# Newbie here-Bentyl?



## fluffy1856 (Apr 17, 2011)

Hi everyone,New here. 44 year old female. Always had a nervous stomach. Diagnosed after severe diarrhea in December-undergoing major stress at the time-just asked my spouse for a divorce. My Dr. put me on Bentyl. Took me all of January and one week of February to feel better. Bentyl seemed to help alot. Starting living the good life and almost forgot I had IBS, except for an occasional day of diarrhea here and there. Well Thursday went out to eat at a RIb Joint with my boys. Had Ribs, coleslow diet coke french fries and onion rings. Yes, you read that right I tried ALL OF IT!







Within 2 hours I was sick as could be.....why did I do this to myself? I then remembered the last time I got sick I also had diet coke (only drink this when i go out) so I thought this was the culprit!!!Seemed to be better after one bently.....next day went out again got pizza (drank only water) and got sick again.....long story short...been sick for 3 days straight now.....today everything makes me sick, even crackers!Questions;1. How long do these flare ups last? How do you know what the triggers are?2. Bently really makes me loopy, anyone else? I was so tired today I took 2 naps and decided to switch to otc anti diarrhea meds since Bently didn't seem to be working anyway. What does everyone else take for IBS_D?Thanks everyone


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Well any heavy foods (High in fat) can cause trouble. And you kinda imbibed with quite a few. So it could take a bit for your gut to calm down.Bentyl is an antispasmodic and slows the gut contractions down. It isn't designed specifically to stop diarrhea.The diarrhea can be helped with an anti-diarreal like imodium.You could also check out the "Linda's Calcium" thread at the top of the forum. Many folks find it firms up their BM's wonderfully.


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## fluffy1856 (Apr 17, 2011)

Gee You would think the GI could spend 2 minutes explaining that I may still need Immodium ALONG with the bentyl. Since you mentioned this I have taken 2 doses of Immodium (one alst night one this am) and was finally able to eat. So thank you!


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Yeah.. one would think a GI would explain that to ya! Sheesh! Well glad you are feeling better anyway!


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## fluffy1856 (Apr 17, 2011)

Now I am worried about reducing my Immodium. How long do you think I should take it for?


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Why are you worried about it??? I have been taking it in excess of 20 yrs. It worked ..so I took it! Take it for as long as you need to.


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## IBS-D guy (Dec 31, 2010)

I stay clear of all drinks that contain caffeine, Coke, tea, coffee, red bull etc as i find it makes my IBS far worse. I also try to avoid most sugar free drinks as some sweeteners can have a laxative effect. Immodium didnt work well for met, it made my IBS more unpredictable so i take codeine phosphate which works very well. It might be worth trying hypnotherapy as many people have found some benefit from it.


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## Feline_Divine (Apr 14, 2011)

Hi,I am pretty new here myself. I used to use Imodium, but could never get the dosage just right. It also didn't do much for those fun "suprise" attacks or flare-ups. I used that for a few years until I started seeing a new Gastro. She suggested Bentyl. Didn't work too well for me. It made me nauseaous constantly. I am on the generic of Lomotil now and that really helps more than anything else has. I still get flare-ups, but for the everyday stuff, the lomotil works for me.There is no rhyme or reason for my flare-ups--though stress makes it a whole lot worse.


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## fluffy1856 (Apr 17, 2011)

fluffy1856 said:


> Now I am worried about reducing my Immodium. How long do you think I should take it for?


I had no idea you could just take immodium for so long. I have never taken alot of drugs but looks like I will have to start familiarizing myself!!!Is Lomotil by presciption only>?I am on day 5 here, tired of eating broth and water....I want my old life back!!!! (screammmmmmmmmm!!!!!)Thanks for listening everyone. I have gotten so much info here!!!


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## Feline_Divine (Apr 14, 2011)

fluffy1856 said:


> I had no idea you could just take immodium for so long. I have never taken alot of drugs but looks like I will have to start familiarizing myself!!!Is Lomotil by presciption only>?I am on day 5 here, tired of eating broth and water....I want my old life back!!!! (screammmmmmmmmm!!!!!)Thanks for listening everyone. I have gotten so much info here!!!


Yes, the Lomotil is by prescription only. I liked using Imodium but it didn't help with the pain at all. Sometimes I would have pain after having a flare-up for days. It was agonizing.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I think it a safe bet that we would all like our old lives back. The sad part is that that will probably not happen, although you can make changes and find treatments that will bring it under pretty good control. Speaking for myself, I did do this to myself, so it is hard to blame anyone, other than the tobacco industry. Try the Calcium, try the Immodium. Once you get the symptoms under control, then you can start looking for what brought this on.Good luck and welcome to our dysfunctional family.Mark


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