Hep C Discussion Forum

britlitkaren · Senior Member

RE: Tricks for dealing with 'Diarrhea' while on Tx. Post your tricks please!

Tig · Admin

Sorry, my quick wit slips me! Use the first thought that comes to mind following the first successful use. Since we're using a hardware store, we could offer grades of models. Perhaps a contractor and luxury grade system? The "Buttz-O-Matic 1 and 2"! Seriously, I can see myself trying to build something like that. There's nothing more painful than that kind of discomfort. I hope you find a solution for this soon. Good luck Mike!

Tig

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Huey wrote:

It's cold man! Feels great on a burning ring of fire! you have to retrieve it from the freezer before you go.

That makes sense and I'm certainly open to any suggestion = 2 rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft patiently waiting in my freezer in preparation for the next battle. smile

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Isiscat2011 wrote:
Now all your device needs is a fun name.....go ahead......give it a name.

Go ahead Tig. I'm suspect I'll have a nice cozy, warm, loveable name for my new found contraption after I raid the Home Depot tomorrow. lol biggrin

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Isiscat2011 wrote:
(no pun intended).

Yea right! biggrin

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Doni wrote:
I am travelling in Russia and I found these pillswhich really helped me with diarrhea - Linex probiotic pills. I found a web reference for information. Maybe you have something similar in your area: http://www.lek.si/en/media-room/press-releases/571/ Also I had fresh pomegranate juice, very much frozen ice cream, and dried bread. Plus I ate only boiled white rice for lunch, oatmeal for breakfast. Now my diarrhea is gone!

I'll research the probiotic pills. Meanwhile, it's interesting to me that you should mention oatmeal.

My pain management doctor is very wise and in some cases , including mine, she tends to look at causes and conditions, and the modification of these, in order to treat the pain rather than just throwing high powered pain killers at the end result.

I first blamed my current digestive tract issues on the new HIV Rx's that my Dr's changed me to in order to be co-administered along with Sovaldi / Ribavirn. My HIV Dr wasn't much help, but he did say that he has no other patients on the same Rx's as I am that are having the same Sx's as I. So I'm looking at diet. I'm generally very dehydrated, and hungry in the morning after a though overnight purging so I do my little exercise routine 1st, followed soon after with milk, juice, green tea and a very large bowl of Raisin Bran cereal (generally covered with a fruit/fruits such as bananas, blueberrys, cherries, mango chunks, pineapple chunks etc.

My digestive ordeal always starts with extremely stubborn constipation, followed easily by increasingly liquid diarrhea (the liquid diarrhea being a result of massive lactulose intake + toxic HIV Rx's in my case, from trying to dislodge the constipated stool.

So today I'm trying exercise followed by plenty of fluids and oatmeal rather than that big bowl of Raisin Bran cereal (Isis, you suggested oatmeal to me weeks ago and I've been eating it on some days, but not paying attention to/logging the results). I've already had 1 small BM ~1pm, which is very uncommon (and very good) for me. Maybe my initial problem somehow involves the lack of properly digesting the course/grainy bran in the cereal.

We'll see.

Isiscat2011 · Guru

Tig56 wrote:
You can get creative and purchase the items at Home Depot, such as the low pressure plant sprayers and attach hosing and a nozzle (old Bic pen tube for example) and make your own hand held device.

Oh my, I think you better get some patent protection on that idea. Now all your device needs is a fun name.....go ahead......give it a name. biggrin

Tig · Admin

You can get creative and purchase the items at Home Depot, such as the low pressure plant sprayers and attach hosing and a nozzle (old Bic pen tube for example) and make your own hand held device. Again, you have to be creative and use you noggin, but it can be accomplished quite easily. Where there's the will, there's a way! Good luck...

Tig

Isiscat2011 · Guru

wmlj1960 wrote:
I am in love! I did get the Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths and I may never use toilet paper again other than for some light moisture control.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hahaha! Love at first wipe. I get it! I am in love with my Contonelles too!
A nice bidet and you will be good to go (no pun intended).

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Isiscat2011 wrote:
Okay, I get what you are saying. The wipes can be very non-irritating and even soothing but you will have to use discretion in how often to use them. I sure hope this clears up soon. It must be terribly uncomfortable to say the least.

Our local small town Walmart Supercenter (not) did not have the Bidet in stock so I'll get one tomorrow in the big city of Memphis when I go for my Hepatologist appointment (hooray).

But...

