[Guest]

Hi BQ. I read your post about the removal of Lotronex. You referred to your bad gallbladder and that sparked my curiousity. I have had IBS for 20+ years. I never had the pain or cramping that everybody else talks about - just urgency and about 4 or so bouts of D per morning.I recently had my gallbladder removed. For the first time ever I had horrible days with severe cramping, pain and horrid D. Since that occurred, I have been taking Questran with incredible results (better than Lotronex). Have you ever taken it? I just wanted to bring it to your attention if you didn't know about it.There was an article posted about it even helping people with dysfunctional gallbladders - so you don't even need to have it out for the Questran to work. I hope this helps you.

 

[Guest]

bump

 

[eric]

Here is some info on this. http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum10/HTML/000001.html ------------------ http://www.ibshealth.com/ www.ibsaudioprogram.com

 

[BQ]

Joanie, Thanks for thinking of me. Also, thanks for the reference post Eric. I was diagnosed w/IBS 11 yrs. before I had the gall bladder out. In fact at the time of the initial diagnosis, my Dr. did a GB X-ray to rule that out. It was neg. I had a severe flare-up after the GB surgery for a multitude of reasons. First I got C-Diff from the antibiotic they gave me post-op. A course of Flagyl somewhat lessened the severity(Meaning I could hold things like plain rice for more than 20 minutes). The D persisted and then because I hadn't had diagnostics in 11 yrs. Dr. decided to redo them to confirm IBS once again. The Upper GI barium showed "rapid transit"(what a shock) and the colonoscopy showed nothing. I had these tests within 2 weeks of each other. The upper was 1st and the barium was soooo irritating the D got worse!!(Usually I thought it could be constipating but not for me!) Then I did the prep for the colonoscopy. Now, let me tell you I asked the Gastro guy my Dr. sent me to if I needed to adjust the prep any because I was already having severe D B-4 the prep. He didn't think so.(DUH!) So I attempted to do it(Phosphasoda) right. Only got half way thru it before it was time to leave for the hosp. Well he said I was cleaned out & shouldn't have worried about it. (Can I smack him now????)This guy was not the sharpest tool in the shed if you know what I mean. Anyways he puts me on the Questran until I can meet with him to go over both tests in his office(Like he couldn't just do that right then). Well I was probably soooo irritated by then that the Questran had no effect whatsoever. So maybe now that it has calmed down a bit it could be another option to try. I know it tastes awful but I don't care if it works. The GB problem they think started from the bad IBS flare up I had with my 2nd pregnancy and the fact that I had only gained 10 lbs at delivery. In my case I really think it was just IBS not a bad GB 11 yrs ago. This info seems promising for others though. Also I hope your surgeon told you to eat low fat post-op. I'm so glad the Questran is working for you though. And I might try it, especially since reading Faith's post about her bout with IC, I'm not sure I want to put any more Lotronex in my system. I'm in a true quandary here, But people like you and evryone else posting here keep giving me good info and I'm sure I'll be able to make a good decision. Thanks soo much again. BQ

 

[Guest]

Wow you have really been through a lot. I hope the Questran will help this time. I only need to take one dose per day - maybe two might help you. There are flavored cans of it also. Mine is orange flavored and it doesn't taste bad - just the texture is like chalk so I water it down well. I understand you can take pills also. They are called Colestid (or close to that). I asked my GI about the pills and he said he gets better results with the powder, so I did it that way. I wish you the very best.