Does immodium work for you...

...or does Immodium make matters worse?  What does work for you? 

I do use immodium (generic loperamide hydrochloride--much cheaper) combined with colestipol for short gut syndrome, and have ever since my surgeries in 2004. I take 5 colestipols every morning, followed 2-3 hours later by 4 loperamides, and another 3 loperamides in late afternoon. I consulted with a GI, because I believed my Crohn's Disease was greatly exacerbated by acidic bile from short gut. Ever since I started this regimen, I have been pretty much symptom-free, unless I forget to take my pills. For six years I have been able to lead a normal life. I also really watch what I eat and take sublingual b12 and multiple vitamins.

BGwynn

female, 66 years old. 2 resections, illeostomy and illeostomy reversal. Hypothyroid and sensitive to gluten.

When CD in flare recently the output from ileostomy was extreme so tried immodium again as it hasn't worked for me previously. This time I took it 30 mins before I ate and after a couple of days it started to work, not perfectly but def slowed things down a bit. If I need further help in slowing things down then I also use codeine, I have co-codamol which I take for my neck twice a day but GI didn't want me taking any more paracetamol each day due to risks of kidney/liver problems so have codeine on it's own in afternoon if I need it.

Works for me but seems to cause a rebound to worse symptoms a day or so later. I use never more than one and only when I have no other choice. RARE

Immodium is OK once in a while. Regular use should only be under supervision of a doc because believe it or not it's a narcotic. Not the kind that gets you high though (sorry) it's a narcotic that only affects the bowels. So while it's not very addictive to your brain (only slightly) it is addictive to your guts and when you discontinue you will have the worst case of the runs you ever had for a week or more. As long as you don't take it regularly your guts won't get hooked and you'll be fine. Also I've noticed that the smaller the dose the better with that stuff. A half a pill does the job for three or four days, a whole one gives me constipation.