What are charcoal pills? Where did you get them? Thanks kitty2

Hi..thanks for your reply..watch the Imodium..I had lots of side effects from the high dose the doctor told me to take. I was way overdosed on all the meds they had me on which included the Imodium, Lialda and the last one was Busesonide which was awful. I think these drugs have such powerful side effects they keep you sick. I am now off all the drugs and am now having lab work to see the damage they all did. I sure hope you continue to feel better each day. What is the charcoal used for ? I have never heard of that?
Thanks Kitty2

The charcoal works like Imodium. It stops diarrhea. Side effects are black stools and constipation. It has been used to combat poison and people have used it for hangover cures. It binds foods. I’m having normal but black stools.

To all with microscopic colitis please be patient. I had this experience and Busesonide. It truly is the answer. It works differently on different people. You need to take two or three every morning for at least two weeks or maybe more. Then take it for a month then slowly taper off if having success. Problem is the constipation side affect needs citrucel to counter react. If you play with the dosage for a month or so then it heals the colon. If watery stools are there in the night then in the morning take the Busesonide. More than one. Do that until stools are firmer. As soon as constipation starts take less and start citrucel. It eventually heals. But it does take patience and persistence. I now take citrucel daily and it helps a lot.

After more than 25 years of dealing with microscopic colitis, I have learned to take Citrucel each morning, avoid lots of foods (the older I get, the more foods I avoid -- I'm 77), keep Imodium handy at all times, and I've developed pancreatitis and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. I must take Creon, which costs me $250 a month (my insurance company pays over $1000 a month indefinitely! (I quit smoking 50 years ago and have never been a heavy drinker, btw. )

Miralax is good to keep bowels regular. Gi dr recommended benefited also.

Hi. I was diagnosed with MC in February. I am 65. I had a full hysterectomy in September due to a diagnosis of precancer in my endometrium which turned out to be a small cancerous tumor. They got it all thankfully. 10 weeks later I went on a week-long cruise to the Caribbean and halfway through had lots of diarrhea. I thought it was food poisoning or giardia. When I got back it took a while to see a GI doc and then I did all the testing, (all negative), culminating in a colonoscopy with 3 biopsies. My diarrhea had been 6 weeks and the colonoscopy seemed to reset me, but I was diagnosed with microscopic colitis. I took Budesonide for 1 week and was not doing well so they told me I could quit. I was doing just fine, like my old self when I could eat anything and then bam, early May I had a flareup. I've been on the highly restrictive diet for too long now and am craving the old food. I've lost 12 pounds so far and can't afford it. I've always eaten healthy: no red meats or pork, fresh fruits and veggies as much as possible, and very little alcohol. I'm not a smoker. If anything I could exercise more but before this flareup I was walking a mile a day. I'm back on the Budesonide at a lower dose. I wonder...did the hysterectomy cause this? Did some weird bug in the Caribbean cause this? I seem to be coming out of this flareup, thankfully, but now I guess I add foods one at a time? Very depressed.

Hi. I’m Pam. I was diagnosed with MC- collagenous variety- in 2022. That was after six months of chasing a diagnosis and dealing with frustrating red herrings in the form of infections that were coincidental. It was the most dreadful Period of my life.

After a colonoscopy validating the diagnosis I did the full course of Budesonide -9mg for 3 weeks, 6mg then 3 mg and it was a miracle.

There really isn't anything as effective as Budesonide. I did relapse twice - sadly not uncommon - and am now on 3mg as a maintenance dose and doing great.

Couple of questions: there are some known medication triggers. The three biggest offenders are:

NSAIDs - Ibuprofen
PPI (Nexium etc)
SSRI anti-depressants

Are you taking any of those routinely?

For the time being you will be happier on a BRAT diet - bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.

The ONLY thing that helped it subside is PeptoBismol gel filled caps and after reading some research and checking with my Gi doc, I took 3 capsules 3 times a day until the diarrhea either stopped or vastly improved. Then i dropped back to twice a day and then dropped to two capsules twice a day. When I could eat low fat / low fiber food and not have immediate diarrhea, i dropped to one capsule twice a day.

It is a career level effort to get this right. I hope my experience is helpful.

The cause of microscopic colitis is not known. It is coincident in some cases
with certain drugs taken at onset and wine consumption in the Nurse's study.
Most commonly it develops in older women. Budesonide has proven safer
than other steroid medications. It may be advisable to ask for a bone density
check in the event you need it long term. Some patients are managed well
with bismuth subsalicylate and Imodium as needed. Colestipol is another
add on to budesonide. Patients resistant to therapy have benefited from
biologicals that are used in IBD. It is not known if infection may be a trigger.

That is great! When it works it does work pretty fast. I’m gonna encourage you to also steer clear of the major med triggers if you can. Especially any you may have taken frequently over a long time. For me that was ibuprofen and PPIs (eg Nexium).

Be grateful you respond to Budesonide .. I’m happy for you. But it is prone to relapse. I have relapsed twice in four years - but my GI doc was not surprised and i went on a limited course of Budesonide. After the second relapse i went on 3mg daily as a maintenance dose.
None of that may be your course - but I wanted you to be aware it is possible and dont let it freak you out if it happens.

Good luck!!!