I Have Chronic Diarrhea . It Started When I Discovered

Posted on Tue, 21 May 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 21 May 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I have chronic diarrhea. It started when I discovered that I had gallstones. It has continued since having my gallbladder out. I have had IBS in my earlier years. I've been checked for a panel of 20 parasites. Had bloodwork and everything looks good. I take probiotics. I've had 1 round of Xifaxin and am still having issues. I will be starting on cholestyramine this evening. I did the Colo-Guard test and it was negative. Help!

Answered by Dr. Dr. (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
May be bile acid diarrhea. Require further evaluation.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I have gone through your query and here is my advice.

As per your history, as chronic diarrhea had started since gallbladder removal surgery. So it may be bile acid diarrhea.

For that I would suggest you to continue cholestyramine as advised. You can also take tablet loperamide 2 mg after each loose stool up to maximum 12 mg per day.

Keep yourself hydrated by electoral XXXXXXX (oral rehydration solution). Still kindly follow up with a bit more information.

Please let me know do you have history of weight loss, blood in stool, fever, abdominal pain, decreased appetite?

In that case you may require complete hemogram, stool examination, Colonoscopy after detailed medical examination and gastroenterologist's opinion to rule out other possibilities like IBS, colitis.

Along with that avoid dairy, greasy, sweet foods. Take balanced diet. Do regular blood pressure monitoring.

Hope I have answered your query and let me know if I can assist you further.. Thank you.

Regards,
Dr Shyam Kale

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Dr. (18 hours later)

I dont undertand what your asking me to hydrate with. Please clarify. Also no blood in stool, weight loss or fever. The only problem with food is trying to determine what i can eat. Its very depressing and challenging. Thanks for your help. How Long will it take the cholestyram to start working?

Answered by Dr. Dr. (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Please see detailed answer below.

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thank you for your reply.

Usually chronic diarrhea may cause electrolytes imbalance, which can be corrected with oral rehydration solutions. It should be available over the counter as electral or trioral. Kindly use it as instructed.

In the absence of other symptoms, it may be bile acid diarrhea. Kindly Follow all measures as suggested earlier.

Tablet cholestyramine usually shows peak effect in 20 to 25 days. Still kindly do regular follow up with physician as advised.

Let me know I can assist you further... Thank you.

Regards,
Dr Shyam Kale

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng