Taking it out of the capsule

[nifer]

Some of you suggested in a previous post that I should take Elmiron out of the capsule and put it in water (to reduce side effects of diarrhea). Is this what doctors and pharmacists recommend? Just wondering where people were told to do this.

And yes, my side effects are from my Elmiron... had a nice chat with my urologist about it.

Thanks for all the advice!

[sacausa]

Yes, doctors do say that... and I am doing that!

[Annie2]

When I began taking Elmiron I had low-grade but constant headaches from this med and reported the side effect to my uro. He then had his nurse call and talk to an Elmiron rep. about this side effect. The rep said headaches and gastro-intestinal problems can sometimes be caused by the capsule and not the med and suggested I take the med out of the capsule. The only way to know if it is the capsule or the med itself causing the problem is to try this method. Doing this worked well for me and I had no more headaches.

The manufacturer is well aware of this problem with the capsule. However, they cannot just change the capsule without going through the long FDA approval process again.

There are a couple of well known and highly respected IC experts who have also talked about this problem and recommend those who do have these side effects try taking the med out of the capsule. It is a well known and frequently recommended technique to try if these side effects are a problem.

Annie

[Katrina]

If you require immediate assistance, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc. Customer Care Center can be reached by phone at:
1-800-682-6532
https://ortho-mcneil.com/ompcontact/OMP/index.htm

If you have any questions ask Elmiron's maker at that link.

[curlycue]

Thanks for that info. I was wondering if I was the only one with the headaches and stomach problems. One question do any of you ladies know when the patten for Elmrion will end? I pay 200.00 for Elmiron a month and when I asked the pharmacy tech if it would ever get any cheaper they said contact Elmrion and find out when the patten runs out? I dont know if that makes any sense? I tried finding out but was never given a answere?

[hypnojourney]

I do appreciate everything that has been said so far about taking the Elmiron out of the hard gel capsule. I'm wondering, though, if I can be given the names of the experts noted in a post here as saying this was okay, or directed to any info. on the web about this, other than the Elmiron maker's website.

I've already e-mailed them with a question about the safety and effectiveness of doing this. Haven't heard back yet and wondering if they will even have an answer or will just direct me back to my doctor. Thanks.