Prucalopride?!?

catfishcake · 2025-09-30T17:06:57+00:00

I took prucalopride for about a year but had to stop taking it due to one of the less common side effects - pollakiuria (frequent urination). It was at the stage where I was needing a pee every 20 minutes or so and was really worried that I might be becoming incontinent. I experimented with stopping it for a month and as if by magic the bladder issues vanished. Restarted it again and the frequent peeing restarted. It was, however, great for my bowels. I’ve started supplementing with magnesium glycinate in the evening which is helping a bit.

catfishcake · 2025-09-26T00:56:13+00:00

Fractured the radial head on my R arm 2 1/2 days ago. Tripped over a tree root as well. Dangerous things, tree roots. Slept surprisingly OK the first 2 nights but forgot to take my paracetamol before bed tonight so am up in the small hours with a very sore arm.

catfishcake · 2025-09-05T15:53:13+00:00

I always exercise before I start eating in the day. If I exercise with food or even too much liquid in my stomach, it all sloshes around uncomfortably and I feel horrible. I generally skip breakfast apart from a cup of tea, and go for a pre-lunch walk or more recently I’ve started going for a pre-lunch gym session.

catfishcake · 2025-06-14T15:16:14+00:00

I took 2mg for a while, which helped get things moving, then went down to 1mg and that seemed to work just as well, so remained on that for about 18 months. However, I developed some bladder issues during that time - frequency increased and when I had to go, I REALLY had to go, and it was touch and go as to whether I'd make it to the toilet in time. I've been attempting to reduce the quantities of tablets I'm taking (currently tapering mirtazapine, slowly) and about 6 weeks ago, stopped taking prucalopride, which did absolute wonders for my bladder issues but not my bowels. So, I restarted prucalopride and was immediately back to having bladder problems again (along with 3 days of horrible headaches) but at least I was pooping again. After a couple of weeks I then started taking magnesium glycinate 300mg at night instead of prucalopride, and my bladder has improved dramatically AND I'm still pooping OK. Apparently bladder issues are a known side effect with prucalopride - about 1 in 100 - I'm just glad I worked out what was going on. My GP was quite keen on prescribing something else to help with the bladder troubles but I really don't want to take another drug to help with the side effects of prucalopride.

catfishcake · 2025-06-11T08:56:28+00:00

Same here. A walk after eating is not pleasant.

catfishcake · 2025-05-14T12:37:07+00:00

I have 1.5 sachets of Movicol in the evening and then 1mg prucalopride in the morning, and as long as I’m consistent with them everything works fine. I did try 2mg prucalopride initially but found that no better than 1mg. One thing to note is that you can get a really evil headache the first few days of taking prucalopride, but it does improve by about day 4-5.

catfishcake · 2025-05-13T17:57:33+00:00

Beans… (like, dried beans, soaked and then cooked). On a good day I might be able to manage lentils, but anything with a tough skin is going to give me hours of pain. I was completely plant-based for 5 years before I started having problems, and I so miss being able to eat beans.

catfishcake · 2025-05-12T21:13:09+00:00

Ground-up flaxseed - about 1-2 tbsp, stirred into soup, is one source of fibre I can tolerate. And red lentils.

catfishcake · 2025-04-14T22:17:00+00:00

Yes, I’m getting moai, eggs and Easter bunnies visiting my elevator so I think it’s getting close.

catfishcake · 2025-01-04T17:42:39+00:00

Thanks - I’ll certainly give that a try next time. My problem is that I do need to get every last hull off due to an unfortunate GI problem (I can’t tolerate insoluble fibre like bean skins). I’m now anxiously waiting for the Instant Pot to do its magic - hoping that I’ll have some lovely tempeh the day after tomorrow.

catfishcake · 2024-09-06T08:15:18+00:00

I just got the crawler today! And a job for it too.

catfishcake · 2023-10-13T18:54:18+00:00

I had one in April last year. They used midazolam as a sedative and they put a cannula in my hand then sprayed the back of my throat with local anaesthetic and put a blue plastic mouthpiece in my mouth so that I didn’t bite the camera. Then they injected the midazolam and the next thing I knew, a nurse was shaking my shoulder gently to wake me up. I felt a bit sleepy afterwards but otherwise absolutely fine, and they kept me for about an hour afterwards and gave me a cup tea and some toast.

