# Antihistamines helping (greatly) with my IBS



## neild7744 (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi, for the past year ive been suffering with IBS. Been to the doctors numerous times and a couple of months ago had blooed tests etc...nothing showed up. Got to the point of giving up and accepting the pain and discomfort.No doubt if your reading this you have felt like i do, constantly needing to know where the toilet is, going to the toilet and having to run back, anxiety...etc...and not to mention a change in diet.Anyway...i get bad hayfever. With the summer in the UK now in full swing i decided to get some over the counter anti histamines until i could get to the doctors to pick up my perscription. Strangely (and at the time i was on a 'trigger food free diet') after a couple of days i noticed my bowels changing their habits for no reason. I realised that if i took 1 tablet on a morning and 1 on an evening before bed i wouldnt get a morning rush or feel like i had cramping.So...Ive started doing a test. Ive re-introduced foods and drink (stickng with over the counter tablets) and basically waited to see my bodys response. Anyway...other than tonight (i had a bit of a run...nothing major) my stomach is fine. Its now coming up 3 weeks (i think...or maybe 4) and ive had no problems. I can eat pretty much whatever i like and my stomach is no where near as bad. I took the ultimate pluge on sunday night and drank some Budweiser beer...this usually gives me chronic stomach problems the next day...however nothing...was fine.I cant believe it. Maybe its all in my mind, maybe its just my body changing and nowt to do with any tablets!Either way its working. Immodium, Buscopan, Colpermin...etc...did nothing...couldnt notice the difference (well immodium just blocked up the issue and that made me feel worse)!So just for anyone who is looking for some help...maybe give it a try. You cant believe how much happier i am hat my stomach's improved! The only downsaide is that ive been slightly more constipated...but i know which i would prefer!!!


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

Which anti-histamine are you taking? I am currently taking loratidine (Claritin) and have found that it helps my allergies but does nothing for my IBS.


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## Dixie_Girl82 (May 18, 2009)

yeah I would like to know what you are taking too. I currently take Zyrtec and have seen no improvement in my IBS.


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## Kate77 (May 31, 2011)

neild7744 said:


> Hi, for the past year ive been suffering with IBS. Been to the doctors numerous times and a couple of months ago had blooed tests etc...nothing showed up. Got to the point of giving up and accepting the pain and discomfort.No doubt if your reading this you have felt like i do, constantly needing to know where the toilet is, going to the toilet and having to run back, anxiety...etc...and not to mention a change in diet.Anyway...i get bad hayfever. With the summer in the UK now in full swing i decided to get some over the counter anti histamines until i could get to the doctors to pick up my perscription. Strangely (and at the time i was on a 'trigger food free diet') after a couple of days i noticed my bowels changing their habits for no reason. I realised that if i took 1 tablet on a morning and 1 on an evening before bed i wouldnt get a morning rush or feel like i had cramping.So...Ive started doing a test. Ive re-introduced foods and drink (stickng with over the counter tablets) and basically waited to see my bodys response. Anyway...other than tonight (i had a bit of a run...nothing major) my stomach is fine. Its now coming up 3 weeks (i think...or maybe 4) and ive had no problems. I can eat pretty much whatever i like and my stomach is no where near as bad. I took the ultimate pluge on sunday night and drank some Budweiser beer...this usually gives me chronic stomach problems the next day...however nothing...was fine.I cant believe it. Maybe its all in my mind, maybe its just my body changing and nowt to do with any tablets!Either way its working. Immodium, Buscopan, Colpermin...etc...did nothing...couldnt notice the difference (well immodium just blocked up the issue and that made me feel worse)!So just for anyone who is looking for some help...maybe give it a try. You cant believe how much happier i am hat my stomach's improved! The only downsaide is that ive been slightly more constipated...but i know which i would prefer!!!


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## Kate77 (May 31, 2011)

Hi- useful info. Have been thinking I might just try that as after 10 years (5 intensively) of second guessing which food (inconsistently) triggers me (IBS-D & nausea... BAD nausea..)it has become really clear that it's some kind of immune response. I generally don't get cramping- just a stomach that feels its on fire and guts that feel they have had bleach put through them, along with a good kicking. The fact I don't feel bad at all if i don't eat, says it all. OK, so I'll give them a go and see what happaens. I dont have Hay Fever, but do have asthma..Thanks...


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## PABeachBum (Apr 9, 2010)

I have had wonderful success taking Quercetin supplements twice daily, as well as using a neti-pot. My spring allergies definitely made my D horrible, and last year I finally figured the link between allergies and my D. This combination of therapy makes things very tolerable, though I still need to be strict with my diet, as my tummy is still sensitive during this time of year. Once winter comes around, I find I can eat almost anything and not have any episodes.


