i also want to knowdid you have D after the first dose?how long after you took it did the D hit? (i have an exam tomorrow, i think i'm going to wait until after)karen
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Anybody use Zelnorm and has it worked?
How long have you used it?How long did it take to work?Can it be mixed with anxiety meds?Any info would be great.Thanks
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I took Zelnorm for about two weeks. Unfortunately, it caused me to have very bad headaches, they say this doesn't happen to most. And yes Zelnorm gave me very crampy D the first day I took it and then it calmed down a lot. I think you truly have to give it a go and see if it works for you. As far as the anxiety meds, you would have to check with your M.D. I know there are some meds you cannot take with Zelnorm but I am not completely sure which ones.If you search under the Medication and treatments section, you will find some posts of people who have been very successful on Zelnorm. Good Luck!
I can only answer your question with respect to myself. This is what I take: Prozac, Lithium, Pamelor, Valium, Tegretol, among others. Zelnorm does not interfere with any of the above, and my psychiatrist had no trouble letting me take Zelnorm.Zelnorm works pretty well for me; unfortunately, I only get about 9 months out of it, and then I have to go off of it for about 6 months. When I go back on Zelnorm, I get a bad headache for a few days. If I don't get the headache, Zelnorm is not going to work, and I have to wait a longer period of time before going back on it.I never had diarrhea from Zelnorm.Steven
Hi Beach I started Zelnorm Sat so I can only tell you my experience. I took the first dose within an hour i had D I am always IBS-C I guess I am not used to it so I had cramps. I have been taking for threedays and have gone every day which is unusual. I was supposed to take 2 pills a day but the doctor told me if I get these symptoms take only one. I am giving it a week the pharmacy said it takes a week hope this helps.
Zelnorm is not supposed to be taken for a long period of time. It says in the papers in the box they come in not to take them for more then 2 months. I have talked to doctors and pharmacist and you should never let anyone tell you to take more then 3 pills a day. I was on it for over 3 months and when I went off them I got the worst cramping I have ever had, I had begged my doc for more samples and I still have them here, I will never take them again, the pain was horrible. At first those pills I thought were going to save my butt, they did work for a bit. Be careful, they are only intended for a short fix not a long term solution.
I was on Zelnorm. The only BM I had was the first does I had complete D and then C. After that it did nothing to help me go, but really helped with bloating...I was amazed. Those I ordered overseas before it was available here. Then my doctor here gave me samples when it was available. If you have Aetna be prepared to wait a long time...and if your male, I don't believe insurance covers it, but I may be wrong. I had such a tough time with my insurance company and then they approved it for 6 months coverage (that's the recommended maximum amount of time ...I think) I didn't even fill my precription when I got approved. When I went back on it, it did absolutely nothing for me. If you won't be covered, compare prices. It may be cheaper from Mexico. That's where I got it from online (before it was available, and while I was trying to get coverage through my insurance). I was skeptical in the beginning but many people on here used them and said they were reputable....and I can vouch for that. They were. At that time they even gave a BB discount.
I took Zelnorm. The first two doses worked, then it stopped. It made me bloat even more. I stopped taking it after a month. I tried different doses and nothing.I do hope it works for your. Everyone is different and it might just be worth a try.Thanks and good luck.Chris B.
I was hoping Zelnorm would be my wonder drug, but it didn't work out for me. I used to be on Miralax but that wasn't working, so I went on Zelnorm. My doc said the D would go away after about a week, and it didn't. I cut my dose in half, and I still had D all the time, mostly without warning. I cut the dose so I was taking 1/4 of the recommended dosage and tried to give it time, but it never worked out. I decided I'd rather have C than uncontrollable, sudden D...nothing quite like running to the bathroom while trying to hold it in, grrr...I hope Zelnorm works better for you than it did for me. I'm on tons of fiber right now, and it's working okay. Not great, but okay.
Zelnorm worked for me within the first 45 minutes I took it. That was five years ago. It's not true that you can't take it for a long period of time. I was in the Phase III clinical drug trial and then had to wait two years before I could get the drug again. I've now been on it for two years. I had to play with the dosage. I've found that what works for me is one and a half tablets in the AM only with three cups of coffee. Sometimes I get D, sometimes I don't. It depends on what I ate the day before. If I take Zelnorm twice a day, it stops working for me. I take Klonopin as well. There aren't many drug-drug interactions with Zelnorm.
I was unable to tolerate the side effects of the Zelnorm. It gave me vicious headaches, made me dizzy and nauseous, and extremely tired. This was all on an extremely low dosage.It is a wonder drug for some but it wasn't good for me.Good luck.Take care.Renee'
I should have mentioned the dosage I use -- 3 mg a day. I know it's a very difficult drug to figure out the dosage on and it doesn't work for everyone, but for some of us with IBS-C, it's a lifesaver.
