Prescription drugs

Thanks for reaching out. I hope others here in our community chime in to share their personal experiences with you. In addition to speaking with your doctor about potential side effects, this article lists some common ones and may be helpful: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/medications
Wishing you some relief ahead. Best, Kelly, Team member

Just checking in. Have you been taking those prescriptions that your doctor had given you? How have they been treating you? Would love to know! Wishing you a gentle and symptom-free day ~ Sawyer (team member)

This original question is a little old, but I just joined and thought it would be OK to answer. I have been taking Welchol for almost a year, and it has really helped me. Instead of spending 20 trips to the bathroom for diarrhea, my system is acting more normally, not perfect, but a lot better.


I was diagnosed with possible IBS about 20 years ago, and was partly managing it by eating small meals multiple times a day and taking a lot of Imodium. Sometimes I knew I would have problems finding a bathroom, such as on two trips to the UK, so I would not eat until about 2 pm, and then fairly lightly. On my first trip I lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks and in the second trip, 13 pounds in 5 weeks, though some of the weight loss the second trip could have been due to food poisoning the last few days in London (diagnosed by some very nice ambulance people). Weight loss was nice, but not the best way to do it.


Last summer my new gastroenterologist said that it seemed that my problem might have been due to having gall bladder surgery about 20 years ago. He said that without a gall bladder, my intestinal tract might be reacting constant bile trickling in. He told me that the prescription would be for 6 tablets every day, but to start out by taking only one pill per day, or even less. I did a lot of experimenting and ended up taking 1 tablet about every two days.


It has really worked, but if I take too much of this, I end up with constipation, which I am still working out. And I just finished 9 days of penicillin after some dental work, so that really messed things up for the last three days. Today was much more "normal." I wish I could cut a tablet in half and take a smaller dose each day instead of one every other day.