I haven't been tested for IBS yet but I've had stomach problems for a long time and it's progressively gotten worse over the past year. My doctor prescribed me dicyclomine 10mg to tide me over till I see a GI doctor. I haven't taken the medicine yet, I've heard it works and I've heard it don't. I'd rather the pain go away then have more pain caused by the medicine. Last night was the worst episode I've had, I started hurting around 6pm lastnight (I took a Dramamine, normally it helps) the Dramamine didn't help at all. I started getting dizzy spells and light headed. I went to lay down around 9:30pm and it started getting worse. Sever nausea, felt feverish, felt really hot, dizziness, lightheaded, and uncontrollable shaking. I thought I was going to vomit but didn't. I layed very still and tried to relax and it finally went away, but as soon as it went away my stomach started hurting under my ribcage area. Almost like a gas feeling but it hurt really bad. I need help!! I never want to experience what I felt last night again. Should I finally try this dicyclomine???
Should I try dicyclomine?! Help!?
Question posted by breedingashley on 8 Oct 2011
Last updated on 22 July 2023 by Mailman888
8 Answers
No
Hell No
Side effects were terrible
And 80 mg daily beyond 2 weeks is not approved by FDA
if Dicyclomine work when you have already experienced difficulty from the other medical , maybe try Dicyclomine and let me know if it worked or not
I only use it if needed. This med has interactions that I don’t want
Hello, I am currently on this medicine and seems to it help. The pain you're describing sounds exactly like what I'm dealing with. I believe you are having gallbladder attacks. It's very intense pain right under the rib cage and probably wraps around to your back. The doctor told me to eat a bland fat free diet (as close to it as possible). You will need a HIDA Scan to check the functionality of the gallbladder and o see if you may have gallstones.. If its low they may want to removed it. Its pretty common though.I would take those meds they gave you plus an antacid because stomach acid can also trigger it. Good luck!! I know it hurts but keep your head up!
Hi, I am new to the site but can give you my experience with using dicyclomine,I have a problem with severe cramps and spasms. Dicyclomine works great for me, and is prescribed 30 minutes before meals and 1 at bed time. Have used other meds. that did not help and now my insurance is not going to pay for it in 2012, and recommended using loperamide, my search for that has no mention of releiving the pain, for me dicyclomine has been a blessing. Good Luck with your situation!
This is a great medication to help calm the muscles down. I have taken this medication for years. I do not need it daily anymore but I carry the medication with me all the time. When the pain gets uncontrolable it really helps. I also use a heating pad,lie on my left side and with in 20 minutes I can really feel the difference. Another name for this medication is Bentyl. This is an excellent medication to calm down the abdominal spasms.another medication I have taken which is a little stronger than the Bentyl is Librax. I would take this for the most severe pain. Again similar family medication and works very well. if the pain is as bad as you say it is then try the medication your doctor recommends. You have nothing to loose. Let me know what happens.
Sheila7281
Sheila, thank you! I will try the heating pad for sure. My only worry is why I've been having come and go fever, for about a week straight now. I think I have IBS but also suffering from something else. I go to the GI doctor Monday. I really hope they can help me! Thanks again!!
It is very important you follow up with the doctor. I did not realize you have had a fever off and on. A fever can also mean you could have some type of an infection but again not. If your attack was as severe as your saying do not be afraid to go to the ER. It would be a long visit but they can do a scan on you abdomen area to make sure nothing else is going on. The abdomen area is complex so listen to your body and do not avoid medical treatment if needed. If you know the medication helps do not avoid this during an attack. I have had IBS for 40 years. I do have a severe case if IBS. I have also changed to a gluten and dairy free diet. This has helped a lot. Though it took awhile to adjust to the diet change it has been worth the effort. I also take pro biotics which help. This medical advise came from my holistic/MD. Though he can not solve all my issues(who can) he has improved my stomach issue where I can function. My GI MD. is thrilled with the results and agrees with the approach.
sheila7281
That is amazing, I hope my GI can do the same for me! I thought about going to the ER but I'm going to wait it out since I see my doc on Monday. If I find anything out after my appointment I'll let you know what he founds out, thank you again! I'll take any amount of advice I can!
If I have helped a little good! Let me know what your doctor has to say. hang in there and hope you feel better soon!
Sheila7281
It's getting hard to get Librax, as it has 2 depressents in it-belladonna and benzodiazepines. If a patient has a history of depression, eye problems, and other problems-doctors don't like to prescribe it. I've taken it since 1994. I go around and go around with doctors about it. A few years ago, there was a legal hassle with the stupid FDA-I was paying about $200 a month for 2/day. Now I pay any where from $38-$120. It's not on the medicare formulary, so many prescription plans won't pay for it. The generic name is CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE-CLIDINIUM OCE. It controls spasms, diverticulus, cramps, seizures, helps heal ulcers of all types, is good for painful menses, nausea, vomiting. Sometimes the intestines constrict and make you constipated, but Librax helps relax the GI system, it also quiets down spasms. I've noticed that flu sypmtoms are less severe-I seldom get sick to my stomach, unless I'm exposed to Tylenol. I'm having a colonoscopy Wed.
