calcium for diarrhea

Found an older post that also has my answer. Search for - Diarrhea Try Calcium Carbonate

In my late 50's I developed chronic loose, unformed BMs (like pudding and dribble that irritated my skin, not really watery). This would go on for weeks, then get better, only to have it begin again. Kaopectate did not help. Immodium did help, but after a few days of that I'd stop (as per directions) and the problem returned. Thinking back to the times diarrhea returned it seems to be when I went without a calcium supplement. The first time I lived a month away from home and took no supplements. The most recent time my doctor said I did not need supplements or vitamin pills (new studies) so I stopped. Note my doctor's analysis was I had some unusual virus. The gut doctor who did the colonoscopy and stool tests said nothing was wrong with me. Neither said anything about calcium.

I have no idea why I have this problem without calcium. I went the first decades of life without any supplements and was always fine. I took calcium supplements in later decades for bone health. Perhaps my body developed a dependency on it so when I stopped, my gut sped up and these unformed BM episodes began. Calcium, from what I've read, slows down the gut, much like Immodium, and allows better liquid absorbency.

I tried calcium as the "solution", recalling in the past how calcium tablets made me constipated, so I thought, hey, try that. Now my searches on the internet confirm what I experienced. It made me "normal" immediately. From my experience, the softgels/liquid supplements did not cause constipation but may not solve this problem. To stop this new episode I am using the tablet - if it causes constipation (not so far) than I'll cut pills in half or try the softgels. And it should be calcium carbonate from what I read. The link above uses Caltrate brand 600 + vitamin D. I buy the similar store brand (Harmon's Face Value) and that works fine.

I've noticed that this whole IBS area is quite individual, what works for one of us, doesn't work for another. It's all trial and error. And yet I don't really have the IBS official diagnosis but my doctor has said I fall under this category, I have symptoms very similar to IBS because I had the lower 1/3 of my entire colon removed (cancer) and then my gall bladder removed at the same time (discovered I had hundreds of gall stones, my surgeon made it sound like losing your GB is no big deal, ha, it is turns out). Long story short, I used a food diary for 2 years, ate nothing but a low residue diet and very, very small portions. I felt great back then, FF to 13 years later and I'm not exactly that diligent, like you I've tried calcium pills off and on. They ended up making my situation worse, not better. Currently I'm trying the cholestraymine powder in case excess bile in my GI is the culprit. It helps - only so-so. Very frustrating. All I want is formed stool, each and every time I need to use the bathroom (multiple times).

I feel my best when I eat plain foods, white rice, cottage cheese, in very small portions, taking my chol. powder, my low dose stool softener, my probiotic, drink my organic yogurt (it's great stuff, wish I could inject it directly downstream!).

Trips are a challenge for me as well. We had a quick 48 hour family reunion last August and I felt great on it. Why? Because I didn't eat much for 48 hours! I skipped dinner both nights but made sure I had breakfast, yogurt, bananas through out my day. I just stopped all solid intake by 3 pm. So I could be around people and not be sitting on a toilet from 7 pm to 10 pm (my usual routine, give or take a break here and there in that time frame).

All of this makes me appreciate how good I had it at one time and I didn't even KNOW IT!

I'm sure anyone with a bowel disorder would say the same thing.

If all this calcium makes you normal, that's great! Keep it up. Some of your symptoms w/o it sound like excess bile in the GI tract. Has your doctor ever checked to see if your GB is working as it should?