# Diarrhea after first meal of the day



## luvmygarden (Oct 5, 2009)

Please does anyone have any suggestions....My diarrhea is almost always after I eat my first meal of the day and then it last for the rest of the day.So therefore I go as long as I can before I eat anything...usually about 2:00 p.m.I usually do all my shopping, banking, visiting, etc., before I eat. If I stop at Arby's or someplace like that to have lunch with a friend or a grandchild, I have to drive home really fast because I have to go....sometimes I even stop along the way..., I am only 4 miles from the places I frequent. I feel absolutely no need to go while I am still in the restaurant and even go in the bathroom and sit for awhile but nothing happens.I have gotten so in the last 5 years I do not travel to vacations or to see family and friends because there are few places to stop on the interstates.I have had this since I was about 35 not not to this extent.Doctors say I have IBS and there is nothing they can do for me, I have tried everything known to man to stop this. Last night my hubby and I went to the movies and I had to go 6 times during the movie, I finally ended up just sitting outside the bathroom and waited for my hubby there. Yes, I was crying and trying to keep people from noticing me.Please if anyone can help me please do so....I am a senior citizen and very active and I want to continue to live.....not be confined to my home.Thank You


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

Hello luvmygardenHave you tried taking imodium about 1 hour before you have your meal, or tried Calcium carbonate tablets, 1/2 tablet with every meal to start with and increase as needed, that can sometimes help people as the calcium has a constipating effect. I take 1/2 imodium before bedtime and 1 whole imodium at about 6.30am, that is enough usualy to give me a formed bm in the morning and then i dont often have to go again all day. I used to be like you, but its got alot better with the imodium. Hope it helps you.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

The colon gets more active after a meal.Waiting as long as possible to eat and then eating a big meal (which we do when we are starving) will cause more activity than eating small frequent meals.A lot of people do find an antispasmodic or Imodium 20-30 minutes before the meal will blunt the overactive activity IBS can cause from the normal "time to move things along" signal.Calcium carbonate also helps some people, check out the pinned topic in the diarrhea forum.If the over the counter antispasmodics (some countries have them, if you are in the US then all you can get is the herb peppermint), Imodium or Calcium doesn't work you may need to go back to the doctor to get something prescription and there are several things that will help. If your doctors say there are no prescriptions then you need to find other doctors. It may be worth contacting the UNC Functional GI clinic http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/contact.htm (they have a mailing list and newsletters that can be helpful) and see if they might know if someone in your area is a doctor. The other option is go to your pharmacy and ask if there are any doctors that prescribe Lotronex (a drug for IBS-D that doctors have to fill out extra paperwork to be able to prescribe) and if they will give you their names. Doctors that care enough about IBS patients to be able to prescribe this probably are someone who will actually try to help you.


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## luvmygarden (Oct 5, 2009)

thanks so much for your help.....I tried under the advise of my doctor about the Imodium, but after about a month and a half, I began having constant watery stools. The doctor told me to stop it immediately because he said it probably was irritating the lining of my colon.It took me about 6 months to get over it.Now I eat Dannon Activia about every other day and that seems to help some, but you are right, eat small meals instead of big ones.thanks for your help!


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## luvmygarden (Oct 5, 2009)

thanks so much for your help.....I tried under the advise of my doctor about the Imodium, but after about a month and a half, I began having constant watery stools. The doctor told me to stop it immediately because he said it probably was irritating the lining of my colon.It took me about 6 months to get over it.Now I eat Dannon Activia about every other day and that seems to help some, but you are right, eat small meals instead of big ones.thanks for your help!


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

As crazy as it sounds but Porridge or (Is it Oatmeal in US/Canada?) is very good in moderation in the morning.It's a soluble fibre so travels through the body slowly while releasing energy for hours and allows you to go for a while without eating again.It may take a few days to get used to it but it can be helpful in small portions.I found Imodium before meals was useless for me and a waste of medication because it was after meals that things got worse.Don't be afraid of taking a couple of Imodium as they aren't harmful as I've been taking them for a couple of years on a daily basis and more tablets than normal people do.


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