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## policymaker (Oct 13, 2010)

neild7744 said:


> Hi, for the past year ive been suffering with IBS. Been to the doctors numerous times and a couple of months ago had blooed tests etc...nothing showed up. Got to the point of giving up and accepting the pain and discomfort.No doubt if your reading this you have felt like i do, constantly needing to know where the toilet is, going to the toilet and having to run back, anxiety...etc...and not to mention a change in diet.Anyway...i get bad hayfever. With the summer in the UK now in full swing i decided to get some over the counter anti histamines until i could get to the doctors to pick up my perscription. Strangely (and at the time i was on a 'trigger food free diet') after a couple of days i noticed my bowels changing their habits for no reason. I realised that if i took 1 tablet on a morning and 1 on an evening before bed i wouldnt get a morning rush or feel like i had cramping.So...Ive started doing a test. Ive re-introduced foods and drink (stickng with over the counter tablets) and basically waited to see my bodys response. Anyway...other than tonight (i had a bit of a run...nothing major) my stomach is fine. Its now coming up 3 weeks (i think...or maybe 4) and ive had no problems. I can eat pretty much whatever i like and my stomach is no where near as bad. I took the ultimate pluge on sunday night and drank some Budweiser beer...this usually gives me chronic stomach problems the next day...however nothing...was fine.I cant believe it. Maybe its all in my mind, maybe its just my body changing and nowt to do with any tablets!Either way its working. Immodium, Buscopan, Colpermin...etc...did nothing...couldnt notice the difference (well immodium just blocked up the issue and that made me feel worse)!So just for anyone who is looking for some help...maybe give it a try. You cant believe how much happier i am hat my stomach's improved! The only downsaide is that ive been slightly more constipated...but i know which i would prefer!!!


anything to do with this ?http://ibs.about.com/b/2010/09/08/study-antihistamine-ketotifen-helpful-for-ibs.htm


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

I have had IBS-D for about 15 years and thought it was caused by unabsorbed bile acid (had my gall bladder out right before it started). I've been taking Questran since but it really doesn't do too much now. At least 3 dashes(often more) to the loo each morning with cramps and diarrhea...makes it impossible to leave the house until late morning. I also took Imodium regularly until a couple months ago when even half a tablet was making me painfully constipated but not stopping the D (alternating between the two extremes).

Yesterday I found this article and decided to try the antihistamine approach. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033552/#B26

I should add that I also have a problem with flushing from alcohol and heat (the article mentions this as a mast cell problem).

Well, nothing else has ever really worked so I thought I'd give it a try. Last night I took 10mg of Loratidine and 150mg of Ranitidine before dinner. I made a rich venison dinner with a fruit tart for dessert. Ate everything as well as a couple of chocolates after dinner. Chocolate, garlic and ice cream are triggers.

This morning I took another 10mg of Loratidine and 150mg of Ranitidine before breakfast. So far I've had two trips to the loo....both after breakfast and with no urgency. My stools were well formed and looked normal (I haven't really had normal bm's for most of the past 15 years). I had no pain and just a little gas earlier in the morning. Obviously this is way too soon to say whether I've found something that works. Time alone will tell. But absolutely nothing else has worked and I've tried everything. So....fingers and toes crossed..... I'll post again to report progress.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

This morning everything fine. A little gas but no D. I had Chinese last night and included some hoisin sauce (which has garlic). This evening a couple hours after dinner I had some cramps and a large bm that was sort of mixed well-formed and some loose stool. Hope the D isn't reasserting itself.....sigh...to be continued....


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## jaumeb (Sep 1, 2014)

NHow, let us know about your progress. Thanks for sharing your experiences.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

I had a very unpleasant experience/setback Sunday night. Drank a pint of cider before dinner and (although I took the usual ranitadine and loratidine) I flushed purple in the face and had really horrible cramps, gas and bloating (must have been a lot of sulfite in the cider). About an hour after dinner I was making mad dashes for the loo and had killer diarrhea. So bad I had to put on an adult diaper. Although I made it through the night, the diarrhea recommenced Monday and pretty much made me house-bound for most of the day. By Tuesday (today) things had slowed down but stools were still loose. I should also mention that in desperation I took an Imodium Sunday night just to make it through the night. This is the first time I've gone back to it in three months. I'm determined not to get dependent on them again (had taken them for 15 years) as they were causing intermittent bouts of very painful constipation and not coping too well with the diarrhea.

