# Does Linzess ONLY cause diarrhea?



## bellypains (Dec 23, 2014)

I've been on it since Tuesday. I go to the bathroom every other day but it's always diarrhea and always 5 to 6 times.

Thing is I still have that bellypain like I'm constipated. After the diarrhea stops I occasionally pass some more small amounts of hard stool.

Remind me again, why am I taking this Linzess?

Why can I not have normal BM's every day. So annoying


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

sorry you're having problems with it.

try taking linzess an hour before eating instead of a half hour before.

Linzess acts on the same receptors that food does. it's like I said before, the longer you take it before eating, the less D you'll have. some people have had good success with taking it before bedtime. others take it in the afternoon, a few hours before dinner. some people wake up early and take it a few hours before breakfast, it pays to experiment.

you could also try the 145 mcg dose. some people found that works better--less D.

if you can't get linzess to work for you, you could try amitiza, like you mentioned before. or the Dr Schultz OTC laxative that Flossy takes.

it could be that your belly pains are a separate issue from your constipation. pain is one characteristic of ibs, unfortunately. it can be caused by spasms. have you you tried an antispasmodic? ask your doc. or try drinking peppermint tea--like Heather's peppermint tea, etc--or taking peppermint pills. peppermint can help soothe spams.

good luck. hope you can find some relief.


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## bellypains (Dec 23, 2014)

Darn it. I usually do my meds around 8 and my first meal of the day is between 10:30 and 11.

I'll try taking it before bed tonight.

How long should I wait after I eat before taking it? I mean how lng before my stomach is for sure empty?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

i googled this and here's what came up:

"Taking medicines on an *empty stomach means* that you should take your pills 2 hours before you eat or 2 hours after you eat."

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/safe-use-medicines/your-questions-answered

and of course, it also depends on how big and/or heavy a meal you've had, how much fat in it etc.

what i've generally read as a rule of thumb--and these are the instructions that my pharmacy puts on all my "empty stomach" scripts: " take an hour before or two to three hours after a meal".


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

Hi! New here. Currently on Linzess 290.



bellypains said:


> I've been on it since Tuesday. I go to the bathroom every other day but it's always diarrhea and always 5 to 6 times.
> 
> Thing is I still have that bellypain like I'm constipated. After the diarrhea stops I occasionally pass some more small amounts of hard stool.
> 
> Remind me again, why am I taking this Linzess?


^^BellyPains, I kind of relate to what you're saying. I always have diarrea, but at the same time I always feel constipated. Have you found you've gotten better results as some more time on the med has gone by?



annie7 said:


> Linzess acts on the same receptors that food does. it's like I said before, the longer you take it before eating, the less D you'll have. some people have had good success with taking it before bedtime. others take it in the afternoon, a few hours before dinner. some people wake up early and take it a few hours before breakfast, it pays to experiment.


^^Interesting! Never heard of that before. Linzess was working GREAT for me, and then all of the sudden...stopped. Come to think of it, I have been waiting longer to eat than I used to. Do you think that could be why it's not as effecient anymore? It literally solved all my problems for a good 6 months, and then just, BAM, now I'm constipated again. You seem to know a lot about this drug; do you think it would just stop working that abruptly, or does it have to do with timing? Hope you are well!


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

hard to tell. i have read posts from people who say that linzess just quit working for them. it did that to me, but it was a more gradual thing...more like less and less results than just abruptly stopped, though.

and yes, it could be the timing, too. hopefully it's that. try going back to taking it a half hour before eating. and eat a warm meal with a bit of healthy fat in it--all that helps. if linzess still doesn't work, try taking it 20 minutes before eating. and so on...

hope you can get it to work for you again. it's so good to have something that works reliably. good luck!


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

annie7 said:


> hard to tell. i have read posts from people who say that linzess just quit working for them. it did that to me, but it was a more gradual thing...more like less and less results than just abruptly stopped, though.
> 
> and yes, it could be the timing, too. hopefully it's that. try going back to taking it a half hour before eating. and eat a warm meal with a bit of healthy fat in it--all that helps. if linzess still doesn't work, try taking it 20 minutes before eating. and so on...
> 
> hope you can get it to work for you again. it's so good to have something that works reliably. good luck!


thanks so much! im thinking it could also possibly be an issue with the way im storing it...it's pretty hot in my apartment!


