Desperate! I've had diarrhea for 4 weeks now and i'm being told by the GP I have no infection / bugs present.?
Question: I'm a nervous wreck. Daily panic attacks and constant nausea with it too. I just don't know what to do. I've been prescribed Codeine tablets to help with the Diarrhea but am worried they will make me feel more sick. Anybody know if they will? Also, any ideas what this could be. I'm stressed / depressed / anxious 24/7 but surely that wouldn't make me have it for 4 weeks. Could it be anything else? And can the body / mind get locked into a state of total adrenaline release causing this stomach upset?
Answers: Four weeks is a very long time to have persistant diarrhea, I dont think codeine will help, codeine is an analgesic, which is a pain reliever. Also codeine can become habit forming if you take it for long periods of time. If you are suffering from a nervous disorder i think your doctor should be prescribing you with a different type of drug before your symptoms become worse.
are you eating anything new?
Don't worry...Diarrhoea had been shown to be hereditary.
Apparently...it runs in your jeans!
it is severe stress
change your doctor
OTC get some Imodium
prescription get some paregoric
if your doc is perscribing these tablets then you should take them! no point suffering due to fear of suffering more. try them and see how it goes if you feel no improvement get a second opinion off another doctor or ask to be refered to a specialist.
just stay calm and have some faith have a bland diet and make sure you are replacing nutrients and drink plenty of water.
good luck it must be awful what your going through.
Yes, anxiety could be causing this. Probably is. Lots of people get an upset tummy when they are scared or nervous - sounds like you are all the time.
Have a look at your diet too - are you eating properly?
Anxiety and depression
Take something like Immodium for your diarrhea and try to drink lots of fluids.
I went years being improperly diagnosed, while suffering from depression and anxiety.
They gave me pills to treat the vertigo I was feeling, the nausea...I got my blood drawn left and right for different tests. They're treating your symptoms, not the problem...which sounds like anxiety.
Codeine is good for diarrhea. It slows down your guts. Also, you can get Immodium over the counter, and it probably works even better, and has fewer side effects. Don't mix them; they work on the same principle.
It is quite likely that your stress is causing your diarrhea, especially if your doctor has ruled out disease. If your stress isn't going away, there is no reason your diarrhea should.
There is one disease that causes long-term diarrhea that most stool tests don't check for: Giardia lamblia. If you have been in an area where there are deer, elk, beaver, etc., and drunk water from a stream or lake, you can get giardia. If you have, ask your doctor if he checked for it.
I'm sending you a link that lists the causes of diarrhea. Check out the dietary causes to make sure there isn't something in you diet that might be causing it.
I hope you feel better.
ok the codeine will do nothing for the diarrhea. That is for pain. See a gastro doctor.
If your GP can't find anything wrong and you're eating a sensible diet, not overdoing the alcohol then you need to be visiting the hospital ASAP.
When you have constant diarrhoea then you also have excessive fluid loss which will end up causing you other problems.
It could be food poisoning, it could be gastroenteritis but I'm now thinking towards bowel cancer. You really need to get to hospital. If its serious, early detection is vital. A lot of us for some silly reason are embarassed of talking about bottoms and bowels but you really shouldn't be. A lot of people think that'll never happen to me or only old people get that and thats the kind of attitude that makes the situation worse.
LAY OFF THE BINGE DRINKING. I'm not saying drink any less but its certainly not doing your situation any favours. It could be that you bowel can't cope with what you're doing to it. So drinking 2 pints a day is better than drinking 14 pints in a once-a-week session.
Codeine will DEFINANTLY slow down your gut. I oughta know, I was addicted to the stuff for awhile and it caused constipation as well as difficulty urinating. Read the drug side effects.
Not a good idea to take codeine if you have a history of substance abuse.
Don't take this love, go back and insist on seeing a specialist. lay off booze all it does is mask problem and probably making it worse. Codeine sounds a bit iffy to me ask him for tramadol
Have you been taking anti-biotics and has your GP sent off a stool specimen for testing? Have you been in hospital recently? Do you have any liver problems associated with alcohol intake?
You should insist on this test before taking any more remedies like Immodium or codein. If there is the slightest chance that you may have picked up the bug known as Clostridium Difficile then Immodium and codein are a 'NO NO'
RE: LOPERAMIDE AND CODEIN
THIS IS FROM THE PATIENT + WEBSITE.
“Loperamide works by slowing down the movement of the intestine and reducing the speed at which the contents of the gut pass through. Food remains in the intestines for longer and water can be more effectively absorbed back into the body. This results in firmer stools that are passed less often.