I've been on Zelnorm for about 3 months, but I don't take it twice a day, everyday, like I'm supposed to! When I started it, I was taking it religiously, 6mg in the morning before breakfast and 6mg before dinner. My GI doc said I could play around with the dosage after I had been on it for about a month or so. He said if it helped a lot, I could cut it down to one pill in the morning and see if it still helps. I've had no side effects, except for when I first started it, I didn't get diarrhea, but I did get a bad, crampy feeling in my gut. It went away after I took the pill for a few more days. My neurologist started me on doxepin, which is an antidepressant with a side-effect of constipation (just what I need!!!), but nothing else has really helped my horrible migraines, so now I am back to taking my Zelnorm more as I should (along with my citrucel that my GI doc said I should be taking everyday, too!) I haven't had any drug interactions with these pills. Zelnorm is really expensive without insurance, and since the pill is so new, not many insurance companies even cover it as of yet. However, you can most likely get your insurance to cover it if you have the exact symptoms that Zelnorm helps (IBS with constipation, bloating, and abdominal pain.) If they initially don't approve it, have your pharmacy call your doctor's office to get a prior-authorization for the drug. If they wouldn't have done it for me, they wanted to charge me about $175 for a month's supply, and I definitely don't have that kind of money! Now it's $25. The doctor probably has samples and could have vouchers for a free month's worth of Zelnorm, too.Also, US doctors cannot prescribe Zelnorm to men yet because there were not enough men recruited to the initial drug study to prove that it works for them.
Here's my input on the "Z" question..* First off, I'm a guy..my flipping doctor finally stepped up to the plate and gave me a prescription! (.."it hasn't been tested on men"... yip yip yip..)* How long have you used it? I've been taking Z for 4 months..* How long did it take to work? It took about 2 hours, then a wonderful rush of fluid came rushing out!..haha..* Anxiety med mix? N/A ..not on any other meds..I typically take one Z tablet every other day, as I get a nice run of "D" to clean me out (..I'm a megga C type..)I've found that drinking a good bit of chicken broth and water, before I pop the 6mg tablet, really puts a bunch of fluid in my GI. An hour after I"ve taken the pill, I can literally hear and feel the water filling up in my GI. This is my clue that shortly, I'll be running to the bathroom!
I'm on Zelnorm and trying to get the dose right as well. I started on the 6 twice a day but that definitely worked too well because I would get sudden urges to go - and it was a lot of D. Now I take 4 on the way home from work, then have dinner and about a half hour after that I am ready for a big D. It feels good to be cleaned out but I'm trying to get it so I can have a regular BM. I agree with the other poster - drink some fluids before hand and you are going to be in good shape for getting out volume.
I have been on Zelnorm for 2 weeks. It worked the first dose......but nothing but a gurgling stomach after that. I don't care if I explode in the bathroom....I just want it to work. My doc put me on 6 mg twice a day.... one before breakfast and one before dinner. I am wondering if I should try to take the whole dose at one time instead....like before breakfast. maybe that will work?? Any thoughts? Anyone taken more than 6 mg at one time? I hadn't thought of drinking broth beforehand....does this really help.******* Any advice on kickstarting this stuff is greatly appreciated.
I have been on Zelnorm since the 17 and posted yesterday about how it has worked for me (I am taking Zelnorm) After trial and error I am taking 6mg once a day 1 hour before dinner and It seems to be working well for me and I have had this for 36 years. I also take Klonopin, librax, and bentyl. Now I have very little pain, no bloating. Not perfect but much better than I was. Gail I am glad to hear that you are taking it long term as that is what my doctor told me I could do.Nancy
It sounds like a lot of people started out at 6mg twice a day and went down to 6 mgs once a day. Is this the case for most? Anyne ever take more than 12mgs a day?
AlexandragirlI started out with 6mg twice a day and had a lot of gurgleing and D and I read on the board someplace to cut it to 6mg once a day that less was better and I did that and I take it 1 hour before dinner and am doing fairly well.Nancy
I also take zelnorm. At first it didn't do much for me, but then my finace (who is a pharmacist) explained to me that you MUST take it a least 30 min before eating or at least two hours after eating or it will NOT work. You must have an empty stomach for it to be effective. Also I believe that the reason zelnorm isn't usually prescribed long term is because it hasn't been tested for long term yet. I think some people are taking it long term now. I have been on it for almost a year now. It doesn't help a lot with my bloating but i went from going once every couple of weeks to almost on a daily basis. But it didn't start working until recently when i started taking it on an empty stomach, exactly as prescribed and on schedule.
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