Needing an answer from IBS-Ders!

When my guts were tore up last summer, yes, I had daily diarrhea for 2 months. I think I had one day where I had no bowel movement at all, but that was my first day at my new job and I took a lot of imodiums beforehand! But it was just a fluke, that day; I got the diarrhea back the next day, even with a couple of doses of imodium. But I did eventually get my guts to settle down and now I'm pretty normal.

I am planning on getting the calcium after work this afternoon.  I saw that CAltrate 6oo with vitamin D is the way to go?  What do you recommend and how often should I take it.??

 

My doctor has me on LEVSIN 0.125mg (1/2 tablet 3 times daily before meals).  He also wants me to take 1 LIBRAX pill at bedtime. (which I have not been taking because it makes me hard to get up in the morning.) 

 

Will the calcium effect the prescriptions?  Also, what are the effects of this with prgnancy?  We were trying to concieve and I'm not for sure the proper route to take now since I have IBS-D and are on these meds.  If I am not taking the LIBRAX, it is ok to TTC?  Curious of your thoughts or if you had information regarding this matter.

 

Also, what do you think about taking a multivitamin with all of this?  I have noticed that my hair is shedding a lot more than normal.  Maybe a multivitamin would help?  If so, what kind?  Do you think it is possible that I am not getting all of the vitamins and nutrients out of the food that I'm eating since this has been constant for 2 months?

 

Thanks!!!

Make sure you ask a pharmacist about interactions with calcium and those other medicines (I wouldn't think there are any, but better safe than sorry) and make sure you ask him if all of them are safe should you become pregnant. Even though calcium would appear safe, and even a good choice for pregnancy, there is such a thing as too much calcium for adults, and a fetus may not be able to tolerate you consuming the normal adult dose. Just something to ask about, along, of course, with the prescriptions.

You may want to put off trying to conceive until you can get some control over your diarrhea. I seem to recall that you have lost weight too? Something you will probably want to put back on before you look to having a baby. New information out suggests that thinner women have a harder time of conceiving; it's like the body recognizes that you aren't at prime baby-carrying health and refuses to allow you to get pregnant. That and stress makes it harder to conceive, both for the man's part and the woman's part. That's not to say if you have long term IBS you should never have a baby--there are women on here who have not only gotten pregnant and had successful births, but have even had fewer IBS symptoms while pregnant than before or after the baby. But you should probably wait until you stop losing weight and hair; you're really not at your optimum health. You can always talk to your OB/GYN about what kind of health you should have to give you the best odds of conceiving a healthy baby and having a healthy pregnancy. I don't think there ever is a "perfect" time to get pregnant--there will always be some condition in your life that is less than ideal--but there are certainly not good times to get pregnant too; you should talk to your doctor if now is one of those not-good times. Your OB/GYN is also a good person to go to for tests on vitamin deficiency (although a regular doctor can also order those tests) which, as Lil said, may be the link to your hair loss. Diarrhea will certainly do that to you.

When my diarrhea was bad, I took two calcium pills a day (the recommended dosage if you're taking them for nothing but the calcium for your bones), along with the occasional imodium, although I was able to stop the imodiums pretty quickly. After a little while, I dropped down to one calcium pill a day. If you start to get constipated, take a smaller amount or go to one every other day. I think that three is the limit that you can take in one day, but ask the pharmacist, because, like I said, there is such a thing as too much calcium. And yes, the Caltrate 600 w/vitamin D is the kind that stops diarrhea. I get the generic version of it at Walgreens for less money.

I started with a 1/2 pill three times a day with food. Gradually worked my way up to 2-3 per day with food. Gave me some gas at first but subsided after a few days.

I started to see results after about a week when I moved up to 1 three times a day. Good luck and let me know how it goes!