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
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
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
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