become reliant on anti-diarrhea medication

[Stezzle]

When i went to the Doctors about my anxiety it was also brought up that i was having diarrhea and off tummy. My Doctor insisted that this was merely a symptom of my anxiety. After being on medication for four months now. It has recently come back. With my Doctor away of maternity leave, i have simply reached for anti-diarrhea medication to in some way controll this symptom. But now i feel that this is now helping but merely putting off the symptom or covering it up. I take 2 tablets which will stop the diarrhea and calm my tummy, only for a few days later to have worse diarrhea than ever, so in the vicious cycle i take two more. So i think the tablets are causing the symptoms to become worse or its my medication.
Is anyone else like this? Is this dangerous? and do you think i should see another doctor in my practice about maybe upping the dosage amount, as i think i may have become resistant to the dosage. I am on Citalopram at 10mgs. I work full time and therefore didnt want to be doped up to the eyes, but with my therapy completed i think i am really struggling and need to up it to 20mg maybe doing a week at 15mg. Any help?

[Rachel W]

Firstly, if you have had diarrhea due to stress, it may be that your body has lost some of the healthy bacteria and fauna that lives there to keep your system balanced.
A natural way to help prevent diarrhea is to eat things like baked potatoes, white rice or dry crackers. I had a bout of diarrhea and this helped. For a week or two, everytime I came off this I had diarrhea again but after that I was fine. My boyfriend had diarrhea and it was only because he had been taking antibiotics which had killed the good bacteria too.

Try eating a serving of starch daily and also eat probiotic yoghurt (ASDA sells a really good, organic, probiotic. Just make sure that you don't use it after the 'use by' date (I think it may be three days after opening)). Try one that doesn't have sugar as sugar can make diarrhea worse. Also, if you have diarrhea, make sure you are rehydrating with a proper electrolyte.

Then try to relax.

Hope that this helps.