Then there are those lucky millions (+) that suffer because we have had to have surgery and the adhesions come and attach to intestines, omentum(sp) bladders, lining ect so we are the non Zelnorm users from the start.
When I saw Zelnorm advertised I thought great and then the disclaimer.hmmmmmmm
Oh, well this is probably non coherent pain meds u know.
God bless and we will eventually get noticed and helped right here in the good old USA, Robin
checkers <morningflower@earthlink.net> wrote: Home page for Zelnorm... http://www.zelnorm.com/info/e/safety_information.jsp
Please read through past the canned response from the company!!
I asked the question on the site: Why is Zelnorm not advised to take if you suffer Adhesion Related Disorder?
Here was the reply from the web site... http://www.zelnorm.com/info/c/taking_Zelnorm.jsp Zelnorm safety and you You should not start taking Zelnorm if you have diarrhea now or often; if you have bad kidney or liver disease; if you have ever had bowel obstruction (intestinal blockage), symptomatic gallbladder disease, or abdominal adhesions causing pain and/or intestinal blockage; or if you are allergic to Zelnorm or any of its ingredients.
Some patients experienced headache and diarrhea. Most people who got diarrhea had it during the first week after starting Zelnorm. Typically, diarrhea went away with continued therapy. If you get bad diarrhea, or if you get diarrhea together with bad cramping, abdominal pain, or dizziness, or if you suddenly get different or worse abdominal pain while using Zelnorm, speak to your doctor. In studies, there were a few more abdominal surgeries in patients taking Zelnorm than in patients taking a sugar pill. No relationship between these surgeries and Zelnorm was found.
Hmmmmmmm?????
Zelnorm may not be right for everyone. If you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, are breast-feeding or are taking or planning to take other medicines, make sure you tell your doctor. He or she can decide if Zelnorm is right for you.
Well Okay...now we are past the delight that someone said "ADHESIONS on TV...
Suspicions should be that the "few more abdominal surgeries" are the result of increased abdominal pain as it would when one is induced with diarrhea and the surgeons probably reacted and performed "diagnostic procedures!" Adhesions were probably present in these "few more abdominal surgeries" and even IF the patient had presented to a Dr. with complaints of pain, that doesn't mean that pain was associated to adhesions!
The last sentence in the safety statement says that the adhesions are not related to taking Zelnorm! This indicates that the adhesions were there prior to the patient having been prescribed Zelnorm, thus leading this pharmaceutical company to recognize that adhesions do in fact exist and that they "just might" cause pain that could be "masked" by diarrhea cramping and bloating this medication can cause. ( I bet they were surprised!! LOL!)
Possible reasons for a diagnostic procedure when/after taking this medication: Scenario #1.) Keep in mind that adhesions do not show on any diagnostic tests and there might very well have been a concern that the complaints of pain was from an appendix issue if the patient still had an appendix!
Scenario #2.) If a patient who was post adhesiolysis and it was recorded in their files that they present/presented with complaints of chronic pain and bowel problems, that does not mean the Dr. would automatically associate any of the presenting symptoms of this patient to adhesions! Some Dr.'s remain of the opinion that adhesions do NOT cause any adverse symptomatology..let alone pain! Thus a diagnostic surgery is warranted in their mind as they have no choice but to pursue their suspicions!.
Scenario #3.) IF the Dr. had full knowledge that his patient was a victim of problematic adhesions and was post-op one or more times, the concern of increased pain and loose stool could indicate "mask" a bowel obstruction, thus a diagnostic is warranted. Though it was probably was ruled out once they got in the abdomen and didn't find an obstruction then realized the cause of the increased pain and loose stool could very well have simply been the side affect of the Zelnorm!! OOOPS! Just what the victim of ARD didn't need, another surgery! A good reason for the company to make the statement that persons who have been "diagnosed" with adhesions should NOT take Zelnorm! Interesting though...how does a person get diagnosed with adhesions? Anyone? Todate there really is not an FDA code that allows a Dr. to write "adhesions" as an end means of the cause of symtpoms! And what are some of the very common symptoms of ARD? How would your Dr. differentiate whether your symptoms were adhesions or IBS to even prescribe Zelnorm..and IF they prescribe it..well, what if it accomplishes it's goal of ridding your constipation, and your pain increases, and you end up with a surgery that was not really warranted but indicated by your symptoms that your having an obstruction....wow! I think this company has to think a bit more about this drug!!!!!!!
Scenario #3.) Maybe those patients who were among those, who had "few more abdominal surgeries" after being prescribed Zelnorm, were never diagnosed with adhesions prior to being given Zelnorm. The patients might very well have been post operative from one or more surgical procedures and returned to a Dr. with complaints of pain and bowel trouble, and we all know what the Dr. will do if they present with complaints of pain post surgically and associated with bowel problems...they will tell them they have "IBS" ( Irritable Bowel Syndrome), and then they send them to a gastrointestinal surgeon...and/or will prescribe pain pills in an attempt to lessen the pain while the patient is undergoing diagnostics. Constipation is the #1 side affect of analgesics ( pain medications) so couple that medication with the suspician of IBS you have... IBS with Constipation! Just the right patient to be given Zelnorm! Applause, Applause!!
What a shock to this pharmacutical company! I bet they thought they had it all figured out...until those few surgeries showed adhesions! Talk about cover your butt fast..the good thing is that they ARE mentioning "that word" on national TV! I was excited about that to say say the least!!!
They do state that you should contact your Dr. if you fall into any of the catagories listed in the "Important Safety Information!" What does concern me is that this company is NOT addressing the issues of ARD! ARD patients can not be diagnosed with ARD prior to being prescribed this medication without a surgery being performed!! IBS sytmptoms perrelel ARD symptoms to closely they cannot be differentiated by patient and or Dr.enough to keep the ARD patient safe from an unneccesary surgery!! The fact is that there is NO way a Dr. can diagnose ARD without a surgery to be able to dicern the difference of ARD and IBS! Todate there is not an FDA code that allows a Dr. to write or diagnose "adhesions" as an end means of the cause of presenting symtpoms such as those that perrelel IBS!
Write this company NOW with your concerns and questions! It just might save your life!
http://www.zelnorm.com/utils/contact/info/emaili.jsp
More in part 2....