chronic diarrhoea 4 days.

[lennysmummy]

I honestly feel like just stopping the prednisolone. It’s one thing after another. Nothing is staying in my stomach and I feel so weak. Any advice appreciated. Do I take Imodium? 🙏

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I just went back to read your last thread - maybe you need to as well just to remind yourself,

I suspect this isn't the pred, I think it may well be the GCA and you really are on a low dose for that, without it you run the risk of losing your sight and that would be far worse than what you going through now. You need medical advice - if nothing else because if it is bad you may not be absorbing the pred and it isn't doing what you need it to do. Try 111 for a start.

Try immodium but be careful - you have a history of gut problems and immodium can take you to the other extreme which wouldn't be desirable.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to PMRpro]

Just had a thought - are you on a PPI? Omeprazole or the like? Or other medication?

[lennysmummy in reply to PMRpro]

I’ve been on them for 9 years for stomach ulcers that flare and gastritis to which I’m probe to. X

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to lennysmummy]

It is possible that it is causing the problem - even though you have been on them for a long time, sometimes people react to them differently when mixed with other medication that upsets the balance. It might be worth trying an H2-antagonist instead.

[lennysmummy in reply to PMRpro]

I used to be on Ranitidine but they were taken off the market for some reason. Are there any over the counter ones you can recommend? 🙏

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to lennysmummy]

It was removed from the market because of contaminants in one of the ingredients, The alternatives are cimetidine/Tagamet or famotidine/Pepcid - there may be more, ask the pharmacist.

[lennysmummy in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you. X

[Missus835 in reply to lennysmummy]

I used to take OTC ranitidine because it was cheap. I now take Rabeprazole 20 mg 2x per day (prescription). It was upped to protect my stomach, due to having to take a higher dose of Pred, due to a GCA scare and still tapering. It helps immensely. I've been on the Rab about 2-3 years now. Initially, it was only 1x per day. Omeprazole, Lansoprazole, etc. were not as effective. I do have GERD and esophageal spasms. These are proton pump inhibitors (ppi's). The double dose is helping with the spasms, however, Just another pretty little pill added to the lot. Ugh.

[lennysmummy in reply to PMRpro]

*prone

[Broseley]

Try Psyllium. It's a prebiotic natural fibre supplement. You can buy capsules or a powder, capsules are best. My cousin in NZ had it prescribed! It solved my chronic diarrhoea. I use Solgar from Amazon.

[lennysmummy in reply to Broseley]

It definitely will not make me go more will it being fibre? 🙏

[Broseley in reply to lennysmummy]

No, it's soluble fibre. The sort you're thinking of is insoluble fibre. " Prebiotic fibres are beneficial to our bacteria friends and might be helpful to our health in ways that are yet to be understood. However an excess of prebiotic fibre in our diet (as indeed an excess of any type of fibre) could be problematic. Prebiotic fibres are soluble and are digested by bacteria: this reduces the ability of our stools to hold water, making them harder to pass. Indeed an excess of prebiotic fibres has been link to constipation." gutscharity.org.uk/advice-a...

[lennysmummy in reply to Broseley]

Thank you so much. 🙏