# Bentyl Usage Question



## Anthem (Dec 27, 2004)

My doctor says I can take Bentyl every day without problems.Nonetheless, I don't want to take medication if I don't need it every day.Does anyone have experience and background information on Bentyl?In detail:1. Is the effect cumulative? Most antispasmodics are not cumulative. 2. If I am IBS-A and in the IBS-C phase, does it any good to take Bentyl? Afterall, I thought Bentyl was more prescribed for the IBS-D to stop cramps and spasms. Is this true? So does it do any good to take it every day if you are IBS-A?Please don't say I should ask my doctor. THe man doesn't know much about IBS. I am grateful to him for the prescription, but it can with such tips as:1. Dont worry about alcohol. It is absorbed by your stomach before it gets to the intestines so it cannot irritate you. 2. Eat lots of fiber - doesn't matter if it is soluable or insoluable (I brought up the terms and he looked at me as if he had no clue what soluable versus insoluable meant). So he equates eating sour dough bread with a bowl of prunes WHILE IN AN IBS-D flare up!!!! Again, I prefer not to take Bentyl every day unless there is a benefit to such treatment. Right now my stools are perfectly normal and I have no pain, so I am contemplating stopping the Bentyl.


----------



## Tonya Kay (Aug 2, 2004)

I am on Bentyl, I take one pill every night. This in combination with Effexor XR seems to keep my symptoms to a minimum but depending on the amount of stress that I have in my life it varies. I have taken many different types of meds from Predisone to Asacol to many different types of antidepressants. I think that if the bentyl is helping you should stick with it, but I tapered mine from 2 to 1 but that is me, don't want to hurt you by suggesting that. Hope this helps. Tonya


----------



## peardrops (Jan 3, 2004)

I've just been to my Dr's this afternoon for my medication review. I too have only taken Bentyl as and when needed. According to what my Dr told me today, I should take it daily. It works as a preventative medication. I'll try taking 2 tablets daily and see if that helps.


----------



## kyymee (Jan 21, 2004)

Ok...you want someone with Bentyl knowledge...you found her... I took Bentyl for over two years. I started out slowly and ended up taking 4 a day, everyday. I have IBS-D (pretty bad). I am now on Lotronex and loving it. The two things I didn't like about Bentyl were:1. It gradually would stop being effective and I would have to keep increasing the dosage.2. The side effects were terrible (obviously I was taking a lot so my side effects were pretty amplified). The dry mouth got to be too much to handle. I would wake up in the middle of the night basically with the sahara desert in my throat. I could barely breathe until I swallowed some water.Anyway, I didn't have good experiences with it. You don't seem to be IBS-D, so I wouldn't recommend Lotronex (but it has definitely saved my life). Hope this helps, Kim


----------