One other thing I should mention is that when I started taking ranitadine and loritadine I stopped taking Questran. Today I started colesevelam instead of Questran as I've heard it's better tolerated and is in tablet form. I'm really hoping that my terrible two-day event was just a slight setback, not a reestablishment of my chronic

pattern. To be continued.....


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## jaumeb (Sep 1, 2014)

You are combining so many things that it will be difficult to know the effect of each of them.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

jaumeb said:


> You are combining so many things that it will be difficult to know the effect of each of them.


I agree. However I was on Questran for most of the 15 years since I had my gall bladder out and the IBS started. It didn't completely deal with the problem and I also had to take a small amount of Imodium. Because of the problems I experienced with Imodium I stopped taking it in January. The Questran alone was not stopping the diarrhea. Recently I heard that H1 and H2 blockers helped some people with IBS-D who have allergic reactions to some foods and produce excess histamine in their digestive tracts. I thought it might work for me because I have a problem with flushing if I have a drink or get hot and garlic makes the diarrhea worse (sulfites). The problem with flushing predates the gall bladder removal. It showed up when I was in my twenties. However it didn't cause diarrhea. It's possible that there's a combination of unabsorbed bile acid and histamine reaction in my case. I haven't been tested for either condition so it's my best guess given my symptoms.


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## VintageNick (Jul 14, 2014)

interesting.


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## windemere (Sep 25, 2011)

I take benadryl to help me sleep during allergy season. I've noticed that it helps calm my nausea a bit...kind of takes the edge off and I don't wake up with D when I'm taking it.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

I started taking Cholestagel a week ago (2 tabs twice a day with meals) and got pretty constipated. I've read that people taking it for bile salt diarrhea have good results on 1 or 2 tabs a day so I'm cutting back to 1 in the morning and 1 before dinner. Also started getting sleepy and groggy from Loritadine (taking 1 in the morning and 1 before dinner) so I'm going to try Fexofendine instead (one 180mg tablet a day) as I've read there are fewer side effects. I'll report on progress in a few days.


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## jaumeb (Sep 1, 2014)

NHow, thanks for your reports.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

Update: I'm having almost as much of a bad reaction with Fexofenadine (1 24-hour tablet) as I did with Loratidine....feel really spaced out. I don't want to give up on the antihistamine entirely but perhaps I can cut back to 1 Loratidine tablet before dinner. Then the drowsiness will be in the evening and probably not as difficult to tolerate. Don't know how this will affect the IBS symptoms but I really can't handle the antihistamines otherwise.


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## Markoz (Apr 23, 2015)

Never thought of trying that. Had IBS for 9 years now. Just started on Charcotabs 2 weeks ago and having very good results.

My symptoms are abating for the first time ever. So happy I find myself tearing up.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

Update:

Not good I'm afraid. Just back from a week in Sicily. I had a return of the 3 bouts of loose stools each morning even though I took 2 , sometimes 3 Cholestagel tablets a day. Also took ranitadine in the morning and loratidine in the evening. Finally had to take Imodium the day before flying back to the UK so I wouldn't have a problem on the long drive to the airport. That worked and I didn't have much of a BM until this morning (two days later).

I don't know why the Cholestagel didn't work. I made pretty sure everything I ate had no garlic. The place we stayed was wonderful and we had dinner there every evening. Actually there doesn't seem to be much garlic in Sicilian cuisine and they mention it on the menu if a dish has it. One thing that was different was the amount of food I ate while on holiday. Also had more alcohol. Maybe I just overloaded my system. Probably consumed more fat even though most of what I ate was veg, shellfish and pasta with not many sweets. Just don't know what was going on. I'm thinking that maybe I'll need to take occasional Imodium whenever I travel or eat more than is usual.

Wish I had more positive news but I guess it's a day at a time.


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## jaumeb (Sep 1, 2014)

It is important that you report how are you doing, even if that is not as good as you expected.


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## theibslady (Mar 20, 2015)

Neild7744 it probably has a lot to do with what policmakers article talk about and the hypersensitivity. Allergies are a type of hypersensitivity of the immune system ie you are reacting to things in the environment that most people do not react to. Your gut could be doing the same. So taking the antihistamine can calm down your immune response and reduce the symptoms. What you need to ask yourself though, is what exactly are you reacting to in your gut? Eliminate that and you could get somewhere.

NHow The gallbladder is super important in digestion, especially digestion of fats so without one it makes digestion harder... basically you are now dripping your stomach acid straight into your stomach from your liver instead of squirting it in in larger doses from the gallbladder store. Do you take digestive enzymes and eat small meals?


