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Diarrhea and abdominal pain

Posted by katieb @katieb, Jul 16, 2011

Recently I have been getting diarrhea about 15 minutes to an hour after eating. Accompanying this is severe stomach cramps and pain. After a trip to the doctor, they decided that it was my gallbladder causing the symptom. In November, I had my gallbladder removed because it was full of stones and sludge. It has now been 8 months and the symptoms have not went away or decreased. Last week, I had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Biopsies were done on my large intestine and stomach. All results came back negative. I do not want to live the rest of my life with these symptoms. Any suggestions?

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Profile picture for dreams
dreams | @dreams | Jul 6 2:07pm
In reply to @koneil "About 6 years ago I started having chronic diarrhea and stomach pain. I went a couple..." + (show)
Profile picture for koneil @koneil

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!

Jump to this post

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.

REPLY
1 reply
Profile picture for cherawgirl
cherawgirl | @cherawgirl | Jul 7 6:54am
In reply to @koneil "About 6 years ago I started having chronic diarrhea and stomach pain. I went a couple..." + (show)
Profile picture for koneil @koneil

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!

Jump to this post

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.

REPLY
2 replies
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koneil | @koneil | Jul 7 10:17am
In reply to @cherawgirl "If I had known all this prior to gallbladder removal I would have not had it..." + (show)
Profile picture for cherawgirl @cherawgirl

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.

Jump to this post

Thank y'all for the replies. I did not know anyone else had this problem with the chronic diarrhea.I thought I was the only one. The role the gallbladder takes in this is also scary. I still have my gallbladder, and there aren't any issues with it.My daughter did have hers removed, but she doesn't currently have any problems. Thanks for the heads up.

REPLY
Profile picture for koneil
koneil | @koneil | Jul 7 10:31am
In reply to @dreams "So very glad you finally got help for this issue and the Colestipol works for you...." + (show)
Profile picture for dreams @dreams

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.

Jump to this post

Thank you for your response. I don't have any idea how this started. I just
remember going to my GP and they just prescribed immodium. I kept going
back and finally I was referred to a gastrointerologist. She was the crappy
one. I found another gastroenteroligist closer to my house. Once again,
after all these tests, the PA found the problem.I had so many tests I do
not know what lab work she was looking at. I hope they find the medication
that will help you. I am aware the diarrhea I had can return at anytime.
I know this can come back at any time,

REPLY
1 reply
Profile picture for choosejoy
choosejoy | @choosejoy | Jul 8 9:52am
In reply to @margesil "Thanks for all this info. General discomfort, taste altering, nausea following gall bladder removal. A friend..." + (show)
Profile picture for margesil @margesil

Thanks for all this info. General discomfort, taste altering, nausea following gall bladder removal.
A friend mentioned SUCRALFATE might help. Anyone familiar with that and had positive results if bile acid attacks? Could coating intestines with Maalox help prevent?

Jump to this post

I have a prescription for Sucralfate that my GI doc gave for bile reflux. I take it an hour before eating. My issues started about 8 years after having my gallbladder removed. It was full of sludge so not doing its job and making me sick. 🤢 I also have a prescription for Colesevelam which I take twice a day in between meals for bile reflux. While they help they do not control it completely. During endoscopies my GI doc has found evidence of bile. I also had the classic bile diarrhea often prior to taking the medication.
Oh I should mention that my dietitian suggested taking cholacol (OTC - I ordered from Amazon) when eating fats. That helped some but still lots of issues digesting fats. Through testing I learned I actually have EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) so am now taking prescription Zenpep to control that.
Hope this helps.

REPLY
Profile picture for cheryl46
cheryl46 | @cheryl46 | Jul 8 10:05pm
In reply to @cherawgirl "If I had known all this prior to gallbladder removal I would have not had it..." + (show)
Profile picture for cherawgirl @cherawgirl

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.

Jump to this post

Have you had stool studies done (check fat elastase)? Might have developed EPI exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
I developed it after last Covid and have to take pancreatic enzymes along with Colestid or go 15-20 times a day.

REPLY
Profile picture for rashida
rashida | @rashida | Jul 9 1:26am
In reply to @koneil "Thank you for your response. I don't have any idea how this started. I just remember..." + (show)
Profile picture for koneil @koneil

Thank you for your response. I don't have any idea how this started. I just
remember going to my GP and they just prescribed immodium. I kept going
back and finally I was referred to a gastrointerologist. She was the crappy
one. I found another gastroenteroligist closer to my house. Once again,
after all these tests, the PA found the problem.I had so many tests I do
not know what lab work she was looking at. I hope they find the medication
that will help you. I am aware the diarrhea I had can return at anytime.
I know this can come back at any time,

Jump to this post

@koneil do you take Colestipol daily, or only when needed?

REPLY
Profile picture for dlc1953
dlc1953 | @dlc1953 | Jul 9 8:02am
In reply to @koneil "About 6 years ago I started having chronic diarrhea and stomach pain. I went a couple..." + (show)
Profile picture for koneil @koneil

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!

Jump to this post

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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