Bile Salts Diarrhea After Gall Bladder Removed Try This

Ok, I've been taking the Caltrate 600+D for about a week - 3 times a day. I guess it is helping (somewhat), but the effect is extremely minor compared to the Chloestyramine by itself. Maybe I need a calcium carbonate pill that doesn't include the magnesium at all? I just don't think it's having much of an effect, and I don't want to take anything I don't need to. It is (sry) a little less messy, and I can get away with a little less time in the bathroom in the morning, but I don't know that's worth taking it (I am taking it 3 times/day).

My gallbladder surgery was caused when stones were found after several attacks after eating greasy foods.

Is that Welchol targeted at IBS in general or the bile problem in particular?

Thanks for the feedback!

Oh - and for those to whom the Chloestyramine is helping - how many times a day are you taking it?

Dr prescribed twice/day for me. I tried taking it once more before bed a couple days, but that didn't alleviate the morning issue, so I'm not sure that would help anyway, but I was just curious because I saw on a drug site that it can be prescribed for up to 6 times/day - which seems excessive.

I just wanted to let people know that I have been using a prescription for 12 years that works well. It is Questran Light powder (Cholestyramine) - it has other brand names too. It works well for bile salt diarrhea - at least it does for mine, which started after I had my gall bladder out in 1998. You have to be careful to regulate the dosage and drink lots of water or it can make you constipated. Just wanted to pass along my 2 cents worth because it felt like a life saver to me when I heard about this treatment. I use it now with OTC prevacid, but just used the powder for years.

Depending on what you eat and meds you take your stool may not appear to have yellow in it. If you can tell that this problem is not like other diarrhea and the powder helped I'd continue with it. The only problem I've ever had is that you have to drink a lot of water of you may have very hard stools and constipation. Have you seen a gastrologist? That might set your mind at ease. Good luck!

CALCIUM SUCCESS!!!!! I have had nausea for 18 months and just tolerated it. Had gallbladder attack with pain 8/10/11 and gallbladder out 9/30/11. Still battled nausea daily and then massive diarrhea a few days ago started. I saw your post, tried the calcium and the nausea and diarrhea are gone. Thank you. If nothing else it has forced me at 51 to take calcium with D as I should be. I am so relieved to not be sickly all day any more. I work with small children and it was getting more difficult every day. It worked instantly, after all I've tried to do to get it figured out. Calcium was the answer for me. Whew!

notahappycamper I was on it...Cholestryamine and for ime it was like a miracle.It really worked well. I took 1/2 packet ever 12 hrs, morning and night (ended up being 1 packet day). My Dr. thought 3 a times a day would be best but since I'd researched Cholestryamine and asked him to put me on it, he let me do I felt was working for me. I'm now totally off of any meds. and I have no diarrhea or any problems at all.I hope it lasts! Needless to say I am really glad I put it with the strict diet which I stay on, Gluten free, fat free, dairy free, caffeine free, sugar free, and mostly salt free. I eat lots of fresh veggies and fruit and drink lots of boiled water,but hey..it's worth that bit of extra effort and cost.I now can lead a normal life and leave my house, like any normal woman would. For those of you who have gallbladder problems...here's a web site where I found lots of help (gallbladderattack.com ) I ate her green soup for months,but it worked and there nothing and I mean nothing that can compare with how fast I can get rid of biliary system pain(pain under the rib cage, on the righ side and across to the other side) with 1/2 a lemon!I got that idea from that web site where she gave the diet if you are having or recently had a gallbladder attack. Her old diet that I took was fresh grated beets, juice of 1/2 lemon +1 teaspoon of fresh flax oil (it's in most health food stores). It will keep in your frig for about 3-4 days in a sealed container. I will tell you she now gives a little different instructions as to what to eat. She used to say do not eat anything other than the beets lemon & oil when you are in pain and after pain has gone for a few weeks you can have her green soup. I was just on her site and now her diet plan is much more liberal. I used the old plan and it worked great for me. BTW all the tests I took and scopes and scans all came be negative for anything The Dr. were really stumped.It ended up that my main problem was that I am Gluten intolerant (even thought the tests did not show it).

Post Edited (2Hawaii) : 12/16/2011 5:17:25 AM (GMT-7)

I'm a new member here and I found the Healing Well site when a Google search about my symptoms pointed me to this thread. I never really had gallbladder attacks. My bladder simply died inside of me. I began having severe bile salts diarrhea before the bladder was removed. My condition was quite rare and the doctors had no idea what was going on. I was eventually admitted to the hospital with the worst pain I have ever been in. They gave me some good pain killers and when I woke up I was informed that they had removed my gallbladder. In following up with surgeon he told me that he had been in this practice for about 20 years and had only seen 3 cases like mine (including me). He said that they looked around thoroughly and could not see any reason as to why my gallbladder should have died. His best guess was that I had some sort of infection or virus which caused the bladder to swell up and pinch off its own blood supply.

