# Antidepressants and IBS-D



## transatlanticist (Dec 24, 2009)

Hi there,Is there anyone out there who has had success using an antidepressant to treat IBS-D? I began taking Citalopram 2.5 years ago after being diagnosed with IBS-D, but I did not respond well to it. My doctor switched me to Zoloft, which I've been taking for about 2 years now. Though it has helped with my anxiety, my physical symptoms have gotten drastically worse over the past year. I now have to supplement the Zoloft with a double dose of the antispasmodic dicyclomine and Immodium every day, along with probiotics and peppermint oil. About a month ago, I went to the ER because my pain was so intense I thought my appendix had burst. The doctor I saw gave me a few Vicodin to combat the pain, but it puts me in such a fog! I'm a busy college student with a job, so it's incredibly frustrating that all my efforts to treat my IBS-D don't seem to be working and I have to miss class and work so often.I recently read that Zoloft is sometimes used to treat people with IBS-C, and now I'm worried that this medicine just making me sicker by worsening my symptoms of IBS-D. Have any other IBS-D sufferers had similar problems with Zoloft, and has anyone found a better treatment? Also, is there a painkiller that won't make me as loopy? Any help would be greatly appreciated -- thank you!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

It may be worth talking to the doctor about switching to a different antidepressant as Zoloft sometimes does increase diarrhea.Cymbalta is approved both for depression and for pain syndromes and tends to be on the constipating side of things, so that may be an option. The Tricyclics are often used for IBS-D and if you don't need them for depression may be a good choice. For the pain of IBS they are generally used at doses much lower than for depression (so 10-75 mgs for pain control of IBS and a number of other conditions but usually 100-250 mgs before they start effecting mood significantly).


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## transatlanticist (Dec 24, 2009)

Thanks for your help, Kathleen!


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