# Starting Linzess, need some advice



## MrsMcA (Jan 20, 2016)

After managing my IBS-C for about 8 years through diet and exercise and supplements, it has flared up over the past 3 months or so. I literally tried everything before finally sucking it up and going to the Gastroenterologist.....fiber supplements, Magnesium supplements, miralax twice a day, stool softeners, high fiber foods, eating prunes like it was my job, drinking 60-80 oz of water a day. I finally gave up after for the second week in a row having to do an enema in order to have a BM and being so sick that I had to call out from work. I am an ER nurse and literally have never called out sick but 2 other times in my life. Once because of food poisoning and the other when my sister died. Needless to say, this was my breaking point.

After talking to the Gastro he siggested I start LInzess since I have basically exhausted all other OTC options and seem to be doing everything else right as far as diet. I have even started losing weight even with the constipation the past two weeks because I am so afraid to eat. Usually I can watch a steady increase in weght over a few days of no BM. Needless to say, I started the LInzess today and waited a full hour before eating as per many recommendations I have read. Within about 45 minutes after eating I started to feel some rumbling in my stomach with some gas. Within about an hour and a half I had the same pains but with gas too, no urge to go to the bathroom though. I went to the bathroom at the two and a half hour mark to urinate and apparently at some point during all of this I leaked liquid stool and had no idea. This is completely horrifying! Constipation is bad, but I don't know if I can handle incontinent diarrhea, especially at work. I work in a busy trauma ER where finding time to even go pee is difficult.

Has anyone else had this happen? I still haven;t had a "real" BM today on the pill, just the incontinence once. How long did it take to really see a regular BM? Has anyone taken the pill intermittently? I'm worried that it will decrease the effectiveness of the drug. I just don't think that I would be able to take the pill and risk this episode at work. Dealing with cleaning up incontinence from my patient's is enough for me let alone dealing with myself!

Thanks in advance! Sorry about the lengthy post, just a little anxious about all of this.


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## marleyma (Aug 13, 2014)

Yes. I would say it sounds about right. Unfortunately I think alot of people experience this. I was on it for a few weeks before I just couldn't do it anymore with work. Some just use it as a "clean out" product. I have taken it lately actually for that reason and it didn't do anything. So I was either getting liquid unpredictable urgency or nothing atall! You can try and tweak the dose, take it at a different time, with or without food.. everyone reacts differently. Good luck


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

so sorry you are having problems . are you on the 145 mcg dose or the 290?

unfortunately, for a lot of people, linzess can be a tricky med. one thing about linzess--the closer you take it to eating the quicker it works. but you will probably get more D that way too. some people have good success by taking it a half hour before eating. or even sooner. they get D but it's over quickly.

people having problems with too much D take it one, two or three hours before eating or even the night before.

people also advise drinking a lot of water with it to help it work better.

we have a lot of linzess threads here on the board. you might want to take a look at them if you haven't already done so.

i do wish it were a more predictable drug.

about fiber--a lot of us here--especially those of us with slow transit constipation (colonic inertia) have found that fiber--especially insoluble fiber--is not our friend. for me, eating lots of fiber just plugged me up all the more since my colon wasn't working well to begin with.

good luck with everything. hope you can find some relief.


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## MrsMcA (Jan 20, 2016)

I am on the 145 mcg dose, my doctor said that he could up the dose if needed. I've looked at a lot of stuff ont he forums, but no once said really how long it took them to see results. Taking it today before work, gave myself extra time before though, so hopefully any diarrhea gets itself out of the way before I leave.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

from what i've read and from what my gastros told me, the time frame for results varies with people. and it depends on the dose and how soon you take it after eating. you might need a higher dose .

but anyway--a lot of people--especially those on the 290 dose--have results right away. for some people it takes longer. some people have said their gastros told them it might take a couple weeks for their bodies to adjust to linzess... or "normalize" as one person put it. that's what my gastros told me--give it two weeks...

i wish it were a more predictable drug.... it's very YMMV.


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## MrsMcA (Jan 20, 2016)

Thanks everybody. I took the 145 mcg dose for a week and ended up calling my GI Dr. Only 1 BM, so he wants me to try 290 mcg for a week now. We will see how it goes! I am going to try eating exactly 30 minutes after taking the pills and see how it goes. With the 145 mcg dose I even tried taking the pill WITH food, 30 mins after, an hour after, etc., but now BM.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

good luck!! hope the 290 works for you.


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## whyworryac (Oct 7, 2015)

Just was prescribed Linzess yesterday - my GI instructed me to do a Mag Citrate cleanout and THEN starting it 30 minutes before eating... I have to wait 2 weeks to start because I have a lot of plans this weekend and Mag Citrate knocks me out for about 24 hours on the toilet. Getting nervous about side effects - will be starting it on a Sunday, and I have an endoscopy scheduled for the Monday, and Tuesday I have an important work meeting. Praying nothing causes haywire diarrhea... honestly. I'm prescribed 290. He said I could go to lower dose and take 2 potentially but he seems to feel strongly that 290 will help me. He prescribed this last year but I didn't take it because I was scared of the side effects. And now, here I am.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

good luck--hope it works for you. we have a lot of linzess threads on here. like i said--if you get too much D with it, you can try taking the lower dose or try taking it an hour before eating (instead of a half hour) or even at bedtime.


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