That was about a year and a half ago. Like so many others I was told that I could ease back into eating normal food and that once I did that I would be able to eat exactly as I had done before. This turned out to not be true. I noticed bile in my stool and over the past year the accumulation of the bile in my system began to cause more and more digestive issues. The acid even began burning my "back door" during particularly severe flare ups. As Christmas 2011 approached I was having diarrhea after every meal.

I stumbled across this thread on Christmas Eve of 2011. The next day I went out and bought some Caltrate. I took a half pill and felt immediate relief. The symptoms were still there but not as severe. After about a week at a half pill per meal I went up to a whole pill. This seemed to help tremendously but now after a week with whole pills I am feeling the constipating effect. I am going to try and find the optimum dosage level but I don't yet know how I will get something between a half pill and a whole pill.

Has anyone had any luck crushing these pills and taking them? I figure that it will be easier to get 3/4 of a crushed pill than 3/4 of a whole pill. Also, I see that TUMS antacid has calcium carbonate as its main ingredient. These have a lower level of calcium per pill than Caltrate so this might be an easy way to get a dose that is between a half and a whole Caltrate. Has anyone tried TUMS instead of Caltrate?

Many, many thanks to lnape for getting this thread going and alerting me to the benefits of calcium. You have helped me out tremendously.

crunchyfrog

Hi Linda. You mentioned that calcium would negate thyroid meds. Does that also apply to iodine? I take two drops each morning as a supplement for my thyroid. How far apart would I have to take them? Thanks for your help. I already take red mineral algae at bedtime to help me sleep. I would like to try the calcium thing for diarrhea. I take Cholacol II but the instructions are take 4 pills 1/4 hour before each meal. Not only is that almost impossible for me to do, but also very pricey!

Hello All,
First, I want to say that I completely understand how this can totally take control of your life! I had my gall bladder removed in 1998, which resulted in my having diarrhea 16-21 times per day. I knew the location of every public restroom in my region! Not only did I perform home visits as a daily requirement of my work, but I also traveled frequently with my husband throughout our state and those neighboring states. It was a horrible and humiliating experience.

I did find 100% success with the medication mentioned in this thread, Questran (generic name, cholestyramine). Let me also tell you that before the gastro doctor would prescribe the medication, I had to submit to a colonoscopy. I started to search for another doctor to prescribe the medication without having to go through the procedure. I am so glad that I didn't. The constant irritation to my colon from the bile and diarrhea had led to the formation of precancerous polyps. The doctor removed them, but informed me that had I not taken care of them within two years, I would have died from colon cancer, most likely. If the doctor suggests a colonoscopy, do it!

After seven years of a daily dose of the medication, I started to become more health aware. Not that I would have stopped taking the medication, but I thought to myself that if I am having to have blood tests for my liver function every six months due to the medication, it must not be all that great for my body. And then I watched the movie, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead," on NetFlix. You can now watch it for free online! Anyway, the point behind the movie is that your body can heal itself if given the proper nutrition and a rest from the everyday strain of processing our food. I found the movie inspirational and decided to give it a try.

I juiced vegetables with only a little apple to sweeten the juice for 60 days. I did not take my cholestyramine medication. For the first couple of weeks, I dealt with bathroom issues just like in the good old days, but actually not as severe. And then the diarrhea stopped. I continued to have bowel movements right up to day 60, which amazes me to think how much waste we carry around in our intestines. I mean, I hadn't eaten in 60 days but there is still something to come out??? (Sorry, TMI!!!)

I completed that juice fast - or REBOOT - on November 24, 2011. I have not had any issues with diarrhea since that time, nor have I taken cholestyramine medications!

I realize this isn't for everyone, and the medication is certainly a fast fix - or at least it was for me, working immediately after that first dose! But eventually I decided that I wanted to heal my body instead of going for that quick fix. 8 months and medication FREE!!!

By the way, if you decide to do the juice fast, I don't know if my body would have reset after 30 days or if it had to be the whole 60. I just decided to go for the 60 day challenge. I did go for a general physical before starting the juice fast. Also, be sure to drink enough juice and water. People would tell me that it couldn't be healthy not to eat. I probably got better nutrition than those telling me that since I actually was having all of my nutrition in vegetable with a little fruit - just in juice form so my body had a rest in processing it. Stay hydrated during the juice fast with lots of water. Toward the end, I know that I didn't drink enough water. Also, be sure to take some type of colon cleanse of good quality to keep the bowels moving during the fast. Otherwise, you will have bathroom issues once you start eating again as your body readjusts to solid food.

I am not a doctor, so I can't tell you that this works for everyone. I am only telling my story, and what worked for me! It wasn't easy, but it also wasn't as hard as you would think.