Why do I need to Urso with a meal?

[Abigail53]

[moepag]

I recently started Urso and was told it did not need to be taken with a meal but it could. Basically told it doesn't matter either way.

[Betonarme]

May be otherwise you run into risk of diarrhea.....may be may be not....you should try & observe what happens.

I remember reading somewhere Urso can cause diarrhea in some people. But not sure 100%.

[Abigail53]

Thanks for replying! I wanted to make sure it would not hurt me if I did not eat with it and that answers my question. Many thanks. Abigail53

[Hidden]

Hello Abigail53.

I think it is wise to take the urso with or just following a meal or food snack as in my mind it is a form of acid as in a component of bile. That's how I t hink anyway.

I know in the early days of taking urso myself I took 2 x 300mg tablets per day. I took one with breakfast and the other around 9p.m. I did get good LFTs following but I found I was experiencing heartburn (and a bit of bloating) in the early days of urso (been taking since Dec 2010) in the evening and reckon could have been due to the last urso and not enough food.

I know reading the Patient Info Leaflet that I've had with mine it does mention taking urso with or following food. Even my pharmacy label has this on too.

I think it depends on how you feel. I did try experimenting with the urso and found varying results. Some take urso all at once of a morning (I tried this many months ago, I started itching later morning, something I never do like that) and some take all at once at night (I've never done this, think I'll suffer heartburn), others like to space theirs out, others take like I have been doing most of the time, one with breakfast and one with or just following evening meal. This works best for me it seems.

Regardless of how you take urso, according to the PBC Foundation, any way is fine as long as you ensure you take the prescribed urso for each day.

[Abigail53 in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks for the reply Peridot. I started off taking my Urso with food in a morning/evening split dose, but was forgetting to take it because I would wait to take it with a meal. You guessed it, the meal came and went and I forgot to take my Urso. After discovering I didn't have any side effects like nausea or bloating, I tried taking it with my morning meds regardless of whether I had eaten and I seem to be fine with it. As an afterthought, I decided I should make sure that would not cause any problems. It works for me, so I will just go with it. Thanks for the reply. Take care, and God bless.

[Hidden in reply to Abigail53]

Hello Abigail53, I had to smile at your mention of forgetting to take the urso. I find more these days that my husband reaches for the urso at teatime so I can have with the meal and then afterwards I end up asking if I have taken as I can't remember!

If you get the tablets out just as the meal is being served then you shall find you won't forget but at the same time if you have eaten the meal and forgotten, I'd not worry, just eat a dry biscuit and take them or have with a drink.

But as you have found what seems to work for you then that is all that matters.

[Hidden]

Usually take mine last thing at night all in one go. Seems to work ok for me, might not suit everyone though. Sometimes forget and take in morning....... When I remember really.

[IOW-gal]

I take 3x250mg a day. Two just after breakfast and the third just after my evening meal. Peridot just like you it is my husband that usually remembers the last one and appears beside me like my personal nurse, bottle of water and capsule in hand.