Diarrhea Medication

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blindsided

I am now a month and two days out of reversal surgery. It went well, according to my doctors and I trust they are correct. Some days have been very good, normal BM's but most of the time I am battling diarrhea. So far I've been using 5-6 Metamucil capsules a day, 3-4 Gas X and sometimes one half of an Imodium.
My doctor has changed me from Imodium to Cholestyramine, 4 mg packets. I've just started this med and am mixing one in the morning and one in the evening. I have read all of the material that came with this medicine and some articles on the internet. From what I am reading its use to slow down diarrhea is secondary to its main uses, cholesterol.
Is there anyone on this site who is using or has used this drug? Did it give you the end results that you needed? How many of the packets were you using a day? It says you can go up to 6-8 of them per day. Seems like a lot. When you did not have diarrhea did you continue to use it? Did this drug cause you any bad problems of constipation. The warnings make you sit up and pay attention to what can happen to you if your body goes in that direction.
Hope to hear from folks who have any experience with this drug.
Thanks
Larry

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Karen & Stella
Hi Larry,
I've used Cholestipol for the last 5 years to slow down my output due to short gut syndrome. I will answer as many of your questions as I can, but since my diarrhea isn't going away there are some I can't answer.
I've had to be very careful with when I can take the Cholestipol. The medication works by absorbing everything it is near, including cholesterol but also other medications. You must take it 1.5 hours apart from other meds but 4 hours is the ideal, not possible on my current regimen of medication every 6 hours. I started with three times a day, but couldn't manage to not interfere with my other meds. Now I take it once a day and it does provide significant slowing of my GI tract. I had a hard time tolerating the graininess and flavor and have found I am much more consistent if I mix the Cholestipol with yogurt or pudding rather than juice. I also found that juice is too concentrated and ended up pulling more water into my stool worsening my high output. I think you should give the Cholestipol a shot but I can't imagine taking it 8 times a day. I have never gotten constipation from it but then again my gut isn't anywhere near normal.
I found that I had to also be careful to avoid mannitol and other like sugar substitutes, common as binders in medications and food. They have a very strong laxative effect and can worsen diarrhea considerably. I didn't have much luck with the Metamucil, but have found Imodium and the especially the stronger Lomotil very helpful at times as I have learned to cope with high output. I have found it much more reliable to manage output with diet, using things like potatoes, bananas, tapioca pudding, and marshmallows to slow things down. In fact I use the marshmallows (5-6) to give me time to change my ileostomy without constant output. It gives me about 30-40 minutes with no output, so I also use it for cuddle time with my spouse.

I've tried to answer as many of your questions as I could. Let me know if I can be of further help.
Karen
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blindsided
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your response. I have stopped taking Cholestyramine. This drug gave me a worse
problem than what I was taking it for. After 3 days, I had severe gas, cramps, bloating along with
miserable diarrhea. I am now back to taking Imodium, one in the morning and one in the evening
along with Gas X and Metamucil. So far, this has brought back some sense of normalcy to my life
but for how long, who knows. I do watch my diet. I eat potatoes, both white and sweet, bananas
and marshmallows. The past couple of days have been really quite good, normal BMs and no
diarrhea. I see two of my doctors next week and am going to discuss this situation with them. The
surgeon is a good person, did a good job but seems like he has little to offer in the way of help for
life after this reversal. The other one I will see is my GP who I've had for five years or so. He should
be of more help to me. They did stool tests and blood tests which came back fine, nothing there to
indicate an infection causing the diarrhea. My mind seems to be a few steps ahead of my body as
far as recovery is concerned. My body is telling my mind to wait, I'm trying to catch up but it is
about 3 or 4 steps behind where my mind thinks it should be. Ok, off to see what I can do with a
couple of salmon fillets for dinner this evening.
Larry
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