Questran (cholestyramine)
#273797 - 07/13/06 01:04 AM
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Tuesday
Reged: 07/13/06
Posts: 9
Loc: Oregon
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Hi. I am a longtime reader of the boards, this is my first post. I have also read Heather's book, which is a life saver. And the tea recommendations have done me a world of good.
So, my point of this post is that I have found my miracle drug & thought I would share.
I have never had my gallbladder out nor do I suffer from any gallbladder symptoms like "gallbladder attacks". I have IBS-D & have had it since I was a teenager, or possibly younger.
I also have endometriosis & last year the symptoms of my endo got 10 times worse (due to horomone unbalance) &, of course, because of this my IBS-D got 10 times worse too. To the point that I never really left my house for a year. I tried many things & some sorta worked & some didn't at all.
Citrucel & the diet tipes in the book got me to a good point where it was somewhat managed, but not to a point where I was very confident about going anywhere still. And I never could get ride of the constant tummy grumbling. This made me very nervous. And the symptoms were all so random sometimes & I just had a lot of fear surrounding accidents, which never has happened, but I still fear it because of that urgent feeling & that sometimes I have just barely made it down my hallway.
Then about 3 months ago I saw on a message board on another site that people where trying Questran & it was helpful for some people. So I went to the doc & she gave me a prescription for it.
I got a generic form of it & two days after starting it I was perfectly fine & for the 60 days I was on it I had no pain or diarrhea or cramping or urgency. I was going out & about & I didn't even worry on long drives anymore. My stomach finally stopped thsy constant churning & grumbling that even used to wake me up at night... & I felt... normal.
Then I ran out right before the 4th of July & I waited too long & had to wait over the holidays without any to take. By the second day of not taking it the grumbling, the diarrhea, the urgency all returned. But, two days back on it & I was fine again. Clearly not a coincidence.
Since starting this I actually have nice solid BMs at almost the same time everyday & they are always of the same consistancy, which is helping me feel more confident to leave the house. It is nice to have a predictible body again.
My point is that afew people on the boards have been saying that if you haven't had your gallbladder removed then Questran won't work for you. That this drug only works for bile salt diarrhea due to gallbladder removal. That is not true in my case & may not be true for you. I think that if you have tried everything & nothing is working that this might be an option. Just remember, DO NOT get it in the "Lite" form as it has aspartame in it, which we all know can make diarrhea worse. And, also, it may take awhile to get the right dose. I have found that with some generic forms I need to take it only once a day & with others I need to take it twice a day.
~Tuesday
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I was just wondering if you had any problems with constpation after starting the Questran? Also what all have you eliminated from your diet? I have had my gallbladder out and I just recently got the book and have started an elimination diet. I have seen some improvement, but still have the grumbling all the time. I've also just become very constipated which isn't the outcome I wanted. I am also finding out just how much my diet previously revolved around dairy products. I still want to eat dairy and just didn't know if you had eliminated it for yourself in addition to the questran.
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That is too bad. I am sorry you are having problems with constipation. Bleh.
No, I haven't had anything that would be considered real constipation with Questran. I rarely, for maybe a day or two, have had mild constipation though. But, it doesn't bother me because, as an IBS-D, I appreciate & cherish afew days of assured non-emergencies. I do know that a side effect of Questran can be constipation though. But, I haven't had much trouble with it myself.
When my IBS first started getting bad, back when the endometriosis went crazy, I did eliminate a lot of stuff. I mostly only ate cereal, white bread & rolls, Ritz crackers, potatos, grapes, banana, oatmeal & of course the tea. It was pretty bad & boring meals back then most of the time. I definatley never ate anything listed as insoluble fiber in the book & I also eliminated random stuff that I knew triggered attacks. I also watched how much I ate as overeating can make things worse for me.
After taking Questran though, I can pretty much eat anything again now. But, I still never eat whole wheat bread or whole wheat cereal & I don't eat lettuce or brown rice & I don't overeat. Those are all a problem for me.
As for dairy, I do eat dairy occassionally with Lactaid, which breaks down lactose (lactose is found in dairy & causes bloating & diarrhea if your body can't digest it) & it works great! You can find Lactaid in most pharmacies by the Citrucel & stomach meds. I just use soy milk with my cereal (vanilla West Soy Plus I have found to taste the best) & use Lactaid when I have ice cream. Cheese doesn't seem to bother me though, which I still don't understand. But, Lactaid can be used anytime you eat dairy & you just take it right before you eat it.
I do have a bit of grumbling again, since I started a new generic Questran (the generic brand I was using stopped making it) & also I have to take this brand twice a day instead of once like the old kind. The grumbling wasn't a problem with the other generic questran, but it is with this new kind again.
I wish I knew more about constipation to help you, but it has never been a problem for me. I hope I answered everything you wanted to know. If you have any more questions though, fell free to ask! 
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I was taking Questran..but haven't been recently. I found taking it help in some ways, in that I had regular BM and some of the bloating decreased intensity. Doc said to take 1 packet once a day. That's too much for me, causes C. I haven't found a balance yet.. recently I have been overwhelmed with defeat and depression. So I haven't been taking it lately. I will start again next week.. since this weekend I'm going camping and I really don't want to try anything new before/during that... Generally I alternate D and C...it's so frustrating.
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What have the doctors done for your Endometreosis?
