Has anyone used Colestipol?

Sorry rlc06, but I haven't heard of this. Hopefully someone can help you out. Good luck!

ric06,
Colestipol is a drug similar to Questran (cholesteramine) and it's helpful for people who have had the ileum removed or have lots of disease in that area. It combines with bile and removes it from the gut. Bile is usually removed from the intestine in the ileum and if you don't have an ileum it will enter the large bowel and cause diarrhea. Years ago bile salts were used as a bowel cleanser. I found that you don't need to take the dose that's prescribed for lowering cholesterol-- which is the main purpose of the drug. A smaller dose can be effective to prevent diarrhea. Since bile is a precursor to cholesterol eliminating bile can lower cholesterol. Hope that's not too confusing.
Moodindigo

Very cool...gotta love those cross-over drugs!!

I hope you find benefit from it, just be sure to let your doc know if you have persistant side-effects from it.

:)

Yes I have taken Colestipol, which is the same as Colestid...and to be quite honest I hated it with a passion because it tasted horrific...yuck. I took it because a foot of my terminal ileum, ileocecal valve and my gall bladder are all in a landfill somewhere and I am not too good at breaking down fats. it tastes sick, but it does work for some people. Yes it is generally for people with high cholesterol, but it can obviously used to "bulk" things up as well. My aunt takes it for crohns and it works for her, but I took it and it didnt do anything. I hope it helps you....dont take it with water you will want to ralph.

best of lucj

FWIW, Colestid does come in 1 gram capsules. They are as big as horse pills, but a heck of a lot easier to take than the powder. I have been on this stuff for years due to short gut and the resulting Big D. It is fantastic for that, well for me at least. I take 3 grams a day & my BM's are almost normal. You just have to watch the fact that this stuff binds (chemically) with just about everything, so don't take any med's at the same time ..... good luck!

They were giving me the colestid pill in the hospital. I never had a problem swallowing large pills, but these were very difficult to get down. But I do prefer them over the yucky powder, which I took years ago. Some of the problem I may have had at the hospital could have been due to the fact that I had the tube down my throat after surgery and was very sore. As a matter of fact, my throat hasn't felt good since.