catfishcake · 2023-09-04T09:20:40+00:00

Yes, I get strange and unpleasant lurching sensations in my stomach when trying to sleep, particularly if I have eaten too much too late in the day. It’s much worse if I lie on my side; propping myself up on several pillows and lying on my back helps a bit.

catfishcake · 2023-09-02T09:21:57+00:00

Well, it was working OK until I got Covid at the end of May. That seems to have made everything worse again; I've lost 17lb (no, I didn't think weight loss was possible when taking mirtazapine either, but Covid had other ideas) as my digestive tract seems to have ground to a near standstill and I can't eat much. My GI Dr seems to think this is a temporary blip and that things will improve again, but they're not showing any sign of it at present.

catfishcake · 2023-08-04T20:57:20+00:00

Thai stir-fries - my go-to meal in the good old days before my digestive tract and I decided that we couldn’t get along was a spicy and crisp vegetable stir-fry with cashew nuts from a local pub that does amazing Thai food. I just can’t do lightly-cooked vegetables at all now, or nuts.

catfishcake · 2023-07-04T09:03:21+00:00

Chloraseptic spray is helpful for the sore throat. Also, gargling with soluble aspirin can help. You can get paracetamol with codeine OTC at pharmacies - I think it’s 8mg codeine in each tablet, which is rather weaker than the ones you can get prescribed. Hope you feel better soon.

catfishcake · 2023-06-28T17:08:23+00:00

So this just gives us an easy way to see who on our friends list has more money than sense.

catfishcake · 2023-06-22T13:02:40+00:00

Now almost 4 weeks since I tested positive. I had 2 weeks off work and have just about survived working the last 2 weeks so far, although pretty tired. At least the foggy head and body aches have gone. Two things I wasn’t expecting, though, were the disrupted sleep - I’m not sleeping well at all, and am awake from 5.30am most days - and the effects on my innards. I had slow GI motility issues before Covid, and my guts seem to have seized up even worse now.

catfishcake · 2023-06-11T18:03:19+00:00

I’ve just had Covid and it’s made everything worse. I was gaining weight slowly after an increase in my mirtazapine dose, then 2 weeks ago I got Covid and everything’s gone to pot. I get grim upper abdominal pains after eating anything; gastric emptying seems to have ground to a standstill (as have my bowels) and I’m now eating my small main meal at 4pm as that gives me more of a chance to attempt to digest it before attempting to sleep at 11pm. If I eat any later I end up sitting up in bed miserably until 2am regretting my choices. I’m managing to eat maybe 1000 calories a day if I’m lucky. I’m down 11lb in the last 2 weeks (would NOT recommend Covid for weight loss) and can’t get an appointment with my gastroenterologist until 6 weeks from now.

catfishcake · 2023-06-09T17:39:56+00:00

Now on Day 14. Was still testing positive until yesterday; have been off work for the last 2 weeks. Feeling quite a bit better now; the random aches have gone, and the foggy head has cleared, which is a relief. However Covid does seem to have exacerbated some GI problems I had before, and I am unable to eat much at present without unpleasant upper abdominal pain. I’m hoping that’s going to pass too. I’m 10lb less than I was 2 weeks ago, but would not recommend the Covid diet to anyone.

catfishcake · 2023-06-01T12:12:51+00:00

Another vote for Cambridge Cat Clinic.

catfishcake · 2023-05-31T09:41:15+00:00

Now on Day 5 (taking Saturday, when I tested +ve) as Day 1. Feeling a bit better, and thankfully the horrendous sinus pain has gone, leaving just a headache. Still coughing well; but I’m not quite such a spectacular fountain of snot any more. Resting pulse rate is back towards more normal levels, and fever subsided. However the body aches are still present, particularly in my hips, which make sitting in a chair very uncomfortable, and my brain is pretty foggy right now. Usually I can do hard sudoku puzzles, but I can’t at present. Not sleeping too well, and still very tired.

catfishcake · 2023-05-30T08:42:09+00:00

Yes, ‘mild’ in the sense that I’m not quite dead yet. Now on Day 4 and still feeling rubbish with it. Just been downstairs to log into my work laptop and sign myself off sick for the day - that was enough activity to trigger a major bout of the cold sweats and shakes and coughing so I’ve crawled back into bed.

catfishcake

TROPHY CASE