# Imodium-is there something better?



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

Hello,So I want to go to my GP and ask her about new medications. When she first diagnosed me I was put on Dicetel (think that's how its spelt) but I got nausea from it. Then she tried me with Modulon. I once again got sick from it. I have searched all the forums and have scarcely found people talking about those medications. Are these actual medications for IBS-D? After that, my GP told me to take Imodium as needed. That was over a year ago. I used to take 1 or 2 every other day and I would often be OK but after 2 months of that, my D was dreadful. So I bumped my dosage to 2 every day in the morning. That has been working alright for me for the last year, I still get D once or twice a week. I want to be refered to a GI but I don't know if that will do anything? Should I get tests done to make sure I do have IBS? Is there another medication that could work better than Imodium? My GP doesn't seem to know/care much about me and my IBS troubles. I thought she would seeing that I am only 22 and trying to have a life. Is there a drug that is like Imodium but better? Advice!


----------



## nctr (Aug 9, 2010)

Cait-There aren't really tests to confirm IBS, but they can rule out other things.It might be time to see a gastro. GPs are good at what they do, but they don't know all the in's and out's of the gut. That's what specialists are for. They are more likely to know the newest drugs that might help. Of course, have you tried changing your diet, see if you have particular triggers and if cutting them out doesn't help the bouts of diarrhea?Good luck-Nancy


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

> Is there another medication that could work better than Imodium?


 Not to my knowledge, other than Lotronex (which doesn't work for all Diarrhea types) there isn't. The meds you mention are antispasmodics and are meant to slow gut contractions down. The really are not specifically for stopping diarrhea. Anti-diarrheal meds that I know of are: Imodium, Kaopectate or Pepto Bismol. For me imodium works best.If you find you have pain when using imodium.. try using an anti-gas product (something containing simethicone).Since you are so young a GI specialist may not do a whole bunch of tests either. This is because statistically speaking the odds are greater that you have IBS rather than anything else. And, be forewarned, some of the "specialists" are less helpful than the GP's! But what I would do is _ask_ your Dr _straight up_ if she thinks you need to rule out other GI illnesses with a GI specialist. So if you & your Dr decide you need a specialist... ask if she knows of one that is good and specifically good with IBS.But be prepared... once an official diagnosis is reached.... the Dr's can't really do much but perhaps guide us a bit (if you get an Dr knowledgeable about IBS) or prescribe the few prescriptions available to help manage symptoms. The rest of symptom management is up to us! We must.. via trial and error... try different treatments ourselves to see what works best on our symptoms.Most folks find a combination of several treatments working together can help manage symptoms best. But there is no quick fix...sorry to say. Everyone must go through the trial & error. And no Dr can do that for us. But!!! by all means.. WE can do that for ourselves!All the best


----------



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks Nancy and BQ! I know there isn't much for us to do treatment wise, I will always probably be on Imodium. I am making an appt with my GP either today or Thursday. I wrote down all my symptoms. I will probably have to get all tests done because my dad's side of the family has a lot of colon cancer unfortunately. I just had a cousin die last year at 38 from it so of course my parents are paranoid. I know in my city, in Canada, we have one really great GI and if I get one, it should be him. I have tried to cut out gluten and dairy but since my life Is always on the go, I rarely have time to do trial and error between school, work, and sports. I tried the calcium carbonate and it didn't do too much for me. I will update after I see my GP.Thanks for your help!


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Well if you don't have time to try manage the symptoms via trial & error???.. then don't be surprised if they end up managing you.But please keep in mind that sometimes _more than one thing_(like the Calcium working WITH somethig else) may be the right thing for you.


----------



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

Had a doctors appt yesterday afternoon with my GP. She put me on Buscopan as a trial for 10 days to see how that goes. She is always refering me to a GI since I know and she knows, that this is as much as she knows about IBS. She only knows of antispasmodics for IBS treatment, no anti-D's. I asked her about that and she actually agreed she knew nothing about them, only Imdodium. And in order to have more testing done, I have to see a GI. She wants to make sure we rule out IBD first. That's my update, hopefully this Buscopan will do something unlike the other 2 I have tried without success.I have a really rough time with "trial and error" for foods and whatnot, since I am working 5-7 days a week while being a full-time student going into my final year and also playing sports and going to the gym, I can't afford to stop my meds and test to see what triggers me. I have done gluten and dairy but I get sick after everything that enters my body other than water. This is one of the isssues many young people have. They have lives they need to live and therefore being medicated is the only way to live those lives relatively normal.


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Well if your meds are working.. keep using them! And just try adding a Calcium Carbonate supplement etc... to see if that helps more. I'm all for whatever works!


----------



## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

caitlyn,Needing to live a life is NOT exclusive to young people!!I would propose that young, old and in between, would LOVE to be able to live a relatively normal life.Whether we achieve that by being medicated or otherwise is a personal choice and NOT age related.