Before taking loperamide make sure your doctor or pharmacist knows:
If you suffer from liver problems.
If you suffer from ulcerative colitis (a disease causing inflammation of the bowel).
If you are pregnant, trying for a baby or breast-feeding.
Loperamide is not recommended in children under 4 years.”
“Pseudomembranous Colitis (PMC)
Synonyms: Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea/disease (CDAD), CD-positive diarrhoea, Antibiotic-associated colitis
This is an acute, exudative colitis caused by Clostridium difficile, a gram positive toxin-releasing bacillus.
Management
Treat patients whose stools contain a positive culture, but do not contain toxins, only if you strongly suspect that they have C. difficile associated diarrhoea and if they are systemically unwell (due to the possibility of asymptomatic carriage and incidental antibiotic-related diarrhoea).
Correct fluid loses or electrolyte imbalance with oral or IV electrolyte solutions.
Avoid antiperistaltic agents such as loperamide or opiates (codeine) because of the risk of retention of toxins in the lumen.
Ceasing the causative antibiotic (if possible) allows resolution in ~3 days in 22%. Consider changing to an antibiotic less likely to cause PMC – aminoglycosides, macrolides, vancomycin or tetracyclines.
If diarrhoea is severe or persists despite stopping initial antibiotic, give oral Metronidazole 400mg tds or vancomycin orally 125mg qds, (preferred drug if pregnant) both usually for 10 days (liaise with microbiologist). Teicoplanin is another option.
A recent systematic review calls into question the evidence base for current management strategies. It suggests that mild cases may be best left untreated and that vancomycin is superior to metronidazole but associated with significant side effects. Teicoplanin is superior at symptomatic and bacteriological cure and may therefore be preferred in terms of preventing spread Concurrent treatment with vancomycin is sometimes recommended if causative antibiotic cannot be stopped, but recovery may be slower.
Prognosis Mortality can be as high as 25% in susceptible critically-ill or frail, older
patients. In less-susceptible individuals, a response to treatment is expected in the vast majority, but the illness can cause severe debility and prolonged hospital stays. Prevention is vastly preferable to cure.”
Unless you are quite advanced in years, you should not worry too much about this infection, as it is generally only dangerous for critically ill or frail older people.
The importance of fluid intake to counteract the diarrhoae should be paramount.
Ask for a stool test to put your mind at rest. Also, you could ask your Doctor to refer you to a specialist, if nothing shows up on your test.
Answers: Four weeks is a very long time to have persistant diarrhea, I dont think codeine will help, codeine is an analgesic, which is a pain reliever. Also codeine can become habit forming if you take it for long periods of time. If you are suffering from a nervous disorder i think your doctor should be prescribing you with a different type of drug before your symptoms become worse.
are you eating anything new?
Don't worry...Diarrhoea had been shown to be hereditary.
Apparently...it runs in your jeans!
it is severe stress
change your doctor
OTC get some Imodium
prescription get some paregoric
if your doc is perscribing these tablets then you should take them! no point suffering due to fear of suffering more. try them and see how it goes if you feel no improvement get a second opinion off another doctor or ask to be refered to a specialist.
just stay calm and have some faith have a bland diet and make sure you are replacing nutrients and drink plenty of water.
good luck it must be awful what your going through.
Yes, anxiety could be causing this. Probably is. Lots of people get an upset tummy when they are scared or nervous - sounds like you are all the time.
Have a look at your diet too - are you eating properly?
Anxiety and depression
Take something like Immodium for your diarrhea and try to drink lots of fluids.
I went years being improperly diagnosed, while suffering from depression and anxiety.
They gave me pills to treat the vertigo I was feeling, the nausea...I got my blood drawn left and right for different tests. They're treating your symptoms, not the problem...which sounds like anxiety.
Codeine is good for diarrhea. It slows down your guts. Also, you can get Immodium over the counter, and it probably works even better, and has fewer side effects. Don't mix them; they work on the same principle.
It is quite likely that your stress is causing your diarrhea, especially if your doctor has ruled out disease. If your stress isn't going away, there is no reason your diarrhea should.
There is one disease that causes long-term diarrhea that most stool tests don't check for: Giardia lamblia. If you have been in an area where there are deer, elk, beaver, etc., and drunk water from a stream or lake, you can get giardia. If you have, ask your doctor if he checked for it.
