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Are Kaopectate Or Imodium Effective At Treating Persistent Diarrhea In An Elderly?

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Posted on Mon, 25 Sep 2017
Question: I am a healthy 70-year-old female. For the past 3 months, my bowel movements have been messed up. They are diarrhea-like in that they are loose and oily in appearance and very foul-smelling. But they only occur once or twice a day - always in the a.m. and sometimes in the evening - so it isn't typical diarrhea. A couple of times in the midst of this, I have had full-blown diarrhea for a day or two and at 5:40 this morning it started again. I have been to my gastroenterologist and have had an abdominal ultrasound with and without contrast and there was nothing out of the ordinary, including in my pancreas, liver and spleen; but there was built up fecal matter in my colon. About a month ago, after the tests, my Internist put me on Miralax and that has given some form to the beginnings of my daily bowel movements, but they still end with the loose, oily appearance
Today none of my doctors are in the office. I am wondering if I should buy some Kaopectate or Imodium to treat this round since we were scheduled to leave on a 10-day trip today. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, I am having some cramping in my stomach and some body aches today with this diarrhea, but no fever and I am not terribly ill. I have slept from midnight last night until 1 p.m. today (trip preparations kept me up beyond my normal 11:00 bed time). Thank you for your time.

I need immediate answer - as indicated on your site when I started this process. I can talk with my own doctors in 24 hours. If you cannot help immediately, please refund my money and stop this process. Thank you.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (50 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
sorry but it takes some time to write answer dear patient.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Dear patient,
Thanks for choosing HealthcareMagic for your query.
Have gone through your details and i appreciate your concerns.
Most likely you are suffering from irritable bowel syndrome
Firstly small briefing for Irritable bowel syndrome and why every patient is a unique case when we deal with IBS.
In IBS there is some problem in the functional ability of the gut that leads to the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The structure of the intestines is normal, only functional abnormality occurs in this condition.So frankly speaking (IBS) represents a functional disorder of gastrointestinal tract without the presence of an anatomic defect.Therefore all tests are normal.

Recent studies by French scientists have indicated that the most important mechanisms include visceral sensitivity, abnormal gut motility and autonomous nervous system dysfunction. The interactions between these three mechanisms make bowel's function susceptible to many exogenous and endogenous factors like gastrointestinal flora, feeding and psychosocial factors.

Further data indicate that according to the above mechanisms, the influence of genetic factors and polymorphisms of human DNA in the development of IBS is equally important.

So in lay mans language till date we are not sure whats the exact cause of this problem.So the million dollar question is how to repair a system when you don't know which part of it is faulty(Some says it can be brain other says it can be hormone anxiety age etc etc).

Some patients have symptoms of unformed stools some have bloating and some may have severe constipation. Some patients have occasional symptoms whereas others may have symptoms for a long period of time.So as seen above every patient is different.Intensity of symptoms in every patient is different as so is the response to medicines and life style change.A patient may respond good to one medication while other patient is totally unresponsive to the same.

Our goal-
Every drug is not effective in every patient so we have to try different therapies till we find the drug which suits best our patient.All the below mentioned drugs slows down motility of intestines hence will decrease both frequency of motions as well as will increase your power to control them.


Dicyclomine is an anticholinergic drug.An anticholinergic agent is a substance that blocks the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the central and the peripheral nervous system. Anticholinergics inhibit parasympathetic nerve impulses by selectively blocking the binding of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to its receptor in nerve cells.

Mebeverine is an antispasmodic medicine and is very useful in IBS and is well tolerated by patient with minimal side effects. Mebeverine works on certain muscles in the wall of your intestines, causing them to relax.
Clidinium bromide is an anticholinergic (specifically a
It may help symptoms of frequent stools.

Chlordiazepoxide works by increasing the action of GABA, a chemical messenger which suppresses the abnormal and excessive activity of the nerve cells in the brain.Can be used in combination with above mentioned medicines.


Ask your Gastroenterologist to start you initially on clidinium bromide and mebeverine combination initially for 21 days.

However if you want an OTC drug you can take imodium in 4 mg doses upto 16 mg.

Thank you
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Ramesh Kumar

Gastroenterologist

Practicing since :1986

Answered : 2906 Questions

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Are Kaopectate Or Imodium Effective At Treating Persistent Diarrhea In An Elderly?

Brief Answer: sorry but it takes some time to write answer dear patient. Detailed Answer: Hello Dear patient, Thanks for choosing HealthcareMagic for your query. Have gone through your details and i appreciate your concerns. Most likely you are suffering from irritable bowel syndrome Firstly small briefing for Irritable bowel syndrome and why every patient is a unique case when we deal with IBS. In IBS there is some problem in the functional ability of the gut that leads to the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The structure of the intestines is normal, only functional abnormality occurs in this condition.So frankly speaking (IBS) represents a functional disorder of gastrointestinal tract without the presence of an anatomic defect.Therefore all tests are normal. Recent studies by French scientists have indicated that the most important mechanisms include visceral sensitivity, abnormal gut motility and autonomous nervous system dysfunction. The interactions between these three mechanisms make bowel's function susceptible to many exogenous and endogenous factors like gastrointestinal flora, feeding and psychosocial factors. Further data indicate that according to the above mechanisms, the influence of genetic factors and polymorphisms of human DNA in the development of IBS is equally important. So in lay mans language till date we are not sure whats the exact cause of this problem.So the million dollar question is how to repair a system when you don't know which part of it is faulty(Some says it can be brain other says it can be hormone anxiety age etc etc). Some patients have symptoms of unformed stools some have bloating and some may have severe constipation. Some patients have occasional symptoms whereas others may have symptoms for a long period of time.So as seen above every patient is different.Intensity of symptoms in every patient is different as so is the response to medicines and life style change.A patient may respond good to one medication while other patient is totally unresponsive to the same. Our goal- Every drug is not effective in every patient so we have to try different therapies till we find the drug which suits best our patient.All the below mentioned drugs slows down motility of intestines hence will decrease both frequency of motions as well as will increase your power to control them. Dicyclomine is an anticholinergic drug.An anticholinergic agent is a substance that blocks the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the central and the peripheral nervous system. Anticholinergics inhibit parasympathetic nerve impulses by selectively blocking the binding of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to its receptor in nerve cells. Mebeverine is an antispasmodic medicine and is very useful in IBS and is well tolerated by patient with minimal side effects. Mebeverine works on certain muscles in the wall of your intestines, causing them to relax. Clidinium bromide is an anticholinergic (specifically a It may help symptoms of frequent stools. Chlordiazepoxide works by increasing the action of GABA, a chemical messenger which suppresses the abnormal and excessive activity of the nerve cells in the brain.Can be used in combination with above mentioned medicines. Ask your Gastroenterologist to start you initially on clidinium bromide and mebeverine combination initially for 21 days. However if you want an OTC drug you can take imodium in 4 mg doses upto 16 mg. Thank you