----------



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

Thai,I agree totally, it is not age related and is not exclusive to young people. My point was that being young and having IBS takes a huge toll on that person. If you were, like my father, who got his around the age of 35, it would be terrible and hard to deal with. Having IBS since you were a child and then it worsening as you got older during your peek social life and therefore hindering a social life, as it is doing to me, will have drastic affects on your life more so than getting it 15 to 20 years down the road when your social life and career is at its peek. I understand that people are affected differently at all ages, but my understanding as well is that if you have been suffering from a young age, it takes a big mental and physical toll. Not being able to date, go to parties, go on vacation, go out with friends, go to school, and maintain a steady job; has a terrible affect on somones peek social life. It has to mine and I'm sure many others who have has IBS since a young age will tend to agree.I'm not trying to make my point greater, I'm just clarifying as to what I meant. And all ways of controlling IBS are great, I use both medications and psychological treatments. You gotta what you gotta do, to survive with IBS.


----------



## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Still not so sure I agree, but that's OK...From a personal stand point, got my diagnosis when I was about 12 yo.Am now almost 59 yo.Can't really tell you which time of my life has been the worst.Was it as a teenager trying to have a social life, was it working 12-16 hour days and keeping a home, or is it now, retired and STILL dealing with the same issues on a daily basis.I CAN tell you this is not how I saw my retirement playing out.....I can't even go for a walk on the wonderful trails in my park.The bathrooms are just tooo few and far between!Hope you are able to find your way better than I did.


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

CaitOf _course_ it takes a toll.BUuuuuuutttt>>It takes a toll on ALL of us ...No matter the age! Being younger doesn't give you a corner on the market of suffering... trust me.We ALL suffer. We ALL have to make sacrifices. We ALL have to make daily adjustments to our lives.And we ALL would rather NOT have this.But most of us realize that there are WAAAY worse things to have.Myself??... I try to practice gratitude for all the good I DO experience in life... Positive thoughts breed more positive thoughts. Negative ones,... breed more negative thoughts. I try to be as positive as possible.I try to manage my symptoms as best I can and get what I can out of each day. It is up to me.. to each of us. It is a simple decision.I hope the same for you.


----------



## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Thanks BQ!You said this way better than me.I should just sit back, read and shut up.Nothing seems to come out the right way.I get so passionate sometimes about what is said and then my response is all wrong...


----------



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

As I said, I do agree. And I agree there are some worse things to have, but then again, if I had something worse than this but it had a cure or at least a treatment plan that is known to help, then I would much rather take that worse illness. Many IBSer's do, at least the ones who have it severely like I do. I took the bus for the first time in 2 years yesterday, only 30 minutes. I took 4 imodium and 3 buscopans yesterday. I was so anxious I was shaking the whole way and almost in tears. I also found out yesterday I am going away next week for work, and will will be in the middle of a river on a boat for 10 hours a day. The amount of anxiety I have now is ridiculous.Having IBS is in the top 5 for worst illnesses as I see it. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy. I get that both of you see that it affects people at all stages in life, but for me at my age, this is doing damage.Maybe its because I'm the only one out of all the people I know that bathrooms maps and could tell you which stores are good and which aren't. Maybe its because I'm fed up with people telling me to "trial and error" and "you'll figure a way out eventually". It's hard to put such my life on hold for this damn illness. I don't want to stop living but I'm beginning to. That's how I see it at 22 anyways, I know every IBSer has these problems but when you're trying to get your life going and keep up with it and IBS is holding you back all the time, it makes you wonder why the hell did I get this and how am I going to beat it.Maybe I'm young and jaded already; but that's how I feel and I know you must to. I might add that I also have a handle of other ailments that hinder my life, I am a very optimistic person but I fear that trait is leaving me. Sorry for the rambling but I don't think a lot of people realize in this world, what IBS does and it gets looked at as a joke.


----------



## caitylin16 (Oct 5, 2009)

I don't mean to offend anyone, I just anxious and having a bad week.Sorry.


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Have you talked to any professional about the anxiety. If you can't control it well on your own (or with a self help book with exercises to work on controlling the anxiety) then it is time to talk to your doctor or therapist about it.The anxiety makes everything much worse than it would be otherwise.I which I could use the magic 8 ball and give you the exact perfect recipe of diet, exercise, meditation, medication and supplements that would 100% control your IBS. But as you know from other illnesses there is no one perfect treatment that is the one and only thing for everyone. Maybe you were lucky and found the one perfect thing each time for everything else, but for the most part managing any illness is finding the combination of things that 1. The patient will do, and 2. actually work for them.I wish it was easy, but it isn't and IBS really isn't the only thing where the "art" of healing is a lot more art than science.


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Hon none of us have the luxury to put our lives on hold to do trial and error. We do it WHILE we are living life. That's all ANYone can do. It just takes time... I AM sorry there is no quick fix... I sorely wish there was.But like Kathleen said... perhaps getting some help with how you are feeling will go a long way to helping you feel better. This is no picnic.. we know.. all of us "get it" here.But PLEASE don't minimize what you do everyday to get through as best you can. You are juggling quite a bit and.. dare I say it... you ARE living life.. so pat yourself on the back! Many folks don't/can't do half of what you do! So give yourself some credit and PLEASE come here to vent anytime~All the best


----------