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh yes--glad you mentioned that. linzess is very unstable and very susceptible to both humidity and temperature. like it says on the bottle, it's best stored at 77 degrees--with excursions (love that term lol) permitted to 86. but best to keep it around 77 if at all possible.. and don't keep it in the bathroom or any other humid room either.

also--and this is very important. make sure the pharmacy gives it to you in the original bottle with the little desiccant thingies inside--there are several of them in there. it says this on the front of the bottle in an "attention pharmacist" note. don't accept it if the pharmacy has decanted it into one of their bottles. that's also because of it's instability--it's best left in the original bottle. back when i was taking it, cvs once tried to give it to me in one of their bottles but i pointed out these instructions and insisted they give it to me in the original bottle..

all of this info and more (also about the food effect thing) is here in the full prescribing info on linzess from their website. exciting reading lol..

http://pi.actavis.com/data_stream.asp?product_group=1904&p=pi&language=E


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

annie7 said:


> oh yes--glad you mentioned that. linzess is very unstable and very susceptible to both humidity and temperature. like it says on the bottle, it's best stored at 77 degrees--with excursions (love that term lol) permitted to 86. but best to keep it around 77 if at all possible.. and don't keep it in the bathroom or any other humid room either.
> 
> also--and this is very important. make sure the pharmacy gives it to you in the original bottle with the little desiccant thingies inside--there are several of them in there. it says this on the front of the bottle in an "attention pharmacist" note. don't accept it if the pharmacy has decanted it into one of their bottles. that's also because of it's instability--it's best left in the original bottle. back when i was taking it, cvs once tried to give it to me in one of their bottles but i pointed out these instructions and insisted they give it to me in the original bottle..
> 
> ...


cannot thank you enough for all the information! so when it says "Taking Linzess after a high-fat breakfast resulted in looser stool compared to taking it in the fasted state," do you think that re-inforces the concept that 30 minutes before a meal works better than an hour?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh yes, that's right. my university hospital gastro doc has done research on linzess and ran some clinical trials on it too. he told me that linzess acts on the same receptors that food does. which is why the closer you take it to eating, the more diarrhea you'll get (in general).

i used to use it for clean outs. i would take it with a meal and then i would have D on and off all day. not a whole lot of fun but it did really clean me lol..


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

annie7 said:


> oh yes, that's right. my university hospital gastro doc has done research on linzess and ran some clinical trials on it too. he told me that linzess acts on the same receptors that food does. which is why the closer you take it to eating, the more diarrhea you'll get (in general).
> 
> i used to use it for clean outs. i would take it with a meal and then i would have D on and off all day. not a whole lot of fun but it did really clean me lol..


you are such a huge help with all the info. thank you again so much! i always figured the longer you waited to eat, the better it worked. glad to hear its the opposite & hoping thats my problem. plan to eat sooner tomorrow morning & we shall see what happens!

i know what ya mean about the occasional "clean outs!" gosh, IBS is just a barrel of fun lol


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

thanks--glad i was able to help.









if too much D with linzess is a problem, then yes, waiting longer than a half hour to eat can be a solution for that.

but yes, if it seems to have stopped working, eating sooner should help. worth a try. good luck this morning! hope hope eating sooner does the trick!

oh yeah--you are so right---ibs/constipation is just a big ol barrel of fun lol...never a dull moment..









good luck!


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

annie7 said:


> thanks--glad i was able to help.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


seems to have worked a little better this morning! i know it needs to be taken on an empty stomach, but usually i drink 2 bottles of water with this. do you think this could be effecting its efficiency? my thought was that the more water my body had in it to pull into the bowel, the better it would work. but now im second guessing it after reading a few reviews saying just to take it with a "sip" of water. what do you think?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

hmm--i don't think i've read the "sip of water" thing--just lots of people saying to drink at least 8 oz of water with it and preferably more--people saying that linzess needs water to work--which makes sense since yes, it pulls water into the bowel and you need water in your system to do this. and that was my own personal experience, too--it worked better if i drank about 16 oz + of water with it.

i think the empty stomach thing refers to food and liquids like milk, etc but not water.


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## SarahAnn (Aug 11, 2015)

annie7 said:


> hmm--i don't think i've read the "sip of water" thing--just lots of people saying to drink at least 8 oz of water with it and preferably more--people saying that linzess needs water to work--which makes sense since yes, it pulls water into the bowel and you need water in your system to do this. and that was my own personal experience, too--it worked better if i drank about 16 oz + of water with it.
> 
> i think the empty stomach thing refers to food and liquids like milk, etc but not water.


do you think if i have my cup of coffee and then linzess about 5 minutes after, that would still be considered an empty stomach since coffee is technically water?  lol . so sorry for all the questions, you just know more about this med than anyone ive talked to! including my doctor! lol


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

i honestly don't know. i don't think coffee with milk or cream in it would qualify. i've read of people who say they take their linzess with a cup of black coffee and it works fine for them..

ask your pharmacist--give them a call. they would know if black coffee violates the "empty stomach" rule...

if you find out, let us know...









or just try it and see...

oh questions are no problem ... that's one of the things the board is for


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