Urso and nausea

[donsheray]

I've been taking urso for over 2yrs now and I still get an upset stomach i am so tired of feeling sick I can't stand it. Any advice?

[CathieG]

I had no idea that this medication caused this!! Last week I felt so sick for two days I couldn't eat apart from a dry biscuit. So great, something else I have to accept! I drank as much as I could (water) and the nausea went after two full days but now I know the cause I will just have to accept. Does your sickness last a long time?

[Hidden in reply to CathieG]

Urso is said to be 'well tolerated' according to all the blurb I've read on various patient leaflets (I've had a few different pharmaceutical brands of it in the last few years). I've nto read that it can cause nausea but diarrhoea seems to be a common occurrence. (I went the other way, never had any bowel complaints pre-urso but then started becoming constipated but over time I have resolved that myself by a slight change dietary.)

Nausea unfortunately can be a sympton of PBC. It also could be due to hormonal changes as I've always found certain times in mine I dont' feel very much like eating and then at the time of the cycle can eat for England.

[teddybear7]

Always but always take your urso directly after you've eaten. Never on an empty stomach. Works for me. X

[butterflyEi]

I have gastric reflux and used to take Omeprazole. I now have Ranatidine (this is new from the GP) having seen a contribution on here about ranatidine helping the itch. I hate it when having just taken Urso that it comes back at me so what I do is to make sure that when taking the Urso I sit still for a while after to let it go down. Used always to get up directly after eating - just like my mother! It is possible that indigestion and PBC go together in some cases. When I was taking the Omeprazole I would also sometimes have to take Rennies or Deflatine.

A little while ago another contributor suggested taking the Urso at night helped with the nausea. I take two in the morning and two at night (cannot remember the dosage without looking). I think there was also an article 2 or 3 publications ago which suggested taking all the Urso at night was helpful.

Hope something above or a contribution from someone else will be helpful.

best wishes

[Hidden]

Hello donsheray.

When do you take the urso, all at once or in spaced out doses?

I started on urso Dec 2010 and found that it caused me to have heartburn that I never had pre-diagnosis and also a bti of bloating for a few months and I did think the itch worsened for awhile.

Nausea can be a sympton of PBC unfortunately. I go through odd times where I feel nauseous and I then put mine down to hormonal changes (my cycle as gone haywire, started 2yrs ago now but I've still not completed menopause so I find around that time of the cycle I can eat for England and then it wanes and I often dont' feel much like eating around the evening meal time).

I know from experience on having to have different pharma of urso around 18 months ago now that it can cause problems, notso nice side-effects. For me a change when 300mg tablets were withdrawn and I had to take 150mgs that I still have was heartburn return and it wouldn't shift. I ended up asking for a different pharmaceutical and have found that doesn't cause the heartburn so it must be the filling agents that are with the urso. Have you at all asked if you can try a different pharma yourself just to see?

I have experimented with the urso myself over the first 3yrs but found it works best for me taking 300mgs at morning with breakfast, the other 300mgs with the evening meal. I did orginally take the final dose around 9p.m. at night and I only had a few biscuits but I then developed heartburn but also I have found in myself I seem to think the later at night I take urso, the more prolonged the itch seems to be in the morning. I normally stop itching around 5a.m. and feel normal again with how I currently take urso, wasn't the same taking it later at night.

I have tried taking the urso in 4 doses given I now have 150mg tablets that I take 4 of per day. I found that didn't seem to be so good for me somehow. I don't know why, I just somehow got it into my head that I wasn't having enough urso in one go. I did read in Bear Facts a couple years ago that you can take it all in one go and it was suggested morning. I took the whole lot one morning with breakfast and developed the itch rather badly by noon, something I do not tend to have. I persisted for several days taking it all at morning but then went back to how I normally take it.

I do think with urso though, maybe because it is has that 'acid' on the end of it and knowing it is a component of bile I go with the theory it is best taken with a substantial meal.

[SimbaTutor]

I take my urso capsules as I eat my food so that they are digested as the meal is (breakfast and again at dinner). I use zyrtec in the morning to help decrease the nausea at the suggestion of my primary doctor. I take levothyroxin an hour before eating in the morning and sometimes it sets my stomach off before I even get the urso. On those days, I use ginger ale as my "juice" with breakfast. Life seems to be a balance of "good" days and "bad" days...I just never know ahead which one it will be! Yes, it is frustrating, but it seems to be part and parcel of the disease process.

[cazz22]

Hello donsheray.i suffered badly with urso I only take 450mg because of it(should be over 1000)I found out I cannot tolerate capsules so take urso as white hard tablets.they also do a liquid version.my specialist said we would've tried that too but the tablets suited.my bloods even on a low dose are virtually normal tho this is of no significance as to how the pbc is progressing.

Don't suffer like this .its worth trying a lower dose/tablets/liquid.best wishes