Best medications for IBS?

[bippityboppity87]

Hi everyone,

So it's been suspected by my GP that it's highly likely I have IBS. After a trip to my local minor injuries clinic a few months ago after passing quite a bit of blood, numerous blood tests and stool sample. Celiac has thankfully been ruled out, but said it's pointing more strongly towards ibs

Im glad I'm finally getting to the bottom of what's going on, but my god, it's hell, and incredibly debilitating on a daily basis. Some days worse than others. Painful cramping, sometimes so bad, I can barely walk and exhaustion, can make me almost incapacitated curled up in my bed. It's awful

Anyway, I was looking up on the nhs website last night under possible medications for ibs, that a couple of antidepressants can help symptoms

The two mentioned were Amitriptyline and Citaloptam. I'm already on Sertraline for low mood. Would it be worth asking to switch antidepressants to one of these if it can help ibs?

Is anyone else on this for it? Or am I better off just buying some Imodium/Buscopan?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

There’s a lot of new research into IBS.

The majority of IBS cases have an underlying condition called SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Ovwegrowth).

It’s worth looking into that as in many case SIBO is not only treatable but curable.

There is starting to be some awareness of the new research and treatments on the NHS but it’s patchy.

I have had IBS for 23 years, it’s a God awful complaint.
Is your IBS with mainly diarrhoea, constipation or mixed?
Old style TCA’s like Amitriptyline or Nortriptyline work better for diarrhoea type IBS where’s the newer SSRI’s help the constipated side of things but obviously we are all different and some find either or none help.
The low fodmap diet is very good for many people.
There are lots of great Facebook support groups for IBS suffers, I totally recommend those, they are a lifeline for me.
Buscopan can be good for the pain as can peppermint oil capsules. Many people have had success with gut directed hypnotherapy too.
I hope you find relief soon, it really is a horrible thing to suffer from.

Peppermint and mebeverine.

My sister, who really suffers has started taking digestive enzymes and so far,she says they've really helped.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I got a hot water bottle yesterday to help with the cramping and also bought some Buscopan

@Twoweekcruise it's mainly diarrhoea and can come on quite suddenly. So if I need to go, I need "to go" right away or, to put it bluntly, I have to change my trousers when I get in. It's really embarrassing and getting me down. Not to mention very painful

Hopefully the Buscopan helps