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

ibslady: Thank you very much for your observations. and suggestions I completely agree with you re what happens when you no longer have your gall bladder. I have tried every kind of digestive enzyme with no difference. Last year I had two weeks on antibiotics because of food poisoning and non-stop explosive diarrhea. After that my bm's were pretty normal for a while but eventually the ibs-D came back. I even took b infantis for about a month after the antibiotics. But this didn't help. It's pretty difficult for me to eat small meals throughout the day. Breakfast and lunch are usually pretty small but dinner is the one sit down meal I share with my husband and that tends to be a bit heavier (although for me it's low glycemic) and we rarely have dessert...sometimes fresh strawberries with lo fat cream. The exception is that we eat out twice a week and I have more at those meals but hardly ever a dessert. I'm currently doing a 5-2 diet so on two days a week I have only 500 calories and very low fat. As I think I mentioned in a previous post Cholestagel helps as much as anything. I think when we were on holiday I didn't take enough to deal with the added food and drink. I think I'll simply have to take the occasional Imodium when we're away and I have less control over meals.


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## theibslady (Mar 20, 2015)

NHow. Was b infantis the only strain of probiotic that you took? There are many strains that are beneficial that my have been wiped out by the antibiotic and putting one strain back in may not have been enough.

Do you feel bloated or 'heavy' after eating bigger meals? What sort of things are you eating when you go out, and do you get more symptoms on the days after you eat out?


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## Knyttet (Oct 21, 2013)

have you read about histamine intolerance?

http://www.histamineintolerance.org.uk/about/first-steps

I've read that it seems to be a consequence of gut problems. Resulting in not tolerating high amounts of histamine anymore, the threshold varying from person to person. It's not well documented though but a lot of people find relief by following a low histamine diet. I've noticed that I can't tolerate high histamine foods anymore, at least not many meals in a row. I get horrible symptoms of heart racing, palpitations, anxiety, itching, nose running and stomach pain. It really sucks because a lot of the foods that I find easier to digest cause these symptoms. Like smoked fish, herring, sliced ham, spinach and berries.. And it's also those healing foods that cause problems, like fermented foods and bone broth.

The tricky part is that antihistamines can give relief to your symptoms but in the long run they can make the problem worse. So it's not unfortunately a sustainable solution









But histamine intolerance should be distinguished from diseases like mastocytosis or MCAS. I haven't yet read the article NHOW posted, maybe it sheds some more light on what is the real culprit in IBS considering histamine.

But before trying antihistamines you could always try eliminating high histamine foods to see if that alone helps


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

theibslady said:


> NHow. Was b infantis the only strain of probiotic that you took? There are many strains that are beneficial that my have been wiped out by the antibiotic and putting one strain back in may not have been enough.
> 
> Do you feel bloated or 'heavy' after eating bigger meals? What sort of things are you eating when you go out, and do you get more symptoms on the days after you eat out?


No, I've tried a lot of different strains with no visible difference. I've always felt bloated and 'heavy' after bigger meals.







Basically the only difference when

we eat out is probably higher fat content and sometimes just more food. High fat, ice cream, milk chocolate and garlic are triggers so I avoid them when possible. But I can't control the fat content when I eat out. At home I generally take one Cholestagel tablet with dinner and that seems to be enough. When I eat out I now take 2 with the meal.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

Knyttet said:


> have you read about histamine intolerance?
> 
> http://www.histamineintolerance.org.uk/about/first-steps
> 
> ...


I'm thinking that my trouble is not a histamine reaction. The antihistamines I took didn't help. I think that in my case it's down to not having a gall bladder any more and fat and certain other foods producing more bile than my intestines and bowel can handle. Cholestagel tabs help when I take the right amount for what I've consumed. But going on holiday is a problem that even Cholestagel can't completely deal with (larger food intake and fat content for a longer period). I've come to the conclusion that I'll still need to take an occasional Imodium on holiday, especially on travel days.


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

I think I've finally figured out why I've had a garlic intolerance since my gall bladder surgery. I never realised that garlic increases bile production. And bile acid is the trigger for me. Anything that produces a lot of bile (fats and garlic) gives me BAD (bile acid diarrhea). Cholestagel (and Questran) sequester bile acid up to a point so they at least partially deal with the excess. But if I overdo it then even those meds are overwhelmed.

I've been following the progress of testing on this new drug. I think it's in stage 4 trials in the US and the UK but hard to say when/if it will ever get approved and/or supplied by the NHS. http://ir.interceptpharma.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=845798


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## NHow (Mar 10, 2003)

Correction: OSA was in stage 3 trials. I haven't found anything more recent about it in relation to bile acid diarrhea.


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