I needed the GI clinic to FAX a new script to Costco. It took over a week, and I was down to one dose. Costco FAXed and called for a week. I was living on and near the phone. The GI clinic said that if they got a FAX-that I had to wait 72 hours for a panel to approve it because of the new drug laws. I called my HMO reps and explained this and I didn't want to end up in the ER with IVs. I told the GI people that too. I spent about an hour on the phone, as they researched the status of a pain killer not on the medicare-medicaid formulary, called the pharmacy to verify my story/account, etc. They called the GI, and were treated rudely-operator wouldn't even connect them to a nurse. The reps called me and said they'd have a supervisor call. Then Costco called me that the med was there-as they had put a priority on this. I called the reps. I got my medicine with maximim allowed refills this time. The reps called me Fri morning to see how my health was. If they had called today, I wouldn't have said good, as I'm being hit by cramps. I was really scared that the GI clinic decided not to prescribe this any more, and this was their way to make me take something else. I told the reps that too. When GI called yesterday to confirm the colonoscopy, I let them know that I'd do this, but what I went through to get a med. I got a letter today from the HMO-it doesn't like the thought that nobody would talk to them, and they might have been out of lots of money. The last time I had a colonoscopy in 1996, I went into convulsions-it was a prep med that they don't use any more and I was really pretty sick at the time. Again I talked too much. I'm getting real mad at the FDA-it seems that only scam artists can get what they want-and the rest of us suffer. The HMO says that it will require a method to get emergency meds for a problem like this. I checked and Costco was FAXing to the correct number. I don't have a history of losing meds or asking for early refills. This script was $38, last month $112. It's hard for me to budget money for this. It just depends which company Costco buys a batch from.
let me know how it goes. Blood work should show if you have an infection-it's cheaper-and it can be done the day you go in. here, it takes 3-5 months to get into GI-anywhere, and ER is useless. I had a 98 day wait for my exam Wed. Can you get into an Urgent care and get lab work done to see if it's an infection? So keep us in the loop about what's going on.
WOW I am sorry to hear you had so much trouble getting Librax. I have never experienced that problem. I pay extra for my medical insurance and do not go a HMO plan. I have a PPO plan. Though I can treat it as an HMO and pay less for co-payments. I do not know what your GI doctors office is like but I have never had to wait 3-5 months for an appt. One way around that is to call the doctors office daily asking for cancellations. Call first thing in the morning. This usually gets you in much quicker. Plus they know you mean business. But be willing to take any appt, they give you. If you do have to wait that long see your PCP for she can order some of the tests the GI can do. If anything shows in the tests they can call to help you get an earlier appt. Do not be afraid to go to a different GI office if the wait is to long. One thing I learned so long ago is we have to take control of our own care and push to get what we need. Does not seem fair and I hate how insurance can control what we do but do not give up and be aggressive.
I'm feeling much worse today, yesterday wasn't to bad. But I woke up weak and my stomach is just crampy. I'm not hungry but I'm going to try to get some toast in my system and some water..1 more day!!
If your worse go to the ER. Remember even the doctor can not get tests done so quickly. Call the GI or your PCP and tell them how your feeling. They can advise you on what is best. Do not be afraid to call the doctor on call.
Sheila7281
I'm just weak. I feel fine as long as I'm laying down.
I hope that you don't take insult, but let me tell you what it's like in the rural West. I can see that you don't live in NM, or the Dakotas. We have a doctor shortage. That's one thing about this, so many presume that it's the same everywhere. Our good doctors usually leave to make money to pay off their student loans. Rural areas like this have a lot of auto accidents, so we provide the organs. The Organ bank decided that too many people in West Texas, NM, Utah, whatever were getting to many hearts, etc. We had a state of the art transplant center with some of the best surgeons in the world. The organ bank made it illegal for transplants to be done here. If you can't do transplants, you go to NY-back east so you can do the work that you love. Some surgeons and doctors do stay here because they have family here-or love the West. This is a problem in the Dakotas, Nebraska, West Texas.
