# How does Xanax help IBS-D?



## jason haberland

Hey Everyone,Happy V- Day! Anyways I'm a 25 yr old male and I suffer from IBS-D, which I think is caused by anxiety. I am on Buspar for anxiety and I feel it's doing absolutely nothing to help me, my Doctor told me it might not help at all. I also take Ativan for sleeping and that works, but my problem still is the upset stomach from anxiety and I want something else besides buspar. I've heard a great deal about Xanax and I want to try it. Some questions i have is does it work well for anxiety and D and is there is a high rate of sexual side effects? I don't want this to happen, I have a gf,ahaha. Any help would be nice, thanks


----------



## KayWill

Hi,I am a 24 yr old female IBS-D sufferer and have severe anxiety problems that are both the cause of and caused by my IBS. I take Zoloft for general anxiety, and it seems to help, without any sleeping side effects. It doesn't help with the physical problems, but the reduction in anxiety helps with those. I also take Xanax for times when the anxiety gets really bad. If you're like me, as soon as you start to get anxious about having D. you immediately get cramping and then more anxiety and on and on. That's when the Xanax comes in really handy. Times like if you're on a date (I use Xanax a lot in movies) and need a little extra security. The real plus side to Xanax is that there are rarely sexual side effects. I'm married and used to worry about the same thing, because what's the use of having reduced symptoms if you don't ever get in the mood? The Zoloft is great for an every day anxiety fixer and is totally non-addictive. Xanax is not great for every day because it is highly addictive, but does provide immediate relief from anxiety. My bottom line advice? Try the Xanax when you get panicky, and poss. have your doctor switch you to Zoloft (some, but minor, sexual effects, mainly tougher to reach orgasm) or try an upped dose of Buspar, and definitely see if he will prescribe just a little Xanax for emergencies.Hope that helps!


----------



## jason haberland

Thanks Kaywill for all the advice! I can't take a stronger dose of Buspar because I take one pill in the am and one in the pm and I get really dizzy and loopy when I take it so I had to cut down. It just doesn't help me. I just want something to aleviate the anxiety and I will take anything that helps, i basically need something that will constantly be in my system and keep me calm and not so anxious, thanks for the advice


----------



## KayWill

Really, you should try the Zoloft. If you start it slow, there are no yucky side effects with dizziness or anything, and at a dose like 100mg once a day it really lowers the generalized anxiety. Take it from a girl with a BA in psych emph in psychopharmacology, it's one of the best for gen anxiety, and my husband took it for about a year, so I know that for the women who date guys on it, the sexual side effects just turn out to be better stamina







I'd definitely recommend talking to your psych about it.


----------



## jason haberland

Sounds good to me, I'll ask about Zoloft!! Does it really help out alot with anxiety, does it make you much calmer. I really thought the Buspar was useless! So there's really no sexual side effects and it helps with my IBS-D also?Thanks Kaywill


----------



## mxwe

I take Xanax and it helps with anxiety. I have had a lot of luck with Cymbalta it is similar to Effexor-


----------



## jason haberland

thanks for the advice too mxwe, does these anxiety drugs help alot with your IBS?


----------



## jason haberland

Does Zoloft help with IBS-D also?


----------



## jason haberland

How does Zoloft help with IBS-D, I'm going to my doctor this week and I was buspar and it didn't help but the ativan did. i was hoping to get on an anti anxiety drug to help with my d and I was wondering which one was the best?


----------



## KayWill

I can't really tell you if it helps with the actual IBS-D or if the symptoms just go so hand in hand with anxiety that in helping with the anxiety the Zoloft helps with the IBS-D. also. But it has helped for me, a lot. And I've tried a hell of a lot of things in between that haven't worked as well. My psyc. just told me last week that the dose generally given for generalized anxiety like it sounds liek you're dealing with is 100mg daily. Good luck!


----------



## jjohnson

Sage,Just FYI Zoloft has the highest rate of D as a side-effect of any antidepressant, so it might not be an ideal first choice for someone with IBS-D, although there are definitely people here who swear by SSRIs even though they have a tendancy to cause D (Lexapro especially seems to be a favorite around here). Conventional wisdom would suggest that the best choices might be Effexor, Cymbalta, Remeron, or one of the old time tricyclics, such as amitriptyline or doxepin, as these all tend to have a constipating effect. Also, Xanax is very similar to Ativan, both drugs have very high rates of effectiveness, but I wouldn't expect one to work substantially better than the other, though by all means give it a try if you want. Hope this helps.


----------



## BertAPU

Sage1979,I am also 25 and suffer from IBS-D. My doctor prescribed me Buspar and Donnatal (phenobarb) to use in tandem. I hated the combination. The Buspar made me so light-headed, nauseas, etc. I got off of it after two months. The donnatal was pretty mellowing too--I was very sleepy.Then a smart doctor gave me Xanax, and like everyone else it is a great drug. But it is also highly addictive so use it responsibly. I only use Xanax when I am having a panicky situation or really bad D--I do NOT use it preventatively whatsoever. But that is me.One of my doctors actually said Donnatal can contribute to Epileptic type attacks after long usage, but I have never evaluated the truth in this. I am taking Levsin right now which, so far, has had no noticeable effect on the D.Good luck to you!


----------



## jason haberland

Hey RobAlan, thanks for all the input! I'm on Lexapro now with Ativan and it's only my first day of Lexapro! I was on Buspar, Levsin and Bentyl and none of it did a thing! Everytime i ask for Xanax my doctor shys away from it because of the addiction factor. I hope Lexapro works because I don't see getting to try anything else until hopefully Cilansetron gets approved.


----------

