# Merbentyl tablets



## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

Anyone found Merbentyl(Dicylomine) tablets help? After two weeks of continious pain I've just been prescribed these. My Doctor, who is very understanding and sympathetic did comment that IBS is one of the most frustrating things to treat as there is no known cure. I've had it now 19yrs and it seems to be getting worse. My stomach is so distended I look like I'm pregnant! My colon just hurts all the time. I just hope these tablets take some of the pain away. I've tried other antispasmodics but none of them have helped.


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## jools41 (Jan 8, 2004)

i was prescribed merbentyl and i found no difference at all. also i have had buscopan which made no difference, my tummy makes me look like im 6 months pregnant (im not as i had a hysterectomy 5 years ago) i totally feel for you as like yourself im putting up with this ILLNESS! too, i hope you have a sympathetic doctor ( i dont) but i have since found a woman doc who is more supportive and i am hoping to go into hospital very soon to have some medical checks.. good luck to you...


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## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

Hi Jools, it's no fun having this misery of IBS. My Dr. is great but I'm so fed up after 19yrs of it. What tests are you going in for? Good luck with them. It doesn't seem easy to get tests done here in the UK. From what I've read from other posts on this board, the states seem to check for everything. It's been almost fifteen years since I had a sigmoidoscopy and only if these Merbentyl tablets don't work, will my Dr. consider me going back to a specialist. Then, unless I pay, it could be weeks or months before I see him. It makes me angry when the likes of Tony Blair had two Dr's called in immediately - just because of a little stomach ache (probably was wind!!). Life is too short to be in so much pain!


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2004)

i just posted on another thread regarding how antispasmodics seems to work better at higher dosages and if taken really regularly. i took bentyl and found that it really helped with the bloating. went from looking pregnant to flatness in teh morning with soem bloating in the afternoon. found that i could pass gas so much easier adn that bowels were relaxed adn not cueing the stomach to tense outward. however, these drugs have some intense side-effects like drymouth, blurred vision, and in my case a strange hoarseness and pressure in my throat. i did find that when i took the minimum dosage of these drugs that my symptoms actually got worse. ??!! so perhaps more is better. hopefully that helps.


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## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

Joanofarc, what dosage did you take per day? I've been prescribed 60mg per day.


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## jools41 (Jan 8, 2004)

thanks for your very prompt reply peardrops, i had a barium enema 3 years ago and nothing was detected, ever since this the amount of different medication i have recieved is ridicilious














.i am however going to see my GP on tuesday and she IS getting an ultimatium that i want something done i.e hospital tests, why do some doctors choose to ignore us? this illness has so many side afects that my life just does not seem to be my own anymore







, i hope the merbentyl works for you







..IBS seems to be a joke to people i.e people who dont suffer from this awful illness themselves.


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## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

Jools, I feel sorry for anyone with this. Getting through each day can be so hard. Things like going out and to work can be a nightmare.Many years ago when I first got this "thing" after getting food poisoning (campyolabacter)I eventually saw a gastroenterologist specialist, I was full of hope. I certainly wasn't offered that many tests, just blood, barium enema test. A few years later I saw the specialist again. One minute he was taking notes the next he was inserting a tube up my bottom doing a sigmoidoscopy! That was 15yrs ago. I've tried so many different medications and each one I pray will cure me - it never does!If these latest tablets don't work then I too will insist on seeing him again - heavens above! anything could have developed since I was last looked at. I half dread it though, OK it would give piece of mind but what else can be done if they say the same old thing - IBS? Keep posting with an up date as to how you are doing. My Dr. said an IBS support group is the best place to find help and advice. At least it makes us feel we are not alone.







Some of my posts are appearing twice! I'm only pressing add reply once - must be gremlins at work!


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2004)

i was taking Levsin: 2 tablets of .125 mg/each 4 times daily - so 8 tablets daily of Levsin(a brand name for: HYOSCYAMINE). mind you, you should start out on like 1/2 tablet to see what happens and then build slowly. my guess is the sideeffects will eventually get to you. you may get blurry vision and then see kidn of spots - this is b/c its relaxing the muscles in your eyes. its kind of odd looking. your pupils will probably dilate a bit. after a while this effect diminishes, but it can linger as mildly blurry vision and also having things kind of go in and out of focus. though you may not need as much as I did so you may be able to avoid these problems. i think this drug is pretty good at reducing bloating due to spasms and also at helping with C even though it slows things down. if you have C b/c your intestines are overworking and tense, then it will help. some say it helps wiht D, but i found that it gave me D on lower dosages - made the urgency MUCH worse. on higher dosages it did the opposite. i know this doesn't make sense, but its true! there is evidence that serotonin has the effect in that it can give a person diarhea at small dosages and then make a person constipated as higher. i think the problem with treating ibs is that you are basically messing with a moving, muscular tube that propels something out - its probably fairly complicated physics involved there to do with timing of contractions, degree of pressure etc., so whenever you slow things down or speed things up you might be causing all KINDS of effects, not necessarily the ones you'd expect.


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## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

Thanks for that info. The more I read on IBS and the treatments, the more I realise just how complicated it is. Can't say there is a big improvement with Merbentyl, still distended but possibly the pain has eased a little. Very dry mouth and that weird feeling in the throat that you mentioned. Eyesight seems OK - mind you, it wasn't all that good to start with!


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## Stace (Sep 20, 2000)

Bentyl (dicylcomine) worked wonders on my pain. After 1+ years of being in constant pain, this pain was eased w/in an hour of taking my first pill.I took 20 mg. a half-hour before meals and at bed. It was my wonder drug. I barely need it now.


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