Something that seems to work for diarrhea

[VirginiaGirl]

Probiotics are considered a supplement. The brand I got is by American Health and is called Acidophilus, and it has 3 strains of good bacteria. My nurse told me to just follow the instructions on the bottle, which is a couple tablespoons with every meal (3x/day), but work up to it. So far I haven't taken it but once or twice a day. It has a strong plain yogurt flavor, at least the strawberry does, there are other flavors. There are also other probiotics, some are in a capsule, and some have more strains of bacteria. This brand specifically states on the label: no grapefruit, and since I'm on tykerb for some reason they stress not having any grapefruit or extract, that makes me feel better. Anyway, just google probiotics and tons will come up. I'm curious to know if anyone else out there takes them?

How much Xeloda and Tykerb is everyone on? I take 2000 mg of Xeloda in the morning, 2000 mg of Xeloda at night and 1500 mg of Tykerb at night. We tried 2500 mg and 2000 mg of Tykerb but both landed me in the hospital with severe diarrhea, dehydration and my kidneys began to go into failure. So the diarrhea is nothing to mess with, do seek help right away.

I just began reading on this website and want to thank you for the advise about citrucel, I am going to ask my onc about it.

Hi to all who are working through the gastro issues with Tykerb. I had a horrible time getting on it. I had to add one a week for over a month, and now am up to 4 for a month, dreading to go to 5 but probably will. I found that my doc and the staff had NO IDEA about how to treat my really bad diarrhea and stomach upset. I ended up losing close to 25 pound over the last 3 months just because I couldn't eat anything. I did figure out a regime that helped a lot.

First thing in the morning and 2 or 3 times a day I take 2 oz of Aloe Vera juice before I eat. (George's is the best brand as it doesn't feel slimy at all - like water.) The aloe really helps coat your stomach. I also was on Carafate (sp?) as well, it seemed to help my lower GI tract, (it is perscription) and now I am off that.

I take a zantac in the am before my first meal.

When I started, I just automatically took an imodium a day, then I went down to 1/2 and now I am down to as needed, which is great.

The dairy issue is a big one for me - I can't even tolerate youghurt at this point, but I have been able to introduce goat cheese and have done better with that than regular cheeses. I am hoping to start a goat kefir so I can get probiotics better. Regular probiotic supplements from the healthfood store help too.

The biggest thing though is cutting out SALT. The addition of any salt to food creates a terrible problem - it just acts as an osmolytic and pulls the water into my bowels. If I avoid salt in my meals, I am able to go for days without an incident. I even went out to dinner and asked them to hold the salt, and I was good the whole evening. It was great.

Best luck for everyone - and if you find something that works, please post it.

Thanks, Alison