the ingredient sorbitol in medicine - and diarrhoea?

[tab]

Ive noticed that ds (23months) has had a few incidences of seemingly upset tummy in the past months and I think I've come to the conclusion that it may be a reaction to sorbitol. Its in calpol (both sugar-free and regular) and also in some cough mixtures. Has any body else come to a similar conclusion. I know that it upsets my tummy if I eat too many of those mint sweets for fresh breath and that it can be a laxative.

could also be the colouring in the medicine. try the shops white brand instead.

I haven't had any problem but I know of a couple of children who react like this to sorbitol, fairly explosively. It sounds entirely plausible to me. Bummer, though.

bummer eh tamun?? sure u didnt mean it like that.

try looking at shops own brands and reading the listing, avoid it if possible and see if it makes a difference.

This might be helpful. There was a push here in the States to have the FDA put a warning on foods and medicines that contain the sweetener sorbitol that it could cause diarrhea, because it has such a high occurence in many people who ingest it.

sorbitol IS a laxative. i own a health shop and some of the diabetic sweets we sell (which contain sorbitol) actually have a laxative warning on the packet! You can get cough medicines from a health shop that will have no sorbitol (or other artifical colours or sweetners).
Do other brands similar to calpol also have sorbitol? i know i would love to find something as effective as calpol but with no artifical sweetners or colours.

Definitely affects DS. Which is a pain as he suffers v badly from hay fever so we rely on various anti-histamine syrups.

I'm not a scientist but I think sorbitol occurs naturally in some fruits, eg. apple and pear, but not in grapes. It is linked with diarrhoea, as well as fructose. See this article here

I found it an interesting article but the relevant bit is this:

"All fruit juices contain important, but varying amounts of fructose and glucose. Depending on the fruit, sucrose and sorbitol may also be present. Small intestinal absorption of glucose and sucrose is generally complete, but absorption of fructose and sorbitol is limited and may occasionally provoke gastrointestinal symptoms with abdominal distension, flatulence, abdominal pains, and diarrhoea. At first only sorbitol was incriminated although its concentrations are very low in apple juice. Later studies suggested that high fructose intake or a competition between fructose and sorbitol to use the same intestinal transporter proteins are the main factors involved."

That sounds awful, but well done for bf so long. Did you get tests done? The MMR (and single measles/mumps vaccines) contain sorbitol too.

hi tab, my dd has definitely had a bit of a runny bottom after calpol so join the club! those minty sweets affect me too.I didnt know the vaccines contained it.

I have a terrible reaction to aspartame (sp) and have since avoided all artificial sweetners

Thanks for all your messages. Sorry my computer had been broken for a few days so I havent been online. It is very reassuring to know that Im not alone although the lack of notification on the bottle in big letters is worrying. Im just beginning to do more reading about additives/ingredients. very scary . anyway thanks for all your responses. I dont think the ibuprofen liquid has sorbitol so maybe I'll stick with that.

It's a pain if sorbitol is causing a reaction, especially if it's also in fruit anyway. I would still use Calpol rather than ibuprofen though as i've heard ibuprofen is more likely to cause an allergic reaction than paracetamol (see here - although it must be safer than aspirin.

thanks muminlondon, and for the article you referred to earlier.