Irritable Bowel Syndrome : Colpermin

[seven-day-weekend]

Does anyone know if Colpermin(peppermint oil capsules) is available over the counter in the UK as my husband can't seem to get it here in S[pain at all.

Thanks!

[Millie's Mum]

Yes it is, its commonly available in boots etc so you might even be able to get in the supermarket where it would probably be cheaper than the chemists.

[seven-day-weekend]

Thanks Millies Mum, much appreciated.

[Skint_Catt]

Its not cheap but it does work - someone on here suggested it and my OH tried it. Trouble is he never sticks with any trials! At least he's avoiding whiskey since we've discovered he's allergic to it :rolleyes:

[BubbleFrogette]

Easy to get here...including Tesco. Quite expensive but works very well.

[Skint_Catt]

We got ours from Morrisons - over the pharmacy counter.

[absolutebounder]

Does anyone know if Colpermin(peppermint oil capsules) is available over the counter in the UK as my husband can't seem to get it here in S[pain at all.

Thanks!

Your Oh would be better off changing his lifestyle so that he doesnt suffer the IBS in the first place. IBS is a sign your body is trying to tell you something

[Skint_Catt]

absolutebounder - but its VERY hard to work out what it is - my OH and the Drs are still trying 16 years on. It's not as easy as cutting out one thing at a time for 6 weeks or so - it's often a combination of things.

[Millie's Mum]

Your Oh would be better off changing his lifestyle so that he doesnt suffer the IBS in the first place. IBS is a sign your body is trying to tell you something

I couldn't agree more but if you are having an attack (could be stress induced rather than diet, although i find its usually a combination) then Colpermin really works.

[seven-day-weekend]

Thanks to all who replied.

He knows the Colpermin works far more than any other peppermint tablet, so doesn't mind paying for it.

We will stock up in the UK in June when we visit.

absolute bounder - his IBS is stress-related and he has taken early retirement and we have moved to a sleepy little Spanish village, so the IBS is much better, but still every so often will rear its ugly head.

So he HAS changed his lifestyle to a less stressful one.

How much, by the way, is 'quite expensive?'.

[absolutebounder]

absolutebounder - but its VERY hard to work out what it is - my OH and the Drs are still trying 16 years on. It's not as easy as cutting out one thing at a time for 6 weeks or so - it's often a combination of things.
IBS is known to be stress related but people dont always know they have it until it is diagnosed often some years later. I didnt say it was easy but try to take him back 16 yrs and see what has changed. Learning to chill out worked for me and was in fact what got me into hypnotherapy in the first place.
The real problem is that some people dont seem to know that something stresses them and in these cases it is difficult to find.

[Skint_Catt]

What changed 16 years ago was a serious case of food poisoning in New York which nearly hospitalised him!

[absolutebounder]

What changed 16 years ago was a serious case of food poisoning in New York which nearly hospitalised him!
Interesting. Has any of the docs thought that it could be a fear (stress) in the back of his mind that any time he eats he could be about to suffer the same food poisoning. For instance is it worse predominantly after or before meals?

[Skint_Catt]

No, there seems to be no trigger except certain foods. Most fruit makes the gas worse, curries/spicy food (obviously!) make the diahorrea worse. We accidently found he's allergic to whiskey and he does seem to be better recently now he's off it (used to drink at least one a day). The pain through his back of his bowel cramping was horrible to watch until a few weeks ago and he regularly had time off i.e. several days a month (in the 7 months we've lived together he's only had one day off - good home cooking instead of the processed foods he used to eat!).

There's no stress in his life currently, though when he drives a lot or sits at his PC he notices the position he sits in can give him stomach ache. Not close to meals eiher - usually late evening is worse (when he's been sitting all day) but then again thats only when I see him so :confused:

He's now on Fibrogel from the Dr (an orange powdered drink) which may also have helped recently.

[SmileyHappyBeing]

Seven-day-weekend,

Prices for colpermin,


£5.34 for 20 caps in Boots.

£4.85 in Asda for 20 caps, or £19.32 for 100.

Hth ..

[seven-day-weekend]

Oh, thanks Smiley - not as bad as I thought!

[moneysaving pharmacist]

Or ask the GP to prescribe the colpermin. If he's getting fybogel on prescription as well you might want to think about a pre-payment cert depending on the quantities prescribed.

[seven-day-weekend]

Thank you Pharmacist - however we can't use the British NHS as we are Spanish residents and have to use Spanish healthcare. The last lot of Colpermin was prescribed by a UK Doctor before we came to Spain (he prescribed 100s as he knew we were coming here!) but now my husband needs more.

Neither our medico (Doctor) or farmacia have heard of it. I have shown them the box and they have just shrugged and shook their heads! I don't know whether IBS is not common in Spain.

Anyway, as long as we can buy it in the UK, that's fine.

Thanks again!

[Savvy_Sue]

Can your son buy some and post it out if you're desperate before June?

[seven-day-weekend]

Yes Savvy Sue, that is a possibility, and so could various friends, but my husband has enough to last until June (unless he has a REALLY bad bout - hope not),

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Mrs P Pincher]

Can I just point out that it is very common for people to end up with IBS after a serious infection. For example I had campylobacter food poisoning in the summer of 1979 and the symptoms have never completely gone away. I was diagnosed with IBS later that year, by which time I weighed under 7 stone and was in all sorts of trouble, living on Complan. With careful diet and lifestyle choices I manage it now, but I believe that had it not been for the food poisoning in the first place I would not have this horrible illness that when it flares up makes life extremely difficult.

It seems quite credible to me that this gentleman is simply stuck with this after his food poisoning.

We all have different ways of managing symptoms. Colpermin doesn't work for me, but ginger does and a good curry with plenty of ginger and turmeric blocks me solid fr about three days!

That's enough of this.

[cally1978]

Merbentyl sp?? is peppermint based and is usually given on prescription in uk, have you taken old packet into pharmacy in spain, they are usually quite good at matching up to nearest equivalent and explaining difference x

[seven-day-weekend]

Thank you Calley - he particularly wants Colpermin, he says it works better than the other peppermint tablets. He has loads of Mintec too but says they are not anywhere as good.

Thanks to all who replied.