Medication question
#186005 - 06/13/05 10:27 AM
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misery459
Reged: 03/24/05
Posts: 13
Loc: Jefferson City, MO
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Well it has been about 2 months since my last post. I took all the advice and went for the colonoscopy. The doc said everything was fine and he concurred with my diagnosis of IBS. They have me taking 2 different pills 4 times per day. The cramping and D is not any better. I have lost almost 40 pounds and I am sure I am not getting any nutrients at all. I wouldn't be surprised if I am not dehydrated. Everything I eat and drink, (I am on the when you can't eat anything list and have been for 2 months) goes straight through me. I am at my wits end and have now found it is easier to stay home alone rather than be around people, plus it is closer to my now favorite room. My question is: Has anyone tried the digestive advantage? I don't know what else to do. My doc is about as sensitive as a wart on a mules butt so continuing with him is not sounding all that good to me right now. Anyway, if anyone has tried this new med I would really appreciate knowing if it helped. 
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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probiotics have worked for me. specifically primal defense by garden of life. i really needed to rebuild the good bacteria in my gut after a round of antibiotics destroyed them. i find that now my bm's are getting normal and much less frequent.
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Thank you for your response. I figure I have nothing to lose at this point.
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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for more info do some research on the internet on primal defense. there is tons of info that i found very helpful. it was recommended to me and i would recommend this to anyone. they are pricey but for me they are worth every penny. good luck.
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Quote:
Well it has been about 2 months since my last post. I took all the advice and went for the colonoscopy. The doc said everything was fine and he concurred with my diagnosis of IBS. I'm glad all you tests were normal. Sorry you have IBS, but it's better than something more serious. Really - even when it doesn't feel that way.
They have me taking 2 different pills 4 times per day. What pills are you on?
The cramping and D is not any better. I have lost almost 40 pounds and I am sure I am not getting any nutrients at all. I wouldn't be surprised if I am not dehydrated. OMG, I'm so sorry. That sounds awful. I seem to remember people on the Board saying dehydration itself can bring on or worsen diarrhea so perhaps you're caught in a vicious cycle.
Everything I eat and drink, (I am on the when you can't eat anything list and have been for 2 months) goes straight through me. Whoa! Two months? I'm pretty sure that is supposed to be a few days only diet!
I am at my wits end and have now found it is easier to stay home alone rather than be around people, plus it is closer to my now favorite room. I know the feeling, but it gets awfully boring, doesn't it? Especially if the bathroom is small.
My question is: Has anyone tried the digestive advantage? You should search on Digestive Advantage on this Board. (If you don't know how to Search, please ask.) There have been a number of posts about it and the report is mixed, to say the least.
I don't know what else to do. My doc is about as sensitive as a wart on a mules butt so continuing with him is not sounding all that good to me right now. LOL - love the image of your doctor. Did you check this thread to see if there's a good IBS doctor anywhere near you? Any doctor who ignores 2 months of D and a 40-pound weight loss sounds less like the wart and more like the mule's butt to me.
Here's some stuff to try:
- Immodium - that might slow down the D. I know a lot of people are reluctant to use it (I was, too), but it can help. Try taking one tablet at night and one in the morning to see if you can ward off the diarrhea before it starts. If you get a D attack anyhow, follow the package directions.
- Get on a more normal diet. Take a look at the Break The Cycle diet page. I'm NOT suggesting you try that diet - it's just a variation of the diet you've been on for 2 months. However, read down a little and you'll see what Heather says about coming off it and beginning to incorporate IF into your meals. You can follow the same steps for getting more different kinds of food into you, too.
- Have you tried peppermint tea and/or peppermint capsules. Peppermint is a natural anti-spasmodic.
- Are you taking a SFS supplement? It sounds contradictory, but the soluble fiber can "sop up" the excess water in your colon. I take acacia - I'm up to 8 teaspoons a day, but you have to start really low and increase really slow.
- If Immodium and peppermint doesn't do it, there are other, more powerful, anti-diarrheal agents you can try. There are prescription anti-spasmodics and anti-depressants. Even if an anti-depressant like Elavil only provides temporary relief of your diarrhea, it seems like that would give you a chance to catch your breath, get some nourishment in you, and make sure you're hydrated. Again, what pills does your doctor have you on now?
I haven't tried probiotics like Primal Defense, but you can do a Search on this Website for Primal Defense itself and for probiotics generally.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions about stuff I've suggested, please ask. I'm so sorry you're having such a terrible time.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Well, I'm at the other end of the spectrum, suffering from C 98% of the time. However, I'm on the Digestive Advantage now, and it seems to help some most of the time. It took about 3-5 days on it to see a difference. My bloating, gas, pain, got worse at first when I started it...but then it kicked in & started really helping me! It is supposed to be for D or C, so maybe it will help. I've also seen several people on this board say that they take Immodium every day.
