# Getting Off Lomotil



## Charbeaner (Jun 2, 2003)

Does anyone know if you have to wean off Lomotil and can you just stop it? I take two a day and since starting Questran would like to stop some of the other meds. My doc asked me not to stop anything until he sees me, but I am curious if I could maybe not take one of the lomotils. I have not taken the 2nd one for two days with no ill effects.Thanks


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Charbeaner, Glad to hear the Questran is working for you!!! It saved my life, that's for sure. As for the Lomotil, as always you should follow the doctor's recommendations... that is, unless he's previously proven himself to be a total bonehead as so many of our doctors have. But, it sounds like this one prescribed Questran, so he must have something on the ball. He probably wants you to do one thing at a time, so that as things are removed or added you can see what effect each has. If you stopped everything at once, it would be hard to figure which thing did what. Also, for how long have you been taking Lomotil and how much? It does have an addictive ingredient in it, Atropine, and he may be concerned about that. Best wishes and hope you continue to have good days.


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## Charbeaner (Jun 2, 2003)

Overitnow:Well, the fun didn't last long. Yesterday, I had severe muscle pain--like I had arthritis all through my body. So, I looked up the side effects of the Questran, and voila!! That is a side effect.For now, I have stopped it until I see the doc. Maybe I have to get on it slowly.Right now I take two 20 mg. Bentyl at 7:00 a.m. along with a Lomotil. After eating, I then take Effexor XR, 75 mg, then at 11:00 a.m. I take 10 mg of Bentyl and another Lomotil. At 3:00 I take 10 mg. of Bentyl. At night I take 1 .50 Ativan to help with anxiety and sleep.In addition, I take hormones as well.After adding the Questran, I was really getting nervous about putting all this stuff in my body. When I got the pain, I dediced to stop it until I see the doc.I don't seems to have Diarrhea anymore, just frequency. Any suggestions?


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Hi Char, Yikes, that's an awful lot of meds. I'm surprised you can get up and walk around. I'm very sensitive to meds, one Bentyl and I'm down for the count. I don't know much about your situation, except for that you have D, but I can't imagine why any doctor would have you taking such a bunch of meds at once. But, you're there and I'm not, so I'm sure there must be reasons for each med. As for the arthritis pain on Questran, it is one of those side effects that was thrown onto the flyer because someone somewhere in one of the studies had aches and pains while in a trial. If I were you and the Questran had been working, I'd go back on it and give it a good week or two and see how it feels. It never enters your bloodstream and is an incredibly safe medication because of that. It tends to give me wicked heartburn sometimes, but I can life with that if it means being free of the bathroom. If, somehow, this arthritis-like pain is connected to the Questran, you will have to decide how much you will tolerate to be D-free. I know that I personally would tolerate just about anything to be rid of the D. Best wishes.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Well, no d is good...I thought you had it beat. It just makes me cry to see these med listings, even though I have my own little pile of pills every morning. Now I'm just waiting for my prostate to go and I can start taking saw palmetto as well. (Just give me one of everything in the catalogue.) For me, what is most interesting is how each one of them has had a positive, palpable effect on my health. Even my weight is back to optimum and my bp is within 10 points of normal--and that is a big improvement. And all without doctors and without side effects.Seriously, this is why I shouldn't come here. My condition really is what every d/GERD person is seeking; yet continuously saying this does no one else any good. And I have certainly said everything I can on the subject. If you want to try the supplemental route, drop me a line. That's the best I can suggest.Good luck Char,Mark


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## Charbeaner (Jun 2, 2003)

Hi:I FEEL better since I went off the Questran, but definitely what I currently take for the "D" is not working as well.I am going to wait til I see the doc next week and see what he says to do. I think to do it right I definitely need 20 mg of Bentyl and 1 Lomotil at least 3 x a day.I am ok during the day, but once I get home from work the frequency of bm's is probably about 6 times or so until I go to bed. So from about 6:00 p.m. 'til 11:00 p.m. I am having them. I also have to go immediately upon getting up.I also would need at least three doses of the Questran if I were to go that route. Has anyone ever had to use Questran 3 x a day--a full scoop?Thank you all for your support and understanding.


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## DebraD (May 7, 2003)

Charbeaner,I just started taking Questran on Monday evening and I take one pack 3x a day. My doctor suggested that I can take one pack 4x a day if necessary. I really don't think you can do any harm with the questran. Also, according to all the postings I've been reading.....the dosage seems to be very personal - you have to play with it until you find what works for you. I, like HereIam, would rather suffer aches/pains than D.Good Luck to you.Debra.


