For the past several weeks, DH has been having on and off problems with diarrhea (sorry, don't want to gross anyone out.) His neuro said I could try taking him off the Razadyne, which I did about a week ago, and he seemed to be getting better, but it started all over again yesterday. I'm concerned about it especially since DH doesn't have any extra weight to lose (He's 6'2" and only in the 145-150 lb. range-down from 195 lbs when he was healthy!) Anyways, I made an appt. with his primary Dr. for Friday, as his neuro said I should do if taking him off the med didn't clear it up. But I'm wondering if this could be part of the AD?
He's having a hard time cleaning himself and I had to wash his jeans and throw out his underwear yesterday. I hope it's not time for adult diapers. I'm so not ready for that! Our 2 1/2 year old is still in diapers.
Any advice/info on your experience with this is helpful.
Try immodium. First get him stabilized by one with every b.m., then one pill a day, every day. This has been working for us for months now. Before that I was trying to eliminate all kinds of things from his diet to fix it and it didn't work. Oh, and the Dannon DanActives. Just be sure your kids don't get to them; they're expensive!
I do the Dannon DanActives for myself. One every day. I've got bowel problems and I'm taking medication for it too. But the yogurt seems to help the medication do its job.
I also use the immodium about every other day now. we took him off almost all the alz meds thinking they were causing the bowel issues. not so, they continue and it seems it could be assoc with the AD maybe the digestion isnt up to par. mine also takes prilosec everyday which can cause it too -either way we use the immodium to help with this and it works great. divvi
When the sh*t hit the fan with me, I developed chronic diarrhea. You have to be careful about dehydration. I had fecal studies done, results negative, just stress. I discovered the BRATT diet, that helped me. It is bananas, rice, applesauce, tea & toast. That was the only way I could stop the diarrhea. Notice, I'm not the one with AD, just my body's way of responding to the stress of it all. You can have yogurt, but it must be Stonyfield, because you need to have the 6 things it contains. No cheapy yogurt.
The dannon activ isn't the cheapy kind, believe me. Nor the activia. I'm not sure it's better than Stonyfield; he takes that too, every morning, and then we eat a lot of yogurt in our meals at night - greek/middle east foods use a lot. All together, it's pretty well under control at the moment.
I had an advice nurse who put me on the something very like the BRATT diet at one point. They had an office full of people with diarrhea and that is what they were doing for all of them once they got it to stop. So I was told to take a up to a specific number of immodium, followed by clear broth and then on to one banana once I was pretty sure it had stopped. If it didn't work I was to come in. At that point they were sending people to the hospital.
I've always kept that diet in mind for bad episodes, but frankly they don't get that bad anymore. Are you sure about the applesauce? Noodles in the soup yes, but applesauce? Didn't know about that one.
The thin layer under the apple peel has loads of pectin which is used in treating diarrhea. We used to give scraped apple to sick babies. Gosh-makes me feel a million years old. I've been a nurse for 50 years. bluedaze
I picked up a GI problem in the 80s when we lived in Turkey. I got rid of the bug, but the diarrhea has remained. So I'm the incontinent one. I use Immodium and Prilosec and they work well. I have had to greatly change my diet - vegetables have to be cooked very soft - and I liked all the raw ones before. I am also Lactose Intolerant and take Lactaid tablets for that which work and also use Lactiad free milk.I have had zillions of tests, some suggestions of sugery but I think that was because he didn't know what else to say. The problem is in my stomach, not my bottom. Also what works is Cholesturamine powder - it is a RX = it worked well for the diarrhea but I had to stop it because it was interferring with the meds that I take that are sustained release. I use everything from pads to diapers depending on the need'. It isn't fun, but it has become a way of life - I know where all the quick bathrooms are and the first thing I look for when I go anywhere is the location of the bathroom. I had forgotten about the brat diet and will use that again. Good luck. Don't we have lovely issues we discuss here - none of my friends that I see in person know about my problem, but all of my new invisible ones now know. :-)
Dagma-thanks for sharing :) Peoples' Pharmacy on PBS says folks with chronic diarrhea (I never will learn how to spell that darn word) sometimes do well on Archway coconut macaroons. Seems simplistic to me but still worth a try. bluedaze
Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I have IBS myself so a lot of this could probably be useful for me as well. DH went back to his day program today, and hopefully there won't be any more bouts for awhile. I gave him an immodium tablet this morning. I think I'll try the yogurt too. I'll see what the doc recommends tomorrow too. Meanwhile, I'm going to step up my efforts to get our youngest potty trained!
We're dealing with a combo of diarhea and/or constipation. Hubby's problem is mostly constipation (med induced) and we're treating with doses of Dulcolax interspered through the week(still trying to work out a fairly smooth pattern). Main thing for him is to use enough but not too much.
For me, IBS,sugar intolerance, and Dairy (Can have none--not just lactose), create a juggling act to keep on a fairly even pattern. This means, no fresh fruits or veggies(except bananas); extremely limited sauces or gravies; only very lean meat; only soy (dairy substitutes);limited carbohydrates. Specifically, for me this also means nothing with anything apple or pear in it(not cooked, fresh, juice, not any); and no tomato(small dash of kechup occasionally only). I have to read every ingredient label on anything new--did you know prepackaged Butterball turkey slicxes for sandwiches have milk in the, and non-dairy creamers have components of milk in them? Grrr... If I indulge in something I shouldn't have tried, I use store brand immodium to put the intestine to rest. Then it can get back to its proper pattern. Same thing if I run into something I didn't know I shuld have avoided. On my braces and crutches, running just isn't an option.
sorbitol put me in the ER when it first came out. I hurt so much and I thought my tummy was going to explode. There are so many strange ingredients in what we eat . I try to eat just plain - not as good, but it works.
dagma-easier said than done. I rarely eat anything from a box because of all the junk in it. I was reading a carton of Dannon plain yogurt. The regular and lo fat are fine, the non-fat has extra garbage in it-WHY. Did you know that if you store cartons of yogurt and cottage cheese upside down in the fridge they won't separate and will last much longer.
I keep peanut butter upside down some of the time. I prefer the real thing. Ingredient list is "peanuts" and depending on the brand some salt. If you keep it upside down half the time you don't need to stir.
Starling-Publix supermarket makes their own peanut butter-no added anything. Did you all know that even "good" brands remove the more expensive peanut oil and replace it with cheaper stuff
That would have to be on the ingredient list. I check the list. I avoid the brands with the weird things on the list.
We don't have Publix, but if I ever manage to get back to Valley Farm Market (a very local and very odd store in this area) I'll get their own fresh ground peanut butter. Truly the best. They do add a bit of salt, but not too much.