Hi all - I just had to tell you my story about being on Whelcol. My doctor put me on it back in November of 2007 and I was to take 3 pills twice a day for my cholesterol. After about two weeks of being on it I could tell it was effecting my bowel movements, but ignored the symptoms. It was like my bowels were never moving, like they were always at a standstill. I ended up with horrible constipation even though I was taking fiber pills to try to get my bowels moving. Anyway, after 6 weeks of being on it, one night I had one really had a very hard bowel movement that I could barely strain to get out. I got very sore up inside me and two days later ended up with a lump on the side of my anus. It was as big as an egg. I kept thinking it was a really swollen hemorrhoid and after five and half weeks of living with severe pain coming from that lump, I decided it might be something else, so at 6 ½ weeks I finally got brave enough to get help and it that the hard feces caused me to get a tear (fissure) up in my anal canal, which in turn caused me to get an abscess, which was the big knot that I had, which led to a fistula and I am still having problems with the fistula/abscessing to this day. I’ve had 5 surgeries from February to July of this year, all because of this drug. I too suffer from bouts of diarrhea that alternates with constipation, but unfortunately I guess I was in a constipation mode when starting this medication so it had horrible effects on me. Currently, I am stuck with a draining seton that goes through my butt cheek and comes out the anus. I know most people find it okay after a few weeks, but I’ve had it for 6 weeks now and it has been a pain in my rump literally. I have pain all the time and even feel like I have another abscess down there, but don’t go back to see my colon rectal specialist until October. For anyone who has the any kind of constipation at all, please be careful when taking this drug, as I never dreamed I would still be having severe problems from taking it over 10 months ago. I also know that I still have another surgery procedure that I will have to go through because of it. I also am happy that it is helping other people in living normally again, as I know what it feels like to not live normally since the fistula/abscess thing. I dream for the day I can live a normal life once again. If I ever have to go on something like that again, I would encourage people with constipation to drink a teaspoon of mineral oil and take fiber stuff regularly to keep your bowels moving as normal as you can.
dream