I'm sending you a link that lists the causes of diarrhea. Check out the dietary causes to make sure there isn't something in you diet that might be causing it.
I hope you feel better.
ok the codeine will do nothing for the diarrhea. That is for pain. See a gastro doctor.
If your GP can't find anything wrong and you're eating a sensible diet, not overdoing the alcohol then you need to be visiting the hospital ASAP.
When you have constant diarrhoea then you also have excessive fluid loss which will end up causing you other problems.
It could be food poisoning, it could be gastroenteritis but I'm now thinking towards bowel cancer. You really need to get to hospital. If its serious, early detection is vital. A lot of us for some silly reason are embarassed of talking about bottoms and bowels but you really shouldn't be. A lot of people think that'll never happen to me or only old people get that and thats the kind of attitude that makes the situation worse.
LAY OFF THE BINGE DRINKING. I'm not saying drink any less but its certainly not doing your situation any favours. It could be that you bowel can't cope with what you're doing to it. So drinking 2 pints a day is better than drinking 14 pints in a once-a-week session.
Codeine will DEFINANTLY slow down your gut. I oughta know, I was addicted to the stuff for awhile and it caused constipation as well as difficulty urinating. Read the drug side effects.
Not a good idea to take codeine if you have a history of substance abuse.
Don't take this love, go back and insist on seeing a specialist. lay off booze all it does is mask problem and probably making it worse. Codeine sounds a bit iffy to me ask him for tramadol
Have you been taking anti-biotics and has your GP sent off a stool specimen for testing? Have you been in hospital recently? Do you have any liver problems associated with alcohol intake?
You should insist on this test before taking any more remedies like Immodium or codein. If there is the slightest chance that you may have picked up the bug known as Clostridium Difficile then Immodium and codein are a 'NO NO'
RE: LOPERAMIDE AND CODEIN
THIS IS FROM THE PATIENT + WEBSITE.
“Loperamide works by slowing down the movement of the intestine and reducing the speed at which the contents of the gut pass through. Food remains in the intestines for longer and water can be more effectively absorbed back into the body. This results in firmer stools that are passed less often.
Before taking loperamide make sure your doctor or pharmacist knows:
If you suffer from liver problems.
If you suffer from ulcerative colitis (a disease causing inflammation of the bowel).
If you are pregnant, trying for a baby or breast-feeding.
Loperamide is not recommended in children under 4 years.”
“Pseudomembranous Colitis (PMC)
Synonyms: Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea/disease (CDAD), CD-positive diarrhoea, Antibiotic-associated colitis
This is an acute, exudative colitis caused by Clostridium difficile, a gram positive toxin-releasing bacillus.
Management
Treat patients whose stools contain a positive culture, but do not contain toxins, only if you strongly suspect that they have C. difficile associated diarrhoea and if they are systemically unwell (due to the possibility of asymptomatic carriage and incidental antibiotic-related diarrhoea).
Correct fluid loses or electrolyte imbalance with oral or IV electrolyte solutions.
Avoid antiperistaltic agents such as loperamide or opiates (codeine) because of the risk of retention of toxins in the lumen.
Ceasing the causative antibiotic (if possible) allows resolution in ~3 days in 22%. Consider changing to an antibiotic less likely to cause PMC – aminoglycosides, macrolides, vancomycin or tetracyclines.
If diarrhoea is severe or persists despite stopping initial antibiotic, give oral Metronidazole 400mg tds or vancomycin orally 125mg qds, (preferred drug if pregnant) both usually for 10 days (liaise with microbiologist). Teicoplanin is another option.
A recent systematic review calls into question the evidence base for current management strategies. It suggests that mild cases may be best left untreated and that vancomycin is superior to metronidazole but associated with significant side effects. Teicoplanin is superior at symptomatic and bacteriological cure and may therefore be preferred in terms of preventing spread Concurrent treatment with vancomycin is sometimes recommended if causative antibiotic cannot be stopped, but recovery may be slower.
Prognosis Mortality can be as high as 25% in susceptible critically-ill or frail, older
patients. In less-susceptible individuals, a response to treatment is expected in the vast majority, but the illness can cause severe debility and prolonged hospital stays. Prevention is vastly preferable to cure.”
Unless you are quite advanced in years, you should not worry too much about this infection, as it is generally only dangerous for critically ill or frail older people.
The importance of fluid intake to counteract the diarrhoae should be paramount.
Ask for a stool test to put your mind at rest. Also, you could ask your Doctor to refer you to a specialist, if nothing shows up on your test.
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