Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Immodium made me C, Now I can't go, & I'm throwing up.

Hey there,

Sorry you are feeling so poorly - that's rotten. I am IBS-D and so take immodium pretty regularly during bad flare ups and have also experienced it making me a little bit C if I over do it... I agree with what Sand said, though, and that a day isn't all that long to not have had a BM... especially considering having had D the day before and not eating very much. When my D flares up I also tend to back off food and definitely find my BMs fewer and further between until I am back to a regular eating schedule.
I don't think you should be concerned at this point about being blocked up or anything more severe unless it goes on for several days at a time.
I think immodium can last different amounts of time for different people... If I am having a severe flare-up, it may not last as long as if I am taking it as more of a precautionary measure for a long driving trip or something. Having said that, I would have thought about 24 hours usually.
I'm not sure what the throwing up might be, it sounds like it could be a bunch of different things right now... If that has resolved itself and you are able to keep food down, it might just remain a mystery. If it continues and you aren't able to keep liquids down, you may want to check in with your doctor. For the record, though, I have taken a lot of immodium over the past 7-8 years (so much at times in the past where I couldn't have a BM for 5 days in a row--Not recommended!) and it has never made me throw up.
In the future, if you experience a major flare up of D because of your new medication I would try some other things first. Can you tolerate peppermint capsules? They are really good anti-spasmodics and won't have the same constipating effect as immodium. If you can't get the capsules, some really strong peppermint tea should help calm your tummy down. While you are adjusting to the medication, you also might want to strip down your diet a little bit to easy-to-digest foods and add them back in gradually until you know you are stable again. It might not make a big difference if the medication is going to cause you D no matter what, but it's worth trying.
If it's bad enough that you really want to try some more medication, you can split generic immodium pills into halves... or even smaller if you wanted to give that a try.

Good luck, hope you are feeling better,

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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