It's so frustrating that somebody has to go Back East, try to find the money to live, see your doctors, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a heart or liver from somebody that died in New Mexico. I don't mean to sound snide, but what test can my doctor do or order that's not done in the GI clinic, don't mention the fecal ocult-blood exam. I will add, that doctors, specialists in these states spend much of their time driving through blizzards, sandstorms, extreme heat, dangerous mountain roads to very small hospitals to do exams-colonoscopies, follow up on pace makers. These doctors in NM-dakotas, etc. get the least amount of federal monies to care for patients. You guys take our men for combat ( the last medal of Honor recipient-was here 3 weeks ago to visit his family), you take our hearts and kidneys, you take our gas, oil, and coal, and our intelligence. We have one of the top 10 teaching hospitals in the nation, it has a waiting list, because to go to UNM, means that you can work anywhere. We have one of the best VA hospitals in the nation-along with 2 national laboratories that also does research for developing medical tools for the VA and UNMH-they all work together and provide life saving and quality of life things that helps everybody.We out think Harvard in developing techniques, procedures, etc. Our tax money goes to develop these doctors, that have to go elsewhere to practice.
My gut is basically under control. I have some spasms, I'll have diarrhea for a few days, but an increase and medication and drinking broth takes care of it. I had IBS diagnosed in 1965. I'm not in a bad way-and I can't see why I should take an opening that should be for somebody that's in distress. Part of the on-going dialogue in these Drug.com communities is the effect of the new drug laws. I think that's why the GI clinic decided to have the 72 hour wait and have a panel approve the new prescriptions. They also had an idiot answering the phone. The HMO is in a snit at GI for several reasons-That this happened, that when they called-they were treated rudely and not connected to the head nurse, the clinic manager,or even a janitor; that a healthy person could've ended up in the ER with IVs with the HMO paying the bill; that GI and the HMO obviously didn't have an emergency plan for something like this. This medical group has worked with the AF, and I've been in and out of it since the 1970s. They don't have my records, but the AF gave me copies of my colonoscopies etc, and made me promise to go in and get one, when I was in my 60s, especially if I did well. I'm keeping this promise-GI here asked me if they could get extra biopsies for research. I told them that's the main reason I came in. I also wanted to establish that I have IBS, as in January, I had a twit that didn't understand anything about IBS. GI helped me to get rid of her, and get me a young doctor that does understand IBS. He's a saint. Do you know how a GI doctor marks a patient that's provided useful data through out the years, and has participated in research? Color film. I had ultrasound before it was considered a standard practice. My records that I turned in were in color. this was a glitch caused by these new drug laws and somebody answering the phone that wasn't too bright. Friday a GI nurse called and said that the pharmacy and I should have called, I told her that everybody called. She said that they're behind in handling refill FAXes. I told them they need to take care of it. Librax isn't on the medicare formulary, so my HMO won't pay for it. This is a rescheduled exam, as somebody in billing decided that the extra biopsies should be paid for by me. I called up GI howling-rescheduled and GI said they'd take care of the problem. Now I'm not paying a red cent. I told them that it's patently unfair to have to pay to be experimented on. usually whomever answers the phone is knowledgeable and sympathetic, and connects you to the correct person.
darling, I know about the weakness. Just lie down and relax. I've spent lots of time on the couch, even with a blanket on the bathroom floor next to the toilet. you aren't alone. This is a cruel disease. All of here do understand. You have an appointment. The doctor will help you
Just rest-you need to put your strength into gettine well.
Thank you for your support and information. I'll keep everyone updated after my appointment.
Okay everyone, the doctor was great. But I may have gall stones. He wants me to come in on the 12th and and have a testing done of my gall bladder. Then on the 17th I go in for "surgery" to have a camera down my throat to look at my stomach and so on and so fourth..then I go back again on the 19th for a x ray. YAY!! Totally looking forward to the next couple days/week. I sure hope they find something since I have to go threw all this.
Hi, I've taken it. It helped, but not enough. It certainly did not make things worse. Sounds like you're ready to bloat up. Bloating does raise the temp-hurt the chest, but I concur about seeing a doctor-sounds like a low grade infection-but I've had gas do the same thing. We have a hook in the intestine that's just below the stomach-the septum-I think- I had gas trapped in there for about 6 months-hurt bad, really bad. As I responded to medicine and diet-that finally went away. Take your med- it helped me-but I'm a severe IBS patient and another med worked better. Good luck
Hi breed. I am not a member of this group, I was looking up new members. I have been in the health care field well over 30 years,I am not a doctor. I am a surgical PA. You say you have had stomach problems for awhile. I don't know your age. IBS usually does not have a fever with it. You say that's the worst attack you have ever had, and is different from others you have experienced. If you still have a fever today you may want to go to the doctor. Any abdominal discomfort with associated fever should be worked up right away. I looked up the drug Dicyclomine and it seems to be the drug of choice for IBS. Sorry you have that. I have a couple of friends who suffer from that. Take care
I am 21 years old. I do have a low grade fever of 99.1 right now. I've had a low grade fever off an on for the past week or so.
I didn't mean to not like the answer you posted, I accidentally hit it (touch screen phone)
Related topics
irritable bowel syndrome, dicyclomine, doctor
Further information
- Dicyclomine uses and safety info
- Dicyclomine prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Dicyclomine (detailed)
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