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## Charbeaner (Jun 2, 2003)

Hi DebraD:Thanx for answering. Are you taking any other meds besides this? Do you have your gallbladder or is it out?I'll bet if I take it 3 x a day it would work for me. One thing I also found with it is that it made be quite tired. Do find that. too? I'm sure that would go away in time, but after I got home from work one day, I could barely stay awake. I would truly like to get off all the stuff I'm taking, but I will do as the doc says. I'm so glad it working well for you. Maybe I just need to do some "tweaking". I think sometimes you can start on more Questran and some of the folks have dropped their dose a bit as time we on.


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## Charbeaner (Jun 2, 2003)

Hi all again--Does Questran come in packets? My doc prescribed a can of it for me and it is a pain to cart it around. Also, does in come in pill form so if you are out somewhere when it wouldn't be convenient to get a glass and take the powder and can just take a pill.Thanx again!!


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## DebraD (May 7, 2003)

Hi Charbeaner:Yes I was on Librax, Lonox, imodium, caltrate and synthroid. When I asked my doc if I can stop everything (except the synthroid of course and the caltrate) he told me to do whatever made me feel comfortable. So I stopped all the others when I started taking the Questran as I was tired of being exhausted and popping pills every hour or so. This is only my 2nd full day on Questran. Today there is alot of rumbling going on in my stomach and I'm nervous that it will end up coming out as D and I'm at work!! I just may up my dose to 4 times a day as was how my dr. prescribed it. Good Luck and stay in touch.Debra.


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## DebraD (May 7, 2003)

Charbeaner,My questran came in packets. I don't know if it comes in pill form. If you're going out maybe you could bring a bottle of water with you in order to take it on time.Debra.


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## tleitner (Oct 10, 2003)

Char, I am surprised that you say the Questran was causing muscle pain. Question, do you think the Questran was interfering with the other meds and maybe this was causing either an overdose of one of them OR an insufficient dose because of the "drug binding" and "drug clearance" problem? That's something to consider. I looked at your med schedule and I honestly don't know where you've managed to fit in the Questran to allow sufficient time in between meds. Just an idea though, If in fact, the Questran were were binding with and blocking say the Effexor, that would be like quitting the Effexor cold turkey, and the anti-depressants are known to have this muscle pain and other weird side effects if you suddenly stop; of course this is just a guess as to why you'd have muscle pain; same maybe with the Lomotil which contains Atropine and advises also as in Effexor to taper off and not to stop suddenly. So I'm wondering if there was some kind of med binding going on which would have the effect of your regular dose binding up and NOT reaching its target. I doubt that it was the Questran alone; who knows though~I'm certainly not an expert. If I were you, I'd be more inclined to try to taper off the other more "serious" drugs and keep on the Questran. I agree with HereIam, I cannot take Bentyl and function, so I too am amazed at the level and quantity of these drugs you are taking. Personally, I would not be able to get out of bed on those doses.Now, about the other subject about the Questran being a pain to tote around. Yes, the packets are definitely easier, you can stick one in your purse for later. But even if you have the powder you don't have to take the can everywhere. What I did while I was traveling in Rome was to take an empty small water bottle; pour in some orange juice (I don't think I could drink this stuff with water) pour in the half pack or whole pack whatever your dose, shake it up and I was ready to go for the day, I stuck the bottle in my backpack. I just drank it at night when I was ready. So just put your dose in the bottle with some juice for later , Just shake it again, when realy~~and drink~~no mess, no fuss. My label on my prescription says that you can mix this ahead of time and store for, I think it said up to 3 days, not that I would~ Just be sure shake it up really good before you drink it down. I didn't get lumpy on me or thicken up or anything. It worked out pretty good. Next topic, is there a pill. yes, there's a pill form of something very similar and it's called I think, Colestid. I read a warning that if one has GERD or a hiatal hernia, as I do, that one should NOT take the pill form, as it could become stuck and the esophogas and expand there, which would cause severe pain. So a word of caution on the pill. There is one, if you can take it. Personally, I have no problem sticking to the powder questran and traveling. I took it with me as described above and traveled around Rome for a week. Another advantage to the powder is that I can "adjust" my dose if needed. Take care, and good luck.


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