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Hey Valerie.
I have depression too. I have all my life. So, I understand that feeling. I also feel defeated with this sometimes & on top of the regular depression, it just sucks so much.
Have you tried a half a dose? Questran only comes in powder I think, but Colestipol comes in oral tablets. It is the same kind of drug as Questran. I have never seen Colestipol, so I don't know if these tablets can be broken in half. But, who knows, maybe this drug wouldn't cause you the constipation anyway & you could just take a full dose.
I don't know. Just a thought.
Anyway, I hope something works out for you soon. Bleh.
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As for my endometreosis. I am only taking horomones right now. I am supposed to go in for an ultrasound appointment next month & then they will know what to do next. I could have fibroids too. All my family has had both problems so they are checking it all out next month.
I just really, honestly, want them to take it all out & be done with it already. I want a hysterectomy. Yes. Every single person that I have talked to (family, friends & even random strangers) have said it was a miracle cure for everything that ailed them & they feel younger & healthier & don't feel sick 24-7. They said everything I am going through now they went through before & I need to just go in & do it already.
I just feel like hell all the time. I feel like I have the flu almost eveyday. I don't work. I spend most of my day tending to symptoms like hot/cold flashes, mentrual pain, stomach pain & D, exhaustion, joint pain, etc. I am ONLY 35! Yeah, it is rediculous.
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You might do a Search on all Boards with no time limit for endometriosis. I know people have posted about it.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I was hoping I would get some info on questran, My gastro doc said I had ibs and to take fiber which hasn't help then I found this web site and have tried the diet and cut out the dairy, meat etc. It still hasn't work yet, I am doing the break the cycle for a couple of days to see where it takes me. When I went to my primary doctor and told him I couldn't take it anymore he suggested for me to go for some more blood work and he would consider putting me on Questran, when i look up the medication it seem that the people who were using it had their gallbadder remove and I wasn't able to get much info on this board so I haven't followed thru with it because i was doubting my doctor for wanting to use this medication. but now that I have read about you, and you seem to be doing good on it, it might be something for me to follow up on thanks for the info.
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IBS D
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Hey Sapphiremel!
I am so glad this info helped you.
Since I got on the new generic questran I have had afew bad days & some grumbling, but now I added calcium into my little routine, which has a side effect of constipation, & that seems to have evened things out a bit. Thankfully.
What all have you tried so far?
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Oh yeah, that is a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?  I have been going to endo boards & perimenopause boards for endo info. I never thought to go here too. I am just on too many boards. Confusing... LOL! 
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The form I take is colestid (colestipol) I take 1 gram twice a day. The pills are HUGE and cannot be broken in half. I have been thinking about dropping one dose since discovering fiber but I'm not yet comfortable enough to try.
I'm glad it's helping you! I feel like I get minimal help from it but I'll take all I can get!
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~Nim
Pain-Predominant IBS-A
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I too have used cholestyramine for diarrhea and also still have my gallbladder. Back in April when my symptoms first appeared, a bad gallbladder was the first thing my doctor tested for. Unfortunately (or fortunately) all the tests came back that my gallbladder was working normally. So my Dr. put me on generic Questran to help with the D. It works great. I would add the powder to applesauce in the morning and have a dose again in the evening. I was normal and didn't worry about what I ate and if I would have to run to the restroom suddenly. (I am a teacher and can't just run to the restroom whenever.) I continued using the generic Questran until mid-May when I was referred to a surgeon since I was still having other symptoms. He did further testing (colonoscopy, endoscopy, blood tests, etc)and found out that everything was normal, so diagnosed me with IBS. He took me off generic Questran and dicyclomine and told me to watch my diet. I had already gotten Heathers EFI book and had been adhering to the diet religiously. Now I am pretty stable and have the generic Questran and dicyclomine as a back-up. (Which I used a few weeks ago because of the stress of school starting, 2 children turning 15 & getting their learner's permit and also them starting high school) Heather's diet has been the most help to me now that I understand what is happening to my body and how different foods affect it. But it's really comforting to know I have the Questran and that it WILL work!
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Robin
IBS-A
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Let me see if I get this right? Questran can help you even if you don't have bile salt diarrhea? I have had the bile salt malabsorption test done and the results were completely normal so then I figured Questran wouldn't work. (Have also read that Questran can cause diarrhea too, that it can take a big effort to find the exact optimal amount.)
Anyway, I'm on loperamide and that's working for me which is good. But it's always good to have back up info.  Plus, my fiancé and I are planning to try to "get pregnant" some time within a year and loperamide is safer to use during pregnancy I believe.
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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Sorry for the delay, not used to checking this message board...
I've found that drinking adequate water resolves any tendency toward constipation from the cholestyramine-- you might be able to reduce your dose, too. I've cut out dairy and recently tried to add it back in but no luck. Soy doesn't seem to work for me either -- though it did for a while. I struggle, I'll be honest. I've been feeling particularly deprived of late. Oh yeah, I can't eat more than about 5g of fat at any one time. Any more than that causes quite a bit of gastric distress...wish I could be of more help! Good luck!
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Hey Langgang, I also have a 15 year old who just got his driver's permit. That is real stress right there! LOL!!!
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I agree with NancyB on the water thing with the Questran. I found that the days I do have the minimal constipation problems are the same days I either haven't drank enough water or haven't ate enough fruit.
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