# Immodium seems to be making things worse



## nrep (Jun 19, 2007)

I was using pepto bismol for a while to help control my diarrhea, and realized it was making things worse. I know there has been a lot of talk on here about the ingredients in pepto bismol and that being not great for ibs-ers. I switched to Imodium and when I have diarrhea I'll take one. It seems to make things worse and give me even more attacks throughout the day. I'm just realizing this pattern. I can't seem to find anything to help control my diarrhea and I just don't get it. I've tried pretty much everything and still it seems not to effect the diarrhea and attacks. Can't figure this awful thing out. Ugh!


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

I don't take it _after_ the D starts. That's too late.I take it _before_ hand to prevent the D. I take it _WITH_ meals. If one tab is too much.. I use a 1/2 or 1/4 tab. Some folks find more gas pain with imodium so I also take it with a simethicone product to prevent the gas when I eat.So play around with _when_ you take it and _how much_ you take. You might find a combination that works for you.All the best


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## nrep (Jun 19, 2007)

Yes, I've played around with the timing, but in the end it seems to make things worse and give me more cramping and diarrhea. Also, simethicone and I don't work. I always have a very negative experience with it. Thanks though.


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

Have you tried lomotil? You would have to get it from your doctor but it works great for me. I take 2 in the morning and am good all day.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

First off, how often do you have Diarrhea? Since imodium is an anticholinergic, it would be extremely _rare_ for it to be _causing_ you D. It may cause cramping, bloating etc. That is a known side effect. Thus why I use the simethicone with it. Have you tried the Calcium Carbonate? Some people say they do better (meaning they have less D) if they limit their carb intake. Have you tried that yet?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Are we taking more diarrhea the first few hours after you take it, or do you mean "in the end" to be when it wears off.Some people get a bit too constipated on it (and some people do find the stopping up part is more uncomfortable than the diarrhea when they don't take anything) you may "in the end" have some bounce back diarrhea when it wears off.With that it may be a much lower dose, more consistently can help, or it just isn't the right drug for you.One other issue is it can take awhile to kick in so waiting until the diarrhea is bad may mean you only get an effect after the worst of the diarrhea is over and that can set people up for the a bit too backed up then flushing to try to deal with the backed up part once the drug wears off.There are rare paradoxical effects but if Imodium does that to you (and I've not heard of this with opiates, but with other drugs where 1 in 10,000 to 1,000,000 has the opposite from normal reaction) I would worry every last opiate derivative (Lomotil or any pain killers you may ever need) may all have that same opposite effect. So you might need to look for something else than that class of drugs and be careful after surgery or injury when you need narcotics.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I've controlled mine for 10 years with flavonoid supplements. Bet you haven't tried that, yet.







Mark


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## nrep (Jun 19, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your comments.I have tried the calcium (and different kinds as suggested in the forum here) over the years and have had adverse reactions to this as well.The Immodium tends to make thins worse for a few days. Usually when I have an attack it's just for one day, but when I take Immodium, it lasts for much longer than a day. This is why I think I am having some adverse reaction to it. I've been playing around with it for quite some time and have come to the conclusion that it is not good for my symptoms. Constipation has not been an issue.Antispasmadocs also have the same negative effect on me.I haven't tried the Lomotil, but may ask the doc about this, thanks.Yes, I've tried all types of elimination diets (gluten free, dairy free, etc) to no avail.Mark, What flavanoid supplements- and what symptoms has it helped with.Thanks again to all.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I have used something called Provex CV since 1998 to control my cholesterol deposits through antioxidation and controlling the accumulation of blood platelets which encourages those deposits. It turns out that the same behavior of blood platelets are also implicated in colon inflammation. It stopped my reflux and chronic indigestion in about 6 weeks and slowly improved my bowel function over the next year to eliminate daily frequent D, including problems with consistency, frequency and urgency. It has allowed me to continue with a completely normal diet without more than some inconvenience. As the years have gone by, the periods of "inconvenience" have dwindled to 2 or 3 particularly soft/urgent/ messy bms a year. Mostly, I am normal. (It also stopped repeated instances of vertigo in my wife, presumably from circulatory repairs, and has reduced my liklihood of a heart attack from 50% in 10 years to 2%.)I should also add that while I did not suffer from the debilitating pain of many of us, another member from this Board, now long gone, also found it stopped her pain which she likened to childbirth, for many years, now. Mark


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## IamDucky (Feb 10, 2010)

A specialist at the hospital told me because I was in there last night that sometimes your ibs flareup will carry on if you have a lot of inflammation or stomach acid issues. So he gave me a few days of Iansoprazole 30mg and that has seemed to have helped me. I am new to all this and i have severe ibs was in a car accident and I was taking tylenol and advil turns out ibs sufferers shouldn't take advil too.


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