Amitiza?
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hi StarbethI tried amitiza last summer. the first day i took it, i had a very small bm a few hours later but i also had tremendous gas and bloating--some of the worst i've ever had. the following day the gas and bloating subsided a teeny bit but no more help with the bm's. in fact, i think all that bloating made my c worse. i stayed on it for a couple weeks and then gave up.other people have had success with it though. there's some info on it on the medications-constipation specific board--you have to go back a ways to find it but it's there. some people said that taking amitiza and zelnorm together made both of them work better than either of them by itself. and of course lots of people in the clinical trials had success with it. good luck!
I have been taking Amitiza for about 3 weeks now. It works great for me (Zelnorm worked at the very beginning but stopped working very quickly). I still do other stuff to help: first thing in the morning a glass of lemon juice water (1 fresh squeezed lemon in water), and then 1 teaspoon of Applesauce jam (mix equal parts applesauce + prunes (left in water overnight, or stewed)or prune juice + oatmeal) with my coffee and the Amitiza. During the day drink Lemon Juice water (always with real squeezed lemons). At night, the Amitiza with 1 teaspoon Applesauce jam. During bad times I eat very small portions of easy to digest food such as broth based soups-and even then often strained or pureed. Nothing fried, everything low or no fat, no starch, or very high fiber-preferably low fiber (in spite of what they tell you in my case experience has told me it usually becomes a lump in there). Otherwise, I still eat small portions of for ex. chicken, pasta with creamy sauces, boiled or sauteed vegetables, pears in light syrup...but no raw foods for now(no salads or raw fruit)too much gas...Every now and then I get super tempted and eat something delicious...and usually pay for it the next day!Unfortunately, I find that my gut is unpredictable so it is a day by day thing. Anyway, one of these days !!!Good luck! Hopeful
I have been on Amitiza since July. At first I took the Amitiza alone, now I take it and Zelnorm. It didn't help much in the beginning. I had horrible headaches and diarreha. I then had about a week of normal BM's. The following week I was right back to the constipation, bloating, cramps...I starts taking both Amitiza and Zelnorm at the end of August and have been much better (I also take 2 colace and 6 Fibercon, I'm on a low fat, high fiber diet). I just got back from a vacation and am screwed up but I'm hoping that I get back on track soon. If you don't see a difference ask your doc about taking both Zelnorm and Amitiza, neither did much for me alone but together have made a huge difference!
I'll jump in here. I just started Amitiza within the last week. My doctor suggested I try it and Hyoscyamine together for my situation (IBS with bad C). The Amitiza by itself seemed to help some, but taking them together didn't work. Had a bad flare-up yesterday, tried both medications, and found myself completely locked up by the end of the day. The Hyoscyamine seemed to override the Amitiza, and I dried up completely. Ick!!!
I'm fairly new to this siter but my doctor gave me samples of amitiza and it didnt work for me at all..In fact it made me nauseous,gave me gas and bloating. It also made me feel weird like I had water sloshing around inside me. but I would say still try it some medicines work for different people just because it didnt work for me doesnt mean it wont work for you!! Good luch
I find that Amitiza doesn't work like a laxative, sometimes you have to take it for a couple of days for it to take effect. And yes I also sometimes feel the sloshing in there. Usually I will go every morning (1 Amitiza pm, 1 am) but sometimes it is just a small BM, looks like what was closest to the exit! So to trigger more complete BMs I still use prunes (juice or stewed or the jam as explained below) in the morning and that will usually help. But it seems like about every 2 weeks I get "backed up" and so one night I take 2 Bisacodyl (instead of the Amitiza)and (with cramps etc) get cleaned out. My gastro doctor gave me sublingual Hyoscyamine for the gas and that helps so that the gas is not trapped and painful. Also Beano on your first bite of food. It is a daily battle...I haven't found the right balance yet between medication (Amitiza) + food. This is a particularly bad time with all the festivities. I don't know what to eat anymore! Any suggestions?
I'm trying Amitza today.I'm also taking Zelnorm so hopefully the Amitza will do something(Because Zelnorm really doesn't do very much on its own.......)I think the problem I have is not chronic constipation, most of my stools are not hard, its just the fact that not everything comes out unless its watery diahierriah, even when I have soft stools it doesn't all come out.
As I posted earlier I'm on both Amitiza and Zelnorm and have had success with them, although the side affects of Amitiza have made me wonder if it's worth it. After trying just about everything to fight the nausea I finally came up with something that works. After my a.m. amitiza I eat (chew) 2 peppermint altoids. And I continue eatting altoids for the next hour (probably about 6-7 of them). This seems to work for me, I hope it works for others who suffer those horrible side affects!!! I have never had any problem with my p.m. dose so I only have to do this in the morning. I've heard that peppermint makes GERD worse so if that's a problem for you don't try this. Happy New Year!
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