Welcome RED77

red77 said... Hi all- I have IBS-C and I have been on Zelnorm for four years.   4 years .   It's helped me live my late 20s in relative normalcy.   It's also been there for me through 2 pregnancies - including breastfeeding.   I thought I should share my story. Five or six years ago, I just stopped "going".   Over the course of the next year or so, I tried it all; fiber, fruit, water, and laxatives (both ends - ew).   These things would work for a little while, and then my body would get used to them and the results would go away.   After months of going through the same motions again for my doctor to prove I had tried it all, he finally gave me the lovely flex sigand diagnosed me with IBS-C.   and it all was worth it, because I got this wonder drug.   I started at 6 mg 2x/day.   Half an hour after the first pill, I was in the bathroom.   (This was a miracle for someone who at that point had resorted to taking three correctol with her breakfast of apricots and shredded wheat every morning.)   Sure there was be cramping and a little D once in a while, but good God!   I was pooping!! I was worried that my body would get used to the zelnorm, too - actually I was terrified.   However, the opposite happened.   The longer I took it, the less I needed to get the job done.   There were periods of weeks that I didn’t have to take any at all and I was still regular! Now comes the problem…   it has stopped working.   As recently as three weeks ago, I was taking 1.5mg (one-fourth of a 6mg pill) once every four or five days and it was enough.   Now nothing.   Beginning birth-control pills again and a long weekend out of town with air travel, lots of stress, big meals and tons of wine kicked me into a 3 week bout of C.   I am back up to the full 6 mg 2x/day and still nothing.   Honestly, I had forgotten what this was like. After the past week,  I can tell you that it is possible to live on Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal and Plumsmart juice– which are both actually very good, so go get some!  But it's not quite doing the job. As suggested by some of your postings, I will try less of the drug for a while and hope.    Good tummy health to you all! Hi red77, Welcome to HealingWell!    I thought I'd start a thread for you, so you can get a proper introduction. I am actually quite surprised you were on Zelnorm for such a while.  Not even that long ago Zelnorm was recommended for short term constipation relief only.  My doc put me on it about a year ago and at first would only let me take it a few months at a time.  about 6 months into it she told me new research showed it was safe for long(er) term use.  Anyway, that's beside the point... What happened to you?  I can't believe it took 4 years for it to stop working for you.  Most of us notice a decline in relief after just a few weeks or a few months.  You were lucky!  I found that by stopping it for a couple weeks at a time it would be super effective once I started again.  Maybe that will be the case with you. Aside from your high fiber drinks and cereal, are you taking anything for regularity?  Have you tried Dannon Activia or probiotics? Can you link birth control to your GI troubles?  I noticed that when I got off the pill my IBS got significantly better. Again, welcome to the site.  Hope you stick around with us. Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate