Regular immodium use

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Taffyboyslim

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Until I get my bloods low I have accepted that 2 x 500 immodium and saxagliptin is the best I have tried ......but metformin for me comes with terrible loose bowells

Does anyone use immodium in its various forms ......even if just a few days alternate a week to firm things up , as it were ?
 
I just threw the metformin away and changed my diet.. taking further medication to counteract the effects of another seems a bit mad to me.
 
Taffyboyslim said:
For me it depends on how bad the loose bowels are .
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That was precisely why the metformin went in the bin.. 3 weeks of being tied to the loo for little benefit in BG terms...
 
You're not supposed to take Imodium for more than 48 hours, so it's not a long-term solution. If you're not already on it, ask to be prescribed the slow release version of Metformin as that's sometimes better tolerated.

Just for info, generic Loperamide Hydrochloride is around a third of the price of Imodium.
 
RBZ5416 said:
You're not supposed to take Imodium for more than 48 hours, so it's not a long-term solution. If you're not already on it, ask to be prescribed the slow release version of Metformin as that's sometimes better tolerated.

Just for info, generic Loperamide Hydrochloride is around a third of the price of Imodium.
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I am on slow release metformin and only 2 x 500 mg daily but despite approaching the doctors for alternatives they are not all that helpful

I don't see that I have any choice really
 
Taffyboyslim said:
I am on slow release metformin and only 2 x 500 mg daily but despite approaching the doctors for alternatives they are not all that helpful

I don't see that I have any choice really
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You could try some probiotic yoghurt to try to rebalance your gut bacterial flora or ask about dropping down to 1 metformin to see if it helps.
 
Taffyboyslim said:
Could I just drop to 1 a day together with saxagliptin or should I contact them first ?
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Personally but obviously it is your decision I would reduce to 1 and see if it helps then contact them and say what you have done and why. If it doesn't help then contact them anyway and say you can't tolerate the effects and are having to take Imodium all the time.
 
Leadinglights said:
Personally but obviously it is your decision I would reduce to 1 and see if it helps then contact them and say what you have done and why. If it doesn't help then contact them anyway and say you can't tolerate the effects and are having to take Imodium all the time.
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Thanks I will speak to the diabetes nurse . She knows I have struggled and put me on saxagliptin alongside the 2 x metformin so is aware of things . I do know my hbca1 levels are right down so I think they will be fine with the proposal.

Cheers
 
Taffyboyslim said:
Thanks I will speak to the diabetes nurse . She knows I have struggled and put me on saxagliptin alongside the 2 x metformin so is aware of things . I do know my hbca1 levels are right down so I think they will be fine with the proposal.

Cheers
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Your body your call what goes into it?
 
Taffyboyslim said:
It is but I don't want to do anything unwise
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Absolutely agree @Taffyboyslim and I am more inclined to treat my medical team as a wiser source of information than unqualified internet warriors who know little or nothing about me and my medical history.

@bulkbiker, from a personal point of view I think some of your comments are not helpful. You may have had poor experiences yourself with medication and the medical profession but implying that all the medical profession is incompetent and that you should ignore their advice is just plain wrong.
 
@Taffyboyslim , in your shoes, I suggest a chat with your GP (or whoever you see for your diabetes).

I take a medication which is very important to me. It comes with side effects that can make Metformin's look like a slight tummy grumble. Thankfully, I haven't reacted to it in that way, but on having the drug prescribed I also came away with a prescription for Loperamide (thus far, almost 2 years on, untouched) to be taken immediately, if I am affected and to keep taking it, or the OTC equivelants, as long as is required. On that basis, it seems it could be safe for me to be on it longer term.

For some things, it's about balance, but I would have a discussion with your Doc. If you want to remain on the drugs, then you have to work out where your compromise is.

To be clear, I am not suggesting mainlining Loperamide, just relaying my personal, lived experiences.
 
Docb said:
a personal point of view I think some of your comments are not helpful. You may have had poor experiences yourself with medication and the medical profession but implying that all the medical profession is incompetent and that you should ignore their advice is just plain wrong.
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I simply speak from my own experience.

A doctor is there to advise not command and patients should make their own decisions about what medication they take.

In a condition like T2 where many doctors are fairly clueless it seems to me that we need to become the experts.

We are the people mainly impacted by our condition so I firmly believe WE need to take charge and control it.
 
Docb said:
Absolutely agree @Taffyboyslim and I am more inclined to treat my medical team as a wiser source of information than unqualified internet warriors who know little or nothing about me and my medical history.

@bulkbiker, from a personal point of view I think some of your comments are not helpful. You may have had poor experiences yourself with medication and the medical profession but implying that all the medical profession is incompetent and that you should ignore their advice is just plain wrong.
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I appreciate your input
 
bulkbiker said:
I simply speak from my own experience.

A doctor is there to advise not command and patients should make their own decisions about what medication they take.

In a condition like T2 where many doctors are fairly clueless it seems to me that we need to become the experts.

We are the people mainly impacted by our condition so I firmly believe WE need to take charge and control it.
Click to expand...

And I appreciate your input too
 
@bulkbiker, in another life, I have had rank amateurs telling me how to do my job based on things they have "read" and "heard" and know there is little point in debating the issue. All I will say is that generalising from the particular is not a helpful way of resolving anything and I will leave it at that.
 
AndBreathe said:
@Taffyboyslim , in your shoes, I suggest a chat with your GP (or whoever you see for your diabetes).

I take a medication which is very important to me. It comes with side effects that can make Metformin's look like a slight tummy grumble. Thankfully, I haven't reacted to it in that way, but on having the drug prescribed I also came away with a prescription for Loperamide (thus far, almost 2 years on, untouched) to be taken immediately, if I am affected and to keep taking it, or the OTC equivelants, as long as is required. On that basis, it seems it could be safe for me to be on it longer term.

For some things, it's about balance, but I would have a discussion with your Doc. If you want to remain on the drugs, then you have to work out where your compromise is.

To be clear, I am not suggesting mainlining Loperamide, just relaying my personal, lived experiences.
Click to expand...

I am totally in support of medication to help me , alongside self care and diet

The problem is metformin gives me dreadful wind , runs etc, even on 2 x 500

What it has done is reduce my hbca1 from 87 to 52

So if I can reduce to 1 tablet a day and reduce my tummy problems then it's worth a try , in conjunction with the doctors
 
Docb said:
@bulkbiker, in another life, I have had rank amateurs telling me how to do my job based on things they have "read" and "heard" and know there is little point in debating the issue. All I will say is that generalising from the particular is not a helpful way of resolving anything and I will leave it at that.
Click to expand...
I simply speak from my own experience.

As a "rank amateur" I seem to have had a modicum of success in putting into remission a "chronic progressive illness that means you'll end up on insulin" to quote the first "diabetes nurse" I ever met...
 
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