Hope you feel better soon!! I know C is bad, but when I get D for more than a day or so, I'm even more miserable! Best wishes!!
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Shelli - Wife & stay at home mom to 1 son, 1 dog & 2 parrots! IBS-A, usually C.
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You can take it everyday as a preventative (in fact this is recommended). Try taking one every morning...but if that's not enough you can increase the dose alot (just space them out a bit through the day to get the best effect).
Do a search on Digestive Advantage. To be honest, unless you've been on antibiotics, probiotics aren't likely to have a BIG effect on you (they're usually useful to reduce gas and more minor symptoms like that).
What SFS are you on?
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misery459. i tried the digestive advantage. it didnt work for me at all. it made my symptoms worse. it caused alot of gas pains and d to. hope this stuff can work for you. jasper
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ive had ibs for 8 years now. im learning alot on this web board. thanks again everyone
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Thanks to each of you for your responses. I started taking the Digestive Advantage last night, (had to do something so I went to WalGreens and picked it up) anyway, the crampy isn't nearly as severe and as of 1:50 p.m. today I have only been to the bathroom 6 times..this is tremendous since I spent more time there than in my office. I stopped taking the 2 scripts - (Sand, I left these at home but will bring them with me tomorrow so I can tell you what they are.) Both seemed to make the symptoms worse. The green capsule starts w/ an L, I looked it up on the internet and it seems the FDA had removed this pill from the market a year or so ago due to serious health issues including deaths then approved them to be put back on the market! Good grief!! I tried to expand the "when you can't eat anything list" but everything on that list went through me as well. I did add sweet potatoes or baked potato a few times, flour tortillas and mushrooms was added but nothing seemed to matter...I even tried to eat baked fish and baked chicken breast but solid foods really seem to make it worse. I will check out the doctor link and thanks again for your help!
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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I tried the immodium when I first started getting sick but it didn't seem to help. I didn't increase the doses though. I really hope the digestive advantage works but if it doesn't I am going to have to find a new doctor. Thanks so much for your help.
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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Try it again. It really is the best thing around for stopping D. You can actually take very high doses safely. Ignore what it says on the box about doses - that's for non-IBSers.
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Try increasing your dose. I take one or two RIGHT when I get up, and whenever I feel an attack coming on I'll take another 2. When I take the right dose they limit the duration and severity of my attacks every time!
If I eat, I take 2 imodiums first. Otherwise food will go right through me in about 1/2 an hour. I take one before I go to bed too, to ward against night attacks.
I've been taking imodium for years now as a preventative, and it is the single most thing that has helped me. I too used to be in the bathroom 9 to 20 times a day with severe cramping, painful gas and explosive D. Today i can hold down a job, travel on trains and planes, and generally have a outwardly seeming "normal" life, all because of imodium.
Don't feel burdened by the constraints of what "normal" people do. You need to find a dose of imodium that works for you. It WILL work. There are lots of people with D on these boards who take imodium like this. It is not addictive and has been a LIFESAVER to many of us.
Please give the imodium another chance. If you want insurance to pay for it, you can get an Rx from your doctor. I get 60 pills a month, and supplement it with otc imodium advanced (with simethicone, which helps gas). Good luck to you and post back your results!
Be brave! It will get better!
~nelly~ 
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Just wondering if the diet has reduced your need to take Immodium as much, or do you still rely on it as heavily/ regularly? Does it ever clog you up too much and make you go the other way, and therefore give you nausea, bloating etc.? I'm just starting the diet and trying to work out how often I do the Immodium thing to find the right balance and how to know if it is the diet or the immodium helping?
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Nelly is just D if I remember rightly so she doesn't have the problem of it making her C. I did, so I only took one tablet every morning and then 1 extra for attacks. That really helped me to stabilise faster (using the diet) and when I did, I then came off the Immodium and did fine with just the diet. Now I just occasionally take Immodium for rare attacks.
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This is what I've done as well, using Imodium as a preventative and for maintenance. Having followed the diet since December, I now only take it once in a while as a preventative since the diet has kept me stable for a few months. Lately, I've only taken it before a trip or other important event where I can't afford to take a chance being in the bathroom all day. I take 1/2 to one caplet either in the morning or evening; since I'm D this amount doesn't constipate me. If I'm already having an attack, I'll take 1-2 caplets.
Heather has written about using Imodium. Search the site using the following spelling: Immodium.
