Are Lupus meds causing Diarrhea? Posted: 09-01-06 08:48am
I have been diagnosed with lupus for
almost 10 years now. Ever since I started
my medications: Plaquenil, celexa,
Parriet, Zyprexa, I've noticed that I
sweat alot, get stomach cramps and then
diarrhea after I eat (but not all the
time), I would say this happens at least 4
times a week after meals.
My question is, is this being caused by
all the meds I am taking or do I have some
sort of bacteria in my stomach? My doctor
has asked me to do some fecal test (3 days
of sample) but I can't seem to get a
sample for 3 days in a row, because
sometimes I don't have to go for a day and
this messes up the consecutive samples
that I need for 3 days.
Is there any other way of checking, eg.
blood samples to determine whether I have
H. Pylori bacteria in my stomach? or is
this the only way that I will be able to
find out by taking 3 days consecutive of
fecal sample.
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DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
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Lupus Answer A1443 Posted: 09-06-06 09:58am
According to your symptoms (sweating,
stomach cramps, and diarrhea) you may be
experiencing either a side effect from the
therapy or a type of gastro-intestinal
infection. Plaquentil (an
anti-inflammatory drug) and Celexa (an
antidepressant) can cause gastrointestinal
symptoms similar to the ones you describe.
However, an intestinal infection MUST
FIRST be confirmed/excluded and that’s
why a microbiological examination of a
fecal sample is necessary to identify the
infective agent (if there is one). If
diarrhea is not caused by anintestinal
infection then the drugs you are taking
are probably the reason for this
condition. A helicobacter
pillory-infection can be confirmed with
serological blood examinations but that is
not needed in your case because a
Helicobacter pillory doesn’t cause
diarrhea. It can only cause inflammation
of the stomach’s mucosa; it is indicates
peptic ulcer development. In the case of
anegative microbiological report (no
infection), you may consult a psychiatrist
and a rheumatologist for further
activities (increasing the dose or
changing the drugs). In case of apositive
microbiological report (there is
infection), you may consult an
infectologist.
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