Immodium

[karisue]

My GP keeps teeling me to take immodium when ever I have loose stools or diarrhea, surely as I have this majority of the time, this cant be right, can it ?
I feel really sore inside on the left and hurts quite a bit as I go anyway, and
calms down a bit after. I had hemi-colectomy 18 mnths ago on the right.

I am seeing my consultant on 6th July I will mention to him.

Has anyone else been told to take immodium ?

Regards
Karisue

 

[forum contributor]

Hey Karisue.
I was told to take Immodium at the beginning, but it didn't help at all.
I have left-side ulcerative colitis, so I can understand at least the left-sided pain.
Good luck!

 

[bethyd78]

Ode to immodium

I know I have been told at least a thousand times to take immodium that it is truly an amazing drug. My GI doc says he carries it with him all the time b/c he just can't be sick. He thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread but my diarrhea laughs at immodium. I can take 10 and it still doesn't help. I ask him for lomotil he
hesitates and gives me the immodium lecture just once more. At last he will usually breadown and give me lomotil only after letting me know that is in the Demerol family and it has opium in it. If only we could get our hands on Paregoric
( had lots of opium in it ) it would probably stop our diarrhea and we might have somewhat of a normal life. My Mom was a paregoric fan. If you were the least little bit sick we got paregoric. Mix it up in a spoon with a little bit of sugar. It made everything go away.Mmmm tincture of opium. And now they sing the praises of Immodium Oh my God!
Bethy

 

[RafHam]

I take two Immodiums a day. But it only seems to help with regulating the consistency and number of stools when I'm relatively well. When I'm sick- forget about it.

 

[JillianB82]

When I 1st got really sick last year...I saw a Dr at Urgent Care & she told me to take the immodium....the next day is when the toilet was filled with blood & I was in so much pain I thought for sure something had exploded inside of me. Went back to UC & the Dr there told me that "whatever I had wanted my body to go to the bathroom so bad that I had ripped my intes. by taking the immodium. He said the force of the BM caused it to rip." A year later I found out I had Crohns. After that, I've been too scared to take it again.

 

[karisue]

When I 1st got really sick last year...I saw a Dr at Urgent Care & she told me to take the immodium....the next day is when the toilet was filled with blood & I was in so much pain I thought for sure something had exploded inside of me. Went back to UC & the Dr there told me that "whatever I had wanted my body to go to the bathroom so bad that I had ripped my intes. by taking the immodium. He said the force of the BM caused it to rip." A year later I found out I had Crohns. After that, I've been too scared to take it again.

Thank you, Imso scared to take it, cos once I stop going I wont gofor along time and to me its defeating the object, theres no easy way really.

 

[machines]

Hi. My doc. with all his wisdom prescrices me 100 immodium at each visit.. I think he must be on commission (laughing). I find that they don't offer me any help but as everyone is different so if you get any relief, why not give it a try. Good luck.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

My GI gave me a prescription too, but my insurance isn't going to cover it.

I like the smaller caplets, they're easier to remove from the foil packets. Sometimes the bigger caplets crack and turn to powder when you pry them out.

 

[AmandaC]

Hi Karisue,

I don't want to confuse you because everyone here seems to say that it's ok, but my GI told me that it wasn't good to take immodium. I think it had something to do with causing possible complications in the bowel. He did give me a reason but I didn't really take any notice because I didn't want to take anything else on top of all the other medication.

I know a lady with CD who just takes a few when she knows she has to go out or on a long car trip to get her through.

If you want to try it and it works I think you should take it. I believe quality of life is so important and if it helps then do it.

Hope I haven't confused you!

 

[daisy_dueller]

I used to take Immodium when I was having REALLY bad days, or if I was going hiking, or something like that. I also had it on hand when I travelled to Mexico, which REALLY came in handy (nothing like having to poo when you're snorkeling in the middle of a pristine lagoon) But I don't think I would take it on a regular basis. Bottom line, I think it's ok occasionally.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

My GI told me to take 5 caps of Imodium per day.

 

[island girl]

Metamucil

My GP keeps teeling me to take immodium when ever I have loose stools or diarrhea, surely as I have this majority of the time, this cant be right, can it ?
I feel really sore inside on the left and hurts quite a bit as I go anyway, and
calms down a bit after. I had hemi-colectomy 18 mnths ago on the right.

I am seeing my consultant on 6th July I will mention to him.

Has anyone else been told to take immodium ?

Regards
Karisue

Hi! I use Metamucil daily and it has made a huge difference in my life!! I constantly had diareha and now my stool can be actually normal.
Metamucil is a fiber supplement made from psyllium. It is designed to add bulk to the stool and so help waste travel smoothly through the digestive tract. It may be marketed as a 'bulk laxative' because it adds bulk to the stool.

Psyllium, the main ingredient in Metamucil, is a soluble plant fiber. If you are gluten intolerant then it is worth noting that the Metamucil powder and capsules are gluten-free, but Metamucil Wafers contain gluten (one of the ingredients is wheat flour). I like the powder because I use just half the amount they say (1/2 a scoop in a glass of water or any kind of juice and it tastes great!!!)

I would really recommend giving it a try!!

Carol

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

Also on Metamucil as per Doctor's orders. Every morning, like you say. Finding it marginally beneficial. It's only good for one "go."

 

[RafHam]

I used to take Metamusil capsules. Like Johny, I found that you'd usually get one solid poo and then some loose follow ups. I tried to spread my dosage over the day and that seemed to help a bit.

 

[Cog]

My GI told me the same - I had a full colectomy and we later found that Colestipol worked better because the big D was being driven by bile salts. You may want to ask if you can try it.

I hope this helps good luck