Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Cholestyramine (Questran)

I am moving this up because I am sure many diarrhea sufferers do not know that their IBS-D may be caused by bile salts leaking into the intestines. Diet will not cure this - the only thing that will is medication and that medication is either Cholestyramine which is powder form or Welchol (pill form). I know some will say that this is Habba Syndrome - but not all forms of leakage are categorized as this syndrome. My Gastroenterologist explained that this is fairly common and easy to take care of and is not really anything to be alarmed over.

What you will need to do is first have a colonscopy and endoscopy to rule out Celiac, Colitis, IBD, or Crohns disease. Blood work is also necessary and stool samples. If all come back negative - then you may be suffering from Bile Salt leakage or possibly Habba Syndrome. Trust me when I tell you it is well worth looking into. I have suffered for months and am finally beginning to see some positive results. I am still thin at 98 lbs. (lost a lot of weight with this) but am hoping to soon put some back on. I did notice that I am not having digestive issues (malaborbtion) and the diarrhea is much less than before. I asked the doctor how long I would have to continue the medication - he said probably around a year until everything returns back to the way it should be. I must say - I can now eat many of the foods I had sensitivities to - which were many.

So if you are really suffering from IBS-D - do look into this.

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