Microscopic Colitis

To the person who posted that charcoal pills stopped diarrhea, a thousand thanks.
I was diagnosed with microscopic colitis. I took Budesonide for a little over two months, and it was wonderful. After about a month after stopping, I started getting diarrhea and cramping again. After two months the diarrhea was every day. The Imodium never helped. After seeing the post, I added two charcoal pills before meals and no more diarrhea. Thanks for posting.

Hi, @1961deb - glad to hear the budesonide was effective to stop your diarrhea. Having diarrhea for as year sounds miserable. I had basically chronic diarrhea from taking semaglutide (Wegovy), and it was wearying.

Is your doctor looking at having you take it long-term to control the diarrhea, or are they concerned about side effects?

Hi, @1961deb - glad to hear the budesonide was effective to stop your diarrhea. Having diarrhea for as year sounds miserable. I had basically chronic diarrhea from taking semaglutide (Wegovy), and it was wearying.

Is your doctor looking at having you take it long-term to control the diarrhea, or are they concerned about side effects?

Interesting that you say your MC went away and then came back. I’ve had it for 8 years but only correctly diagnosed for 5. I’m interested to hear about how effective Budesonide is. It’s been on my allergy list for years after it was prescribed to counter a leg infection I had. It made me so sick that I said I couldn’t ever take it again. But now hearing how effective it is for MC, I’m thinking about trying it again if my GI approves. The regular meds he’s prescribed haven’t been working like they used to, so maybe it’s time for a new regime.

To the person who posted that charcoal pills stopped diarrhea, a thousand thanks.
I was diagnosed with microscopic colitis. I took Budesonide for a little over two months, and it was wonderful. After about a month after stopping, I started getting diarrhea and cramping again. After two months the diarrhea was every day. The Imodium never helped. After seeing the post, I added two charcoal pills before meals and no more diarrhea. Thanks for posting.

Interesting that you say your MC went away and then came back. I’ve had it for 8 years but only correctly diagnosed for 5. I’m interested to hear about how effective Budesonide is. It’s been on my allergy list for years after it was prescribed to counter a leg infection I had. It made me so sick that I said I couldn’t ever take it again. But now hearing how effective it is for MC, I’m thinking about trying it again if my GI approves. The regular meds he’s prescribed haven’t been working like they used to, so maybe it’s time for a new regime.

Hi, @nvshaxpur. This is for a different type of medical condition, but I wanted to mention I'm now successfully taking a medication I previously had a bad reaction to.

I had a dermatologic medication prescribed for me that made me feel like I'd just quickly consumed 4 cocktails and sent me to the couch for 12 hours till it went through my system. So I was done with wanting to ever take that med again.

Another dermatologist later prescribed the same medication. I was very leary, but she had me take it at night instead of on the morning. That made all the difference: I noticed no side effects (cause I was sleeping, I guess).

Just an added note to clarify my personal experience. My microscopic colitis was diagnosed as an inflammation in the colon from taking too much ALEVE. Yes, I’m guilty. I have osteoarthritis and joint pain from taking low doses of steroids for more than fifty years for adrenal insufficiency. I stopped using ALEVE immediately and started using budesonide to heal the colon. In less than a month my diarrhea was gone. I now use only Tylenol for pain. True, it doesn’t do the job of handling pain like ALEVE did, but I took ALEVE twice daily for way too many years. I over did it and payed the price. I’m a good example of knowing we can overdose without realizing it. Even though the directions were clear I ignored them in order to live a fast paced life that did not want pain to get in my way.
To be clear the budesonide did stop my diarrhea. Several years later I took one ALEVE for extreme pain from overdoing it while moving. Diarrhea came back almost immediately. Now I know for sure it is the ALEVE that I can no longer take. My thought to everyone is to investigate what might be causing your problems. I’m not a doctor but I do believe my experience is probably not the only one. Try to dig into what could be causing your diarrhea. It could surprise you as my case did. 😊

I will mention this to my doctor because I too was taking ALEVE at least 3 times a day for knees.

No, it’s still a mystery. I’ve been living on apples, figs, and multigrain bread with peanut butter and pumpkin for several days. I mix in fiber powder with my protein shakes and take Metamucil gummies. Maybe this overload of fiber is slowing things down. I have had this colitis for 8 years, but only correctly diagnosed the last 5. I’ve been prescribed Colestipol, 1 gm, 4x day, which was supposed to stop the loose bowels. That hasn’t worked lately. I just had a flex sig on Monday and did a lab stool test on Tuesday. I’ll see my doctor next week to find out if he now has any new suggestions for me—and ask why he never told me about charcoal pills! The last thing I need is to be told that I need a colostomy bag. But I’ve been “dry” for 2 days now, so maybe my body is healing itself (I should be so lucky 🍀).