I am in love! I did get the Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths and I may never use toilet paper again other than for some light moisture control. I'm still not too sure about these being an alternative to touchless cleansing such as my warm water, or Tig's Bidet trick in the heat of a toxic diarrhea attack And I hope I don't get a chance to find out. Although if I do... you guessed it... I'll post it. biggrin

wmlj1960 · Moderator

tomyboy wrote:
Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the helpful hints. The diarrhea has been my husband's #1 side effect too. He has been following the BRAT diet and it helps....He isn't sure if it is from the solvadi or the oral chemo as he experienced this before he started the solvadi but I think it has gotten worse since the new treatment. Doc's are monitoring him closely as they haven't anyone locally on oral chemo and soladi with ribo. Will update you next week as he goes to the onconogist again. He is the doctor who will be monitoring him now with his blood work. so far so good and hope he gets positive results and can be a role model to others who may have to oneday do both treatments. He actually went to a yankee game Wednesday night...although they lost, he survived without a "mess" by taking Amodium before we left.

Laura

Thanks for posting Laura! I'm 3/4 of the way on the BRAT diet and didn't even know it. I eat bananas daily and cook with lots of brown rice, and I'm even eating much more toast since I ditched the whole wheat bread route for a more preferable (to my taste) whole grain white. I now have applesauce on my grocery list.

I'll certainly be following your husbands progress as a "role model" closely since my latest liver MRI looking for liver cancer showed some lesions that could possibly evolve into hepatocelluar carcinoma according to my hepatologist.

Gotta love a clean Yankees game!!! biggrin

My best wishes to your husband! smile

Huey · Guru

wmlj1960 wrote:
Huey wrote:
keep a roll of TP in the freezer!
I'll bite. I can't wait to hear the expanded explanation of this trick. What's the advantage Huey?

It's cold man! Feels great on a burning ring of fire! you have to retrieve it from the freezer before you go.

Doni · Veteran Member

I am travelling in Russia and I found these pillswhich really helped me with diarrhea - Linex probiotic pills. I found a web reference for information. Maybe you have something similar in your area: http://www.lek.si/en/media-room/press-releases/571/ Also I had fresh pomegranate juice, very much frozen ice cream, and dried bread. Plus I ate only boiled white rice for lunch, oatmeal for breakfast. Now my diarrhea is gone!

Isiscat2011 · Guru

wmlj1960 wrote:
The cautionary word being "wipes". After a couple of hours of highly toxic diarrhea cycles irritating my butt, the last thing I want is to "wipe" with anything, no matter how soft. I've been using warm moistened Charmin tissue with a liberal coating of very soothing Calmoseptine ointment. This works extremely well... for 5 minutes, at which time here comes another cycle of diarrhea. Then it's back to "wiping" again.

Okay, I get what you are saying. The wipes can be very non-irritating and even soothing but you will have to use discretion in how often to use them. I sure hope this clears up soon. It must be terribly uncomfortable to say the least.

Isiscat2011 · Guru

Be sure to stay well hydrated. Diarrhea can cause dehydration, which in turn can cause other symptoms such as headaches, so take care to drink plenty of water.

tomyboy · Senior Member

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the helpful hints. The diarrhea has been my husband's #1 side effect too. He has been following the BRAT diet and it helps....He isn't sure if it is from the solvadi or the oral chemo as he experienced this before he started the solvadi but I think it has gotten worse since the new treatment. Doc's are monitoring him closely as they haven't anyone locally on oral chemo and soladi with ribo. Will update you next week as he goes to the onconogist again. He is the doctor who will be monitoring him now with his blood work. so far so good and hope he gets positive results and can be a role model to others who may have to oneday do both treatments. He actually went to a yankee game Wednesday night...although they lost, he survived without a "mess" by taking Amodium before we left.

Laura

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Huey wrote:
keep a roll of TP in the freezer!

I'll bite. I can't wait to hear the expanded explanation of this trick. What's the advantage Huey?

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Isiscat2011 wrote:
P.S. Cottonelle is a very good brand of flushable wipes. This is what they look like:
https://www.cottonelle.com/products/cottonelle-fresh-care-flushable-moist-wipes?WT.mc_id=CTG&WT.srch=1

I'll get some of those at Walmart also!

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Isiscat2011 wrote:
Flushable wipes will make all the difference for your sore butt.

There are many different varieties and some contain aloe and other soothing ingredients.

Get the unscented ones for sensitive skin You won't need to worry about cups of water and towels any longer.

The wipes may not be exactly what I need. The cautionary word being "wipes". After a couple of hours of highly toxic diarrhea cycles irritating my butt, the last thing I want is to "wipe" with anything, no matter how soft. I've been using warm moistened Charmin tissue with a liberal coating of very soothing Calmoseptine ointment. This works extremely well... for 5 minutes, at which time here comes another cycle of diarrhea. Then it's back to "wiping" again.

I have found it better to just stay seated on the toilet with the laptop PC in front of me to reduce boredom and a make shift head rest with cushion for resting my old neck and back. I think the Bidet will work best due to 'no wiping' for keeping the rectal area clean during these 'between cycle' waiting times.

Thanks Isis!

Now I'm off to Walmart. My local stores online inventory displays 'In Stock' for my travel Bidet so I'd better hurry. I'm sure these are in extremely high demand. LOL biggrin

Huey · Guru

keep a roll of TP in the freezer!

