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Hyoscyamine? + general GI behavior question

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
Hi, everyone!

I've been untreated for a few years due to lack of insurance, and just got in to see a GI yesterday. I have a few questions for you all.

1) She didn't ask about my symptoms, or even how I've been feeling lately. Not once. She mentioned symptoms being unimportant because IBS can "override" Crohn's. I'm not sure what she meant by this, and I've never been diagnosed with IBS. My symptoms have never been attributed to anything but Crohn's. Does anyone know why she would assume that? Also, are symptoms really unimportant?

2) She prescribed hyoscyamine for pain. I was told by a fellow Crohnie that hyoscyamine doesn't help with Crohn's or UC pain, only IBS. Is this true? Also, I had mild-ish stomach pains this morning and decided to try the medicine. Nothing happened. They said I could take either one or two at a time, so I took another one about thirty minutes after the first. It made me feel really weird, kind of like the way Xanax and similar medications can feel. I got really clumsy - walked into a door, dropped things, etc. The pain stayed for a while and eventually faded out. I don't know if it was because of the hyoscyamine or not. Anyone know anything about it? Was my experience normal?

Thanks! :hug:
 
Hyoscyamine is generally prescribed for IBS pain and normally does not have much effect on Crohn's/UC pain, though medication effects everyone differently. I am very sensitive to most pain meds. I tried hyoscyamine at the beginning of a flare and it proved to be more of a distraction, taking the edge off the pain rather than elminating the pain. It is also sometimes prescribed for motion sickness. It makes me drowsy and slow, and gives me a dry mouth, even in with just 1 pill.
 
Hyosciamine is not to be confused with Hyoscine, which is a different drug. Hyoscine is the one used for motion/travel sickness and has dry mouth as a side effect. It has other uses based on both of these properties.

I just wanted to prevent any confusion. I had not heard of Hyosciamine until I saw this post, I had to look it up.
 
No problem 2thFairy.

I wasn't sure of it myself and thought it was a spelling mistake until I looked it up. Just wanted people to be aware there are two very similar sounding drugs.

Nitty.
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
Thanks to both of you for your responses and clarification!

I'm still unsure of whether or not the hyoscyamine worked for me - I haven't had any pains today, so I haven't taken it again. I'm going to try it a few more times and see how it goes.

If anyone else has any more information, please share! Thanks!
 
Hey, I'm on hyoscyamine and it works great for me. They gave it to me because I have stomach pain shortly after eating a meal so I was greatly reducing my food intake to only a few things (and lost lots of weight). After talking with the GI, we determined it was stomach spasms causing the pain. Some of my spasms were bad enough you could put your hand on my stomach and feel them (like a baby kicking in the womb). My GI said to take it 20 minutes before eating or if I have the stomach pain (I take it closer to meal time though). I'm not sure if this effected my GI's choice but she also asked where my stomach pain was (lower right side of stomach). I haven't had any negative reactions like you stated but I've never had 2 of them close to the same time (3+ hour difference). There are some other meds that do the same thing (antispasmodic) but I don't know if they'd prevent the side-effects. I'm reading that peppermint oil may also help if you're having pain because of a spasm problem(hot water bottles on the stomach also helps).

Sorry I can't help much more but I wish you luck in feeling better. Hang in there and it'll work out for you.

PS, I'm unable to help you on your first question about why the GI didn't ask about symptoms because I'm new to most of this. Gluck
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
Thanks for the response!

I'm hoping it'll work out for me, too - it's definitely comforting to hear that it has helped someone else.

Also, peppermint oil makes sense - peppermint is supposed to calm the stomach. It also helps with concentration.

Thank you!!
 
Hi, everyone!

I've been untreated for a few years due to lack of insurance, and just got in to see a GI yesterday. I have a few questions for you all.

1) She didn't ask about my symptoms, or even how I've been feeling lately. Not once. She mentioned symptoms being unimportant because IBS can "override" Crohn's. I'm not sure what she meant by this, and I've never been diagnosed with IBS. My symptoms have never been attributed to anything but Crohn's. Does anyone know why she would assume that? Also, are symptoms really unimportant?
My GI always asks what new symptoms i'm having. It's kinda common sense that of course symptoms can be used to determind issues and what steps to take. Her saying they arn't important seems kinda dumb to me, but idk.
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
My GI always asks what new symptoms i'm having. It's kinda common sense that of course symptoms can be used to determind issues and what steps to take. Her saying they arn't important seems kinda dumb to me, but idk.
I agree - it doesn't make sense to me, either. If I had been diagnosed with IBS too, it might make more sense... but then she would also be treating me for that, so it would still be useful information. My old GI was always very concerned about how I was feeling.

The only other thing I can think of is that she was going off the medical records she got from the old GI's office - but that's all three to four years old. I've had new symptoms since then, and the old ones have gotten worse.
 
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