Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: I need some help....

First off, welcome to the site - you'll find the answers to just about all your questions here! Also, we've all been there - so never worry about asking questions or being "gross"...

With regards to Immodium, it is a lifesaver to thousands of people with IBS-D, myself included. You can also use generic Loperamide - which are exactly the same, but usually cheaper. (Usually the only difference is that generic branded stuff has some lactose in it, which some of us don't tolerate particularly well - but it's in microscopic amounts, so doesn't usually cause a problem).

With regards dosage, it varies more than you could ever imagine! Basically you start with 1, and if that doesn't work then 2, and so on and so on. And don't worry about taking too many - it's impossible to 'overdose' on Immodium, many people take many a day for their entire lives. The key thing is to take it slowly and figure out how many is right for you - i.e. enough to stop you pooping, but not so much it constipates you. (To give you peace of mind - thousands of people take 1, 2 or 3 a day to help control D, and many take much more. My GI, who's the foremost authority on IBS in the UK, has patients who take 15 a day, and probably will do their whole lives! Now that's an extreme, obviously, but many of us on here take lots as we need it to - I tend to take between 2 & 4 a day when I'm not doing so great, and when I need to leave the house I can take as many as 8 - 12, depending how bad my tum is. Natalie1985, who posts mainly on the Living Room board, can take 12 - 15 to stop her D, and like me after 12, can poop fine the next day 99 times out of a 100.)

So the key message is not to panic, and find your own limit!

Good luck, and keep us posted

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