10-22-2005, 11:07 PM
Hi, DeeBye,
Yeah, I agree that bismuth isn't too effective in moderate to severe cases. And neither bismuth or Kao will necessarily decrease the frequency of bowel movements. However, the increasing solidification of the stool may be a worthwhile effect by itself.
If you want an IMMEDIATE solution (at least, an over-the-counter one), loperamide is the answer. I usually notice an effect in 20-30 minutes (especially if you take 2 pills right away). However, if it seems to be a moderate case, sometimes I start with only one pill, to see if that will help enough to get by.
As far as waiting it out, sometimes I do too. I'm not pill-happy, I prefer to avoid medications if I can. But sometimes, it just doesn't seem worth just "toughing out" a bad situation. It depends on the severity of the attack and my situation. If you simply have to be on the move, loperamide seems to be the only practical solution. But, even if you are in a situation where you can just wait it out, if it's a severe attack, it may not be worth it doing so. The misery, the wear-and-tear on you-know-where, the liquid loss, all may be side-effects bad enough to warrant stronger actiion, i.e., reaching for the loperamide.
I don't know, but suspect, that there may be some additional prescription drugs that could be useful in this situation. On the other hand, maybe there aren't; unless they're real recent, you'd think they would have reached over-the-counter status by now, and I'm not aware of any other than loperamide.
I don't own any stock in any companies producing loperamide. :D And it may have minor side effects, depending on the individual's physiology. I used to get slightly dizzy, and have dry mouth, but I haven't noticed these symptoms the last few years. Possibly they may vary depending on the particular manufacturer, and I probably am using a different one than I used to, since I usually buy generic versions of this. But there are times when I'm just not willing to suffer the side effects of a moderate to severe case of diarrhea, so, albeit reluctantly, I reach for the pills.
Regards,
Dako-ta
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease."
-- Voltaire
DeeBye,Oct 22 2005, 04:34 AM Wrote:I've used bismuth pills in the past to treat diarrhea, but they never seemed to work much. And if they did, the process was too slow to be of much use. Diarrhea is an IMMEDIATE problem which requires an IMMEDIATE solution.
Plus, they turn my poop into strange colours and that's just weird.
I usually just stick close to a toilet and wait it out :(
[right][snapback]92885[/snapback][/right]
Yeah, I agree that bismuth isn't too effective in moderate to severe cases. And neither bismuth or Kao will necessarily decrease the frequency of bowel movements. However, the increasing solidification of the stool may be a worthwhile effect by itself.
If you want an IMMEDIATE solution (at least, an over-the-counter one), loperamide is the answer. I usually notice an effect in 20-30 minutes (especially if you take 2 pills right away). However, if it seems to be a moderate case, sometimes I start with only one pill, to see if that will help enough to get by.
As far as waiting it out, sometimes I do too. I'm not pill-happy, I prefer to avoid medications if I can. But sometimes, it just doesn't seem worth just "toughing out" a bad situation. It depends on the severity of the attack and my situation. If you simply have to be on the move, loperamide seems to be the only practical solution. But, even if you are in a situation where you can just wait it out, if it's a severe attack, it may not be worth it doing so. The misery, the wear-and-tear on you-know-where, the liquid loss, all may be side-effects bad enough to warrant stronger actiion, i.e., reaching for the loperamide.
I don't know, but suspect, that there may be some additional prescription drugs that could be useful in this situation. On the other hand, maybe there aren't; unless they're real recent, you'd think they would have reached over-the-counter status by now, and I'm not aware of any other than loperamide.
I don't own any stock in any companies producing loperamide. :D And it may have minor side effects, depending on the individual's physiology. I used to get slightly dizzy, and have dry mouth, but I haven't noticed these symptoms the last few years. Possibly they may vary depending on the particular manufacturer, and I probably am using a different one than I used to, since I usually buy generic versions of this. But there are times when I'm just not willing to suffer the side effects of a moderate to severe case of diarrhea, so, albeit reluctantly, I reach for the pills.
Regards,
Dako-ta
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease."
-- Voltaire