Isiscat2011 · Guru

P.S. Cottonelle is a very good brand of flushable wipes. This is what they look like:

https://www.cottonelle.com/products/cottonelle-fresh-care-flushable-moist-wipes?WT.mc_id=CTG&WT.srch=1

wmlj1960 · Moderator

Thanks Tig. Yes I understand and would like to keep this thread clean and constructive.

I have seen a full Bidet before installed in an upper class home, but I didn't know what it was called. That's actually what made me think of this trick in the first place. I see my local Walmart has a travel version in stock so that will do until I can afford a more permanent model next month.

Thanks for identifying this item for me Tig! smile

Isiscat2011 · Guru

Oh Mike, your poor butt! Flushable wipes will make all the difference for your sore butt. Women have known about these for ages. We use wipes for babies and just to stay fresh and clean ourselves. There are many different varieties and some contain aloe and other soothing ingredients. Get the unscented ones for sensitive skin and make sure they are flushable. Any drugstore or even many grocery stores will carry them. They are well priced at places like Walmart. You won't need to worry about cups of water and towels any longer.

Many Europeans have bidets which are really cool!

Tig · Admin

Hi Mike,

Sorry you're experiencing so many problems with this. As long as the conversation is respectful and people don't use language that upsets others, there's no problem. I've seen some conversations turn gross and we can't have that. As long as we keep it "clean", there won't be any problems.

I have a friend that has experienced severe problems from the cleaning process, just as you have mentioned. The answer for her was the installation of a bidet. You can purchase an add on unit, she ordered it through Amazon.com. It attaches to a standard toilet, has a water warmer and works great. It's the constant wiping and irritation that causes so much pain. when I was having trouble, I used Vaseline in between and that helped keep the fire under control during the "off" times. Good luck!

Tig

wmlj1960 · Moderator

I'm interested in how each person deals with diarrhea. I've read several post that include diarrhea as one of the side effects of the medicine they are taking, and although some Rx's are worse than others, it seems to concern different Rx's, not just 1. I've been having major constipation/diarrhea issues since start of my HCV Tx (7-23-14) and especially since the start of a new HIV Tx (7-18-14). And with very toxic HIV Rx's taken by those of us who are co-infected, this trick I found could be all the more usefull.

I stumbled onto this trick during an extremely long (5 hr) diarrhea ordeal tonight, (Uh - this morning. It's 2:30 am here now),

I take Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) / ribavirin for HCV Tx, and darunavir, tenofovir, etravirin for HIV Tx. I've been logging my constipation / diarrhea / dehydration in an attempt to find a solution to this vicious constipation / diarrhea cycle. For those of you who are not cirrhotic or still compensated cirrhotic, you likely don't use the Rx's lactulose and rifaximin. These are both used to reduce progression of hepatic encephalopathy. Lactulose is a really effective osmotic laxative and very essential to prevent constipation, a very serious issue for decompensated cirrhotics.

So my latest cycle went like this:

8-23-14 lactulose intake: 8am/60ml, 11am/60ml, 2pm/60ml, 5pm/45ml, 8pm/15ml (weak partial bowl movement (solid) 2:35pm)

8-24-14 lactulose intake: 8am/60ml, 11am/60ml, 2pm/60ml, 5pm/60ml, 8pm/60ml. (solid BM starting @ 9:10pm changing to increasingly liquid virtually non stop until 2:30am).

These lactulose amounts are considered 'very excessive".

So with a long time between BM's, thus a long session of diarrhea like this, it pays to stay seated on the toilet rather than wipe - go do something else - return to toilet in 4 min - wipe - go do something - return etc. etc. All that wiping can cause a bad case of irritated rectum for sure. But, while waiting between BM's, the diarrhea residue on the rectum can also cause irritation. So I came up a solution that works fine for me:

Keep a small cup in the bathroom that you can fill with warm water.

Between BM's, lean forward and pour some water over your butt crack, letting it flow down over the rectum.

When you are confident that diarrhea has subsided enough to go do something else, then wipe with warm, moist wash cloth (I bought 3 dozen just for this, LOL) and dry with toilet paper that will not easily decompose / fall apart when wet. (I use Charmin Ultra Soft). Cost a bit more, but soooo worth it! I even complete drying with a hair dryer on low held at a reasonable distance away. (Can you say OCD lol).

This works for me, a man, but it may present a problem for women. I don't know. If so I hope you girls can devise a work around.

I feel like this subject is very relevant to the subject matter on this forum since so many members are posting about these problems. And I wander how many are hesitant to post at all. If it is considered inappropriate, then you Mods delete away. I'm sure there is more polite terminology that I could use in open forum, but I'm sorry I don't feel real polite after my 5 hr ordeal tonight. And this is ongoing for me 3 weeks so far.

I've been urgently needing ideas about a solution to all this and I hope my idea can help somebody else.

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