'm a bottled water snob, i admit it!) so i don't take it straight, but i mix it in my smoothie, in my applesauce (ok, it's a little thick, there, but you can't taste it and it's not objectionable in the least !), in my Silk yogurt... in just about anything! i also put it in my fennel tea (mix it in cold water- not hot!- and then heat the water afterwards).
i swear it's tasteless (the only time that tasteless is good!
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