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About 6 years ago I started having chronic diarrhea and stomach pain. I went a couple of gastroenterologists, had colonostomys and no one could give me a definative cause of the diareaha. The first doctor stated there is nothing wrong with me and to use peppermint oil when I had stomach pain. The second doctor did not find the cause of my diarrhea, but he gave me medications to treat my symptoms. That helped, but I still felt sick, and the diarrhea þÿalways returned. About two months ago, I went to my second doctors PA. She looked at my lab reports and stated, my bile is too high.
She gave me a bile blocker, colestipol, to take once per day. I tried it the same day following the instructions. That day was the first day in six years I did not have diarrhea. It has worked consistantly for the past six weeks. The PA gave me my life back. I am so thankful!
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After 2 weeks of on and off pain, discomfort from severe bloating, 3 ER visits , it was discovered my gall bladder was the root cause. Bike reflux attacks not solvable with acid reflux solutions. Bad taste in mouth . Liver enzymes off the roof! Last week gall bladder was removed. Now struggling to keep low fat diet, spreading out small portioned meals. Had 5 decent days, then another bad night . Is there anything that works to relieve bile reflux?
@koneil which lab tests did the PA give you to determine that?
So very glad you finally got help for this issue and the Colestipol works for you. How did the PA figure out you had too much bile? Do you know how this problem developed?
I have bial salt diarrhea after my gall bladder was removed. Have been on either cholestyrami e or Colestipol since 2011. I take two pill a day. I still have urgency and BM after I eat or drink. It is frustrating as I can’t be far from a bathroom way too often during the day.
I am wondering if anyone has tried a different medication for BAM or bial salt diarrhea with success.
I hope you continue to do well with your digestive system.
If I had known all this prior to gallbladder removal I would have not had it removed. My gallbladder had sludge and small stones. Once in a while a stone would pass and be very painful. I'd rather have that than the BAM. Too bad medical research cannot find solution to dissolve sludge and stones without the extreme treatment of surgery and removal of an organ. I also take the Colestid but I have yet to find a good schedule to stop episodes of diarrhea, mostly in the morning after I eat my first meal of the day.
Hello. I also have BAM. After having Bariatric Surgery and Gallbladder removal it’s like a double whammy to me. After going to a GI for over a year, telling me it’s my diet, I gave up and saw a new Dr. within 45 minutes, he was drawing. Diagram of my digestive tract to explain to me, what was going on. I do take Colestipol 1 daily, or if I need I’ll take 2 daily. What a game changer. Also, after an MRI it looks like the opening to my Bile duct is enlarged. Still in the process with my GI on this issue. Search for a really good GI Dr. I you can at a teaching hospital would be best.
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I have the same condition. Mine is believed to be caused by Bile Acid Malabsorption (BAM), a gastrointestinal condition where the intestines cannot properly absorb bile acids, leading to symptoms like chronic diarrhea and watery stools. Mine started occurring after my gallbladder was removed. No gallbladder to store bile, so the body just flushed it out. Here a couple of links to Mayo articles that address it.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/digestive-diseases/news/novel-approaches-to-the-diagnosis-of-bile-acid-diarrhea/mqc-20479822
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/digestive-diseases/news/identifying-diarrhea-caused-by-bile-acid-malabsorption/mac-20430098
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1586/17474124.2014.851599