Cholestyramine and insomnia

[trickylou]

I started cholestyramine 4 days ago. 1 packet before bed. Working well so far. Only 1 bm per day since starting, and they are Norman. Problem is that I’m waking up all night long, either to pee or just awake. I read that this can be a side effect. I am hoping it will simmer down once I acclimate. Has anyone here experienced insomnia with cholestyramine?

[Catieu]

Hi Trickylou,
I was taking cholestyramine with very poor tolerance. My family doctor advised me to divide the dose into four parts, start with one part for a few days and progressively increase it. This would give the body time to tolerate it better. It didn't work for me but maybe it will for you. It didn't work for me because I can't tolerate cholestyramine. You can give it a try.

Best regards

Marta

[jbrohlr]

I take cholestyramine before bed. I make sure to use the minimum amount of water (you need water to keep from choking on the cholestyramine), otherwise I will have to get up to go to the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning.

Before I started on the restrictive diet I would have to get up to pee about 3 times a night - which can be a sign of pre-diabetes, I think.

I also avoid including any carbohydrates in my evening meal - that seems to help with sleep interruptions.

John R.

[tex]

To add to what John posted, I agree that frequent urination is a sign of what physicians refer to as prediabetes. A number of years ago, when I became severely magnesium depleted because of several back to back antibiotic treatments while doing dental procedures, I developed not only that symptom, but often, late in the day, I would occasionally have a problem with low blood sugar (similar to diabetics), that I would have to resolve by eating carbs. I would feel lightheaded, and weak, but a carb snack would resolve the problem.

Since I later eliminated all those symptoms by discovering and resolving my magnesium deficiency, I'm going to guess that many people are incorrectly diagnosed with diabetes, when they're simply magnesium deficient. When I had the symptoms, I described them clearly to several doctors at various appointments , and received nothing but a blank stare in return. I received absolutely no help from my doctors — magnesium deficiency isn't even on their radar. I discovered my magnesium deficiency one morning when I felt so bad that I couldn't force my breakfast down, so I went to the ER, where they performed all sorts of tests, look at the results, told me I was fine. because all the test results were normal, and sent me home.

Fortunately, it occurred to me that I needed to check my test results for myself, so I looked at my test results on the Internet, and the lab had actually flagged magnesium at below normal levels. I was already taking a magnesium supplement (the wrong brand), and after I tripled my magnesium dose, the next day I was absolutely fine, and all the symptoms were gone.

When I was magnesium deficient, I even woke up in the wee hours of the morning almost every night, sweating like a pig in a cold room, with tachycardia (about 115 bpm heart rate), shallow breathing, confusion, and a feeling of anxiety, sort of like what's described as a panic attack — all symptoms of a severe magnesium deficiency), and one morning when I checked my blood pressure, my systolic pressure was in the low 80s (during the day my systolic pressure would often be between 160 and 180 mmHg). When I described this to my doctors, none of them paid any attention, because it didn't mean anything to any of them, since magnesium deficiency is not on their radar.

Tex

[trickylou]

Thank you all for chiming in on this. I have been slowly making some changes that have resulted in minimal disruption. I am now able to take some simple supplements at a time of day that works for me, they were making me sleepy, now I take them in the evening (4-5 hours before the cholestyramine) which has improved my sleep!
I am slowly reintroducing some foods, (low fodmap) and maintaining weight. I know I am not cured, but this is such a relief. I am so grateful for all of you.

[dolson]

I take five packs on Wednesday and five packs on Saturday, of Cholestyramine. The medication is not working and seems to make my diarrhea worse. I am taking one supplement of potassium and magnesium, ordered by Doctor's Prescription. I am not sleeping well and I have to take something to help me sleep.

I hate this disease. Yesterday, when I was writing my new book, the publisher/editor called me and I told him I was not feeling well. I was hesitant to tell him why. I got up the strength and I told him I had Microscopic Colitis and my stomach hurt. I said, " I bet you've never heard of it." He said, "Yes, I have heard of it and a friend of mine has it."

I am still suffering from this disease. It not watery diarrhea but mashed bowel movement. I've washed my hands so much, I went to a Dermatologist's office and she said it "Contact Dermatitus." My right hand and thumb was scaly and itchy. They put me on some kind of steroid and it's gone.

I have finished my first book and I'm mailing one to Pete Hegseth, Department of Defense and to Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Administration.
We are will be celebrating 250 years of service for the Navy.

My paternal grandfather, I called 'Grandy' was on the Great White Fleet and it sailed around the World. I want Collins and Hegseth to make a second Great White Fleet to sail. Every state in the union, forty-eight sailed in 1919, around the world.

I don't know if they can do that now. Our enemies are watching us. The second Great White Fleet can sail around the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. I want all fifty states to participate in The Second Great White Fleet. I am now writing a Nation-Building Fantasy Book. Thanks, Dorothy

[jbrohlr]

Hello Dorothy,

If I understand your post, you don't take cholestyramine every day? If you have BAM I believe the best practice is to take a dose of cholestyramine every day, on an empty stomach before bed; This will keep unused bile from leaking into your colon during the night. Taking cholestyramine on only two days out of the week will leave five nights in which bile will sneak into your colon. During the day you are using bile to break down the fat in your food so there is no need to bind it to cholestyramine.

Also, I don't know if cholestyramine will bind fat but if it doesn't then that amount of cholestyramine in a day might be binding all of your bile, which will allow undigested fat to get into your colon, which causes problems. Unless your diet is completely fat free (which is not good for your health, in my opinion) you need some bile to break it down.

I've found that dosing cholestyramine is a matter of fine tuning - when to take it is as important as how much to take.

I've never heard of the Great White Fleet. I'll have to look it up sometime today.

John R.

[HockeyMom]

I've not had issues with needing to get up to pee at night due to the cholestyramine and I've been taking it for 9 years now. I take it twice a day-that second time tends to be maybe an hour before bedtime. And I'm drinking probably 12 ounces of water that it's mixed in with.

As I've mentioned, I'm just a lowly physical therapist-I think we all have our own ideas about dosing and timing with the cholestyramine. I do believe that you most likely need to take it daily if you have BAM, or maybe I should say BAD BAM like I apparently do. So doing it only 2x a week wouldn't do me much good Dorothy. I look at this thing as a need to take it based on what you are eating deal, as bile is released in response to food/fat intake right? So if I only ate one meal a day, I would most likely be taking it like 1-1 1/2 hours after that meal, and only after that meal! I wouldn't feel the need to take it again before bed on an empty stomach. It's not often that I only eat one meal a day, but it does happen and this seems to work fine for me. My thoughts/experience anyway, and as Tex says-"your mileage may vary".

I'm not perfect, but I am functional enough to have a life-which I did not have for most of 2016/17. I just returned from a 2 week vacation with friends where I had no control over diet at all. Because of this I just did a daily immodium so I didn't have to worry about things so much on planes/trains/automobiles and ferries! Worked out well and I probably gained some weight with the daily Swedish fika!

Laine