diarehha for 6 years... help.....

hello there. i am 20 years old now but when i was 14 when i had my gall bladder removed. since then i have had diarehha almost daily. i went to a family doctor today because its really starting to effect my life. she told me that there is really nothing that could be done that would be healthy to the rest of my body. so she told me to try either fibercon, citrucel, or metamusil. i went to wally world and bought some fibercon because it was the only one that said bulk forming on the package. i also told my husband to pick me up some calcuim pills on his way home. i took the fibercon at 4:30 and still havent gotten the calcium.  please tell me if she is strearing me in the wrong direction. also i thought fiber was to make you have diarehha. help me please.

Hi newlywed,
Welcome to HealingWell!
No, your doc has not steered you wrong.... BUT, she should have ordered some tests. How often do you go to the toilet? Is it always D? Do you have pain? Do you ever see blood?
What Canyon says is correct.... Fiber helps both D & C. People with D need to bulk up their stool. People with C need to be able to go.
The calcium will help too. The only thing to consider is magnesium - make sure you DO NOT get calcium with magnesium. It will add to your D. Same goes for any antacids (Tums, Rolaids, etc.), do not get w/magnesium. You should try what Canyon mentioned, Caltrate with Vitamin D. The calcium will absorb excess water in your stool and it will help soothe any inflammation you may have. Start by taking 1 pill in the morning with food and then maybe another in the evening if you're still having D. You can play with the dosage if you start getting constipated. Do not take over 1800mgs per day. Also, make sure that if you are on any meds you check with your doc or pharmacist about adding calcium. Sometimes calcium can interfere with the effectiveness of meds.
Another thing to consider are probiotics. With all the D you are having you must be flushing out most of your "good" bacteria. Adding them back into your digestive system can help with the D. You can find supplements at most drug stores and definitely at health food stores. Or, you can get them through yogurt. Dannon Activia seems to be the majority favorite. Many of us have had GREAT results with it.
I hope you can find something that works for you. Don't be shy to ask any more questions...

---

Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum

Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate

also will the fiber really firm it up or will i still have diarehha? i also noticed that the fibercon has magnesium stearate as an inactive ingredient. will that matter.

Post Edited (newlywed31738) : 12/23/2006 11:18:06 AM (GMT-7)

i work tomorrow so i am going to look at the citrucel and metamusil when i get there and see if they have magnesium in them. i saw that metamusil had on with calcuim in it. i might get that. thank you so much for your help