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Diarrhoea - Questran / Phenylketonurics

Hey everyone,

I don't know what treatment regime people have with their crohns and diarrhoea so I'll just discuss mine and how it applies to crohns.

I've had 3 major resections of the large and small bowel. I don't have a bag but I do have ACUTE diarrhoea every day which would see me housebound.

I used to take a large amount of over the counter drugs (via prescription) for diarrhoea such as lomotil or immodium. In Australia the normal over the counter amount is between 8-20 tabs, but you can get a government authority prescription to up the quantity to 100.

After taking these tablets for a few years I started pestering my physician at the time for something else. I'd heard about Questran but he was always saying it wouldn't work for me.

What's Questran? It used to be given to patients who had heart attacks to lower their serum/blood cholesterol. What they found is that it helps people with crohns and the diarrhoea.

How? The quote below is taken straight from the box.

"The active ingredient in Questran Lite, instead of being absorbed, remains in the digestive tract where it combines with bile acids secreted by the liver. This results in a lowering of serum cholesterol and helps prevent diarrhoea due to bile salt malabsorption.

Treatment is usually longterm and is not completed when your first prescription is consumed."

I always knew that bile salts were not reabsorbed by the large bowel if there was a resection and this is the reason for the diarrhoea.

Questran has been a life saver for me as it has given me control over my diarrhoea. If I'm having a bad day I will still supplement with lomotil tablets. Imagine taking a single drink and being able to go to the loo like normal people...it's utter bliss.

Questran is a pharmacuetical drug, not a herbal or home based remedy. It is used in Australia for the control of crohns related diarrhoea but obviously it is determined by the doctor and patient, but it isn't toxic, it doesn't build up in the system and the only side effect is to have a good cholesterol level:D

The Canadian name for this product is cholestyramine lemon-lime (sugar-free).

I'm including some links so anyone interested can research for themselves.

http://www.appco.com.au/appguide/drug.asp?drug_id=00096165&t=cmi

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/ bhcmed.nsf/pages/bqcquest/$File/bqcquest.pdf

http://www.rxnorth.com/static/QuestranLitecholestyraminelemon-limesugar-free4Gramsscoop.cfm

http://www.intekom.com/pharm/bm_squib/questran.html

To get these links I just did a google search for Questran Lite

Hope this info is of some help.

Cheers
Lisa
 
oh, I forgot to mention, Questran is a drug in powder form that needs to be taken in a pulp based fruit juice.

I cannot stress strongly enough this advice!! I've been taking it for over 10 years now and I've tried it in cordial, softdrink, plain tap water, fruit 'drink' and fruit juice.

For this medication to be palatable it MUST be mixed with a pulp based fruit JUICE. Anything water based such as fruit 'drink' will make this taste like you are drinking sand, quite literally. It's a horrible thing to try and drink if you mix it with anything else.

When mixed with fruit juices, either fresh or bottled, it binds to the pulp and mixes up well. It makes the fruit juice a bit thicker to drink but it goes down much easier.

I've seen people mix it with coffee and other stuff (shudder) so the choice is yours, but experiment first!...coffee....apart from destroying a perfectly good drink...eeeewww:eek: :rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes:

Lisa
 
S

samantha

Guest
Glad you get on so well with the Questran! I am allergic to it I just ried to take it for the fourth time (as in 4th course)
It gives me acid Diarreoh which is what i was taking it for in the first place questran just makes this worse.
 
samantha said:
Glad you get on so well with the Questran! I am allergic to it I just ried to take it for the fourth time (as in 4th course)
It gives me acid Diarreoh which is what i was taking it for in the first place questran just makes this worse.

Hey Samantha,

I can completely understand where you're coming from! When I was first diagnosed I was on salazopyrin for a number of years and when I went off that onto something else and then went back on it I found I was allergic or had a reaction to it and it gave me worse diarrhoea.

With my last resection in a couple of years ago I was put onto oral chemo to try something different and I developed a nasty reaction to that. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another with this condition, which is a pain, isn't it?

I guess I got lucky with Questran, eh?

Lisa
 
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