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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

IBS - What to do when immodium stops working

38 replies

Toomuchinfo1007 · 14/04/2021 00:25

Can anyone advise? I have bouts of stomach cramps that last a few hours and... Resolve intermittently. Lately it's become a real problem and I found that taking immodium at the onset of cramping stopped it. But that hasn't worked today and I don't know how to continue like this. I haven't had much luck with GPs. Does anyone with IBS know something more effective? Thanks.

OP posts:

mamabear715 · 14/04/2021 00:33

Mebeverine works for me - mostly. It's trial & error and finding out also what food your tum's not keen on.. mine doesn't do apples, cauli, onions.. and many more!

CornishTiger · 14/04/2021 00:34

Also look at introducing proper kefir into your diet.

AgathaMystery · 14/04/2021 00:34

I'm currently using gastric resistant peppermint oil capsules with great effect.

apric0t · 14/04/2021 00:40

Eating low fodmap and going vegan pretty much cured my husband IBS, he used to be heavily medicated before. Now he's just vegan and not even low fodmap and his tummy stays in check!

Original poster

Toomuchinfo1007 · 14/04/2021 00:47

Thank you for the suggestions. My diet is so restricted and monotonous yet this thing comes and goes apparently on a whim, regardless of what I eat. It's very hard to manage with small children. I saw a consultant a few years ago who said he wasn't concerned. I also suffer from migraines so this just seems like the last straw. I have been hobbling to the bathroom, doubled over with pain, far too many times in the last month.

I'll put as many of these suggestions as I can into practice. If there are any others, please let me know as I would bury a potato at midnight if it worked.

OP posts:

Lillygolightly · 14/04/2021 00:53

I can also recommend peppermint capsules, I get mine from Natures Best, the ones I get are high strength.

I get how hard this is to cope with. I get migraines too and restrict my diet to avoid triggers, I further restricted my diet to control IBS so I get how utterly boring and miserable it is. I’ve tried many things and nothing completely cures me, even Imodium... though it’s the most helpful, and after that I would say the peppermint capsules.

Stress I find is a big trigger but when you’ve got small kids and just life in general especially at the moment, stress is pretty hard to avoid.

Hope you feel better.

changi · 14/04/2021 01:00

Champagne cork?

lpchill · 14/04/2021 01:09

My husband suffers from ibs and has done most of his life but it's only really under control in the past few years. A few things that the doctors done that you could try
Did you know you can take more than one Imodium? Your meant to take them each time you have a loose tummy not just one and wait for it to work
You can go to the gps and explain that you buy so many imoddiums and they will write you a prescription for loperamide (main ingredient in the Imodiums ) it's soooo much cheaper with the amount that you use.
Have you looked at your diet in a way that you exclude a food group to try and work out a trigger? That's how we worked out my husband is intolerant to ginger. Sets him off immediately and it's in a lot of unexpected foodstuffs. We have to read packets carefully and even a tiny amount in a "mixed spice" listing can trigger him
I know you don't want to go through Gp as you feel they will dismiss you ( husband was the same) but we tried at a new doctors and they where a lot more understanding and really worked with my husband. You will need to do a lot of work but at least they can provide support in terms of loperamide and other medications if needed and ideas to try. P

gwenneh · 14/04/2021 01:45

My specialist prescribes rifaximin and that sorts it out in a few hours.

DiscoNapper · 14/04/2021 02:19

I use buscopan which is great and you can buy them in supermarket.

Idontknowwhatmynameis · 14/04/2021 02:29

Are you on the pill? My IBS was terrible when I was and it took years for me to link the two. Can also recommend buscopan.

Hopeisnotastrategy · 14/04/2021 05:11

Have you been checked for Coeliac disease?

KoalaOok · 14/04/2021 06:08

I would keep on at the GP. Aloe vera juice might be helpful.

Original poster

Toomuchinfo1007 · 14/04/2021 09:07

Thank you so much for all the advice and suggestions. It's a relief to know there are things I could try. No, I haven't been checked for Coeliac but I haven't lost any weight.

OP posts:

maddening · 14/04/2021 09:22

Trigger food avoidance for me. Still get it occasionally but much better since I worked out my triggers.

LittlestBoho · 14/04/2021 09:24

If it's been a while since you've been checked out then maybe go back to the doctors. They seem keen to just diagnose everything as IBS and do nothing, but it could be more serious. My friend was fobbed off for 18 months as she had intermittent stomach issues, cramping and diarrhea. She was eating immodium like Smarties. Eventually she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, but by that time her colon was so inflamed it took more than a year to bring it back to a reasonable level of health.

aLilNonnyMouse · 14/04/2021 09:29

Buscopan was a lifesaver for me. Imodium works by getting your bowels to suck extra water out, which dries up the poop. Buscopan causes your bowels to relax and stop peristalsis (a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract).

This takes away the painful cramping and since it takes longer for stuff to move through the bowel as it's not being pushed along, water is more naturally drawn out of it drying it up.

Basically it works in two ways vs Imodium's one, and is better for the cramping pain.

Chloemol · 14/04/2021 09:33

Can I suggest you look at

www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/

. They also deal with IBS I have joined as I have colitis and have a good booklet on IBS and feed stuffs

LateKate · 14/04/2021 09:36

Buscapan is good but equally I would consider a second opinion. I was fobbed off for years with an IBS diagnosis when it was actually crohns disease.

Hope you find some relief soon.

rentnotsub · 14/04/2021 09:38

Buscopan works better for cramps

reesewithoutaspoon · 14/04/2021 10:19

L . plantarum pro biotic has turned my daughters frequent IBS into near normal bowel function. Its been a game changer

gamerchick · 14/04/2021 10:23

How much do you take? I take 4 at once and then an extra one an hour later if I need it. If it's a whole box then so be it.

gamerchick · 14/04/2021 10:27

Although finding what's triggering it would be better. It's always something.

mrfrostywasadick · 14/04/2021 10:54

This is the only thing that worked for my IBS. Couldn't believe it. Not sure what would be the same in the uk though brand wise. Peppermint stuff just gave me minty movements, which was even worse.

www.wizardpharmacy.com.au/other/ethical-nutrients-gastro-relief-capsules-30

bluebellsis · 19/04/2021 00:26

Foodmop diet, buy bioglan probiotics from Amazon (super stength) and finally do a "allergies/sensitivities test" also on Amazon it's £33 pounds and they test against 900 odd foods to see what you react against. Then do an elimination diet from that shortlist! Good luck xx

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08FRR5N9S?psc=1&ref=ppx poppmob bbasin_title

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