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Hello, David! I'm a D, never been a C and never had nausea or bloating. For those who fluctuate between D and C, they find it harder to take Imodium without blocking them up. I welcome anything that blocks me up. 
Without Imodium, food would go right through me, and not just because of the food triggers, but the non-food triggers as well.
My non-food triggers are the worst. Heat is my #1 trigger, then pressure on my stomach, then loud noises or jostling. Even if I eat safely, I can get an attack from any of these non-food triggers. Imodium has helped immensely to make me stable enough to where I only have food-triggered attacks. For instance, now if I'm on a crowded moving subway in the heat (and I've taken my Imodium), I'll be less likely to have an attack than if I've forgotten to take anything.
I do still get food-triggered attacks. If I eat a mystery muffin (and who hasn't ) with dairy or insoluble fiber, I'll get sick 30 minutes after I've taken the first bite. The food attacks are predictable; if I don't get sick in 30 minutes after starting to eat, it's not going to happen for me unless there's another trigger involved.
It's taken me a while to recognize my triggers, and when I am vigilant, I can accurately predict when I'm going to have an attack. Knowing for me when I'm going to be sick takes out a lot of the anxiety of having an attack.
~nelly~
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Thanks for all your replies! I still am trying to work out my triggers....like Heather said, everything seems to trigger it at one time or another. Until I've got myself stabilised somewhat I don't think I'd recognise my triggers. Still diet is no problem for me as I have been on many (and I have coeliac disease too, so have been gluten-free for years). I have used Immodium before but not like you have described, so it was some good info. Nelly I'm sorry you are so sensitive to non-food things as well! You wouldn't go so well in Australia in summer with all the heat! I hope to get to the stage where I feel I have some predictability and control with my diet so I can do things like travel overseas again! It is hard enough being gluten-free, but with IBS....
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Sand, here is what they had me taking Cicyclomine 20 mg 4x per day and Chlord/clind5-2.5 mg cap amid 4 x per day (this is a generic) Anyway as of today, nothing is working and that includes the digestive advantage.
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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Thanks and I will try the Immodium again. I never dreamed of taking it like you do. I took 1 daily so now I will try it again. If I can get a prescription called in I think it would be better so I'll call the doc and request. Thanks again. You all are great!!!!!
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Misery459: Life is a Highway, live it on a Harley.
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The only Google reference I found to Cicyclomine is that it is an anticholinergic, apparently similar to or related to L-hyoscyamine. The active ingredient in the brand name antispasmodics Levsin, Anaspaz, Levbid, Levsinex, NuLev is Hyoscyamine sulfate, so I assume this is an antispasmodic. Lots of people on the Boards have tried these: for some people they work great, for some people they don't work at all, some people have no luck with one, but do great with another.
The Chlord/clind5 I got no hits on with Google. You said in your earlier post that one of your drugs started with "L" and killed people. If that's what this is, you're talking about Lotronex. That seems unlikely, though - I think Lotronex is too new to have a generic version available AND only doctors in the prescribing program can hand it out. They are supposed to fully inform you of the drug's history and risks and, as one poster put it her, make you sign your life away before you can take it. So, I'm not sure what "Chlord/clind5" is. Whatever it is, it's not helping.
I agree with Linz - try the Immodium again. It's not a prescription drug so you shouldn't need to go through your doctor.
And I'd get off the Digestive Advantage - although it's helped some people, it's also caused problems for some, so I wouldn't keep taking it if you're not getting any better. If you really want to try a probiotic, try just a straight one, with nothing else in it.
Most importantly, though, I would find a new doctor. If nothing is stopping or slowing your diarrhea, you need some serious help and quickly. And you really need more food than what's on the What To Eat When You Can't Eat Anything Diet - that's just not healthy. Hopefully there's a doctor in your area in the thread I sent you to. If not, ask any doctor you trust for the name of a good GI guy, call an IBS hypnotherapist for a referral as the thread suggests, or try a clinic at a major medical center.
HTH.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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about your meds. I just couldn't find enough info on Cicyclomine to really know and I couldn't find anything on the other one. I suggest you call your pharmacist, explain that you can't find any info on these drugs and ask him for help. If Cicyclomine is a brand name, ask him what better-known drug it's like; if it's a generic, ask him what some brand names would be. For the other one, since you know it's a generic, ask him what some brand names should be. Then you can Google the better-known brand names and hopefully get some info.
Your doctor really, really should have told you this stuff. Please find another one.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I agree here!
#186741 - 06/16/05 01:54 PM
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Linz
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 8242
Loc: England
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I know nothing at all about those drugs (and that's rare to be honest). And no-one should be on Lotronex, should they? If yes, then it should be REALLY monitored.
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