# Amitriptyline to treat IBS-D



## veryrednow (Sep 30, 2003)

Ok ive suffered from IBS-D for around 5 years now and been passed from pillar to post from gp to consultant and generally the answer is take fibogel much to my dissapointment as it just makes matters worse. Really been feeling like no one even cares how horrific this ibs-d is.Then another consultant, someone who seemed to listen to how destructive ibs-d is on my life, after ordering many blood tests, a scan, and another colonoscopy she also prescribed Amitriptyline, 25mg at bedtime every day and after two weeks reduce my mebevrine, loperimide, colpermine untill i dont take them at all and increase the Amitriptyline to 50mg at bedtime if i need to.So is this a common treatment? have i been living in hell and not seen that this could be an answer? or is it just another hopeless treatment with other nasty side affects??Also i have an underactive thyroid so take thyoxine 100mcg per day and see in the leaflet for amitriptyline that it sometimes causes problems to those on thyroid meds.very confused and sick to the back teeth of IBS-D!


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## kitkat17 Lady of the Loo (Jul 21, 2005)

Hi, I was on it for about 8 months. Did nothing for my IBS just made me gain weight. Good luck with it


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## 23410 (Nov 12, 2006)

I've been taking Nortriptyline and Fluphenazine plus 1 immodium per day. This regime works but unfortunately weight gain and drowsiness are the side effects. I am now trying to get hold of Motofen or its equivalent in the UK.


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## 20749 (Apr 22, 2007)

veryrednow said:


> So is this a common treatment? have i been living in hell and not seen that this could be an answer? or is it just another hopeless treatment with other nasty side affects??


Don't despair!







Different things work for different folks. This might do it for you, or you might have to try some other stuff as well. This drug just flat puts me comatose. But some folks with fibromyalgia say it helps their pain.Angie in Texas, US


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## tltrull (Nov 12, 2005)

It really helped me with cramping and some with the D, but I switched to Cymbalta because I gained too much weight.Cymbalta seems to do the same for me, and shouldnt cause weight gain. So if you need an alternative, keep it mind.Keep in mind I was on 75mg, and as far as I could tell the weight wasnt too much p a problem until the dose got higher.


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## Harry (May 16, 2007)

I've got IBS-D, and was prescribed Amitriptyline (20mg). It worked really well for me, I still had some slight discomfort and gas, but other than that it was brilliant.... except that it made me sleep for about 12-14 hours/day.


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## 15633 (Feb 14, 2007)

i took it for 2 1/2 months, and it didn't help. My heart started skpping and it was beating real funny. i stopped taking it. my doc said it wasn't the med, but when i stopped taking it, my heart returned to normal...


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## veryrednow (Sep 30, 2003)

Thanks for the replies, sounds like its another drug with nasty side affects that does not alot for the IBS, been on it a week now and have noticed very little change in the ibs but have managed to sleep untill 9am every day which is not very helpful really just means i spend more of the day in the bathroom! if im up early enough i can get out of the house by about lunch time once the D has finished its morning stint but now its mid afternoon before im out the house.Going to try Calcium for myself to see what that does fingers crossed.


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## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

I've been on 20mg since about October. I'm starting to gradually scale back so that by the time I'm done with my current bottle, I don't need another refill. It does make me extremely groggy and when I first went on it I called them my "crazy pills" - I felt completely lethargic, cared less about things, and got confused so easily. I can sleep for 16 hours a day no problem if no one wakes me up. Now it's hard for me to tell how much it's changed me since I've been on it for a while. But I don't think it's doing much for my IBS. The pain is better now, but I also am taking a lot of other medicines now that I think are actually making the difference. I don't think it's doing a lot for me and I'm looking forward to quitting it. I have gained weight but I didn't know that was a side effect - I just figured it was a result of my staying home more often because of my IBS in general (and all the sleeping I do now)In my opinion, I'd try other things first. It takes so long to even take effect (6-8 weeks), with questionable benefits and annoying side effects. It will take months to even know if the side effects are worth it or if it's even helping you. Maybe it could, and that would be great... but I don't think it should be the first thing you try.


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## 14989 (Aug 3, 2006)

I've been on it for about a year or two. It's a bit hard to single out the effects considering I'm on a few other similar drugs, but when I was only on it, I definitely noticed drowsiness -- which subsided after some time.Other than the drowsiness, I believe it helps. I've had no other issues with it. I have not gained any weight from it, actually, I wish that was one of the effects.


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## 21723 (Aug 19, 2005)

If your problem is ibs-d you would probably do better with Imodium, Lomotil, Motofen or Lotronex. Amitriptyline is a "#### shoot" (pun intended).


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## 13777 (Sep 5, 2006)

worked great from me. got me off questran which I hated b/c its inconvinient to take and I wounded up in hostpital a couple of times w/ bowel obstruction (sometimes it works to well). generally, the amitriptaline's effects are not noticed for the first 30 days. I am only taking 10 mgs, which seems to be lower than what others are taking. I have asked my GI to raise dosage b/c I am still having some D, he said it doesnt work that way and increasing the dosage will not work. Now we are looking into the SIBO possibility, which is a bit more complex than I thought, being that most antibiotcs make me sick. also, I dont think I gained more than 5 lbs on the amitriptaline (i am 175 now, average for 5'10 male I think)Be wellkc


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## 23410 (Nov 12, 2006)

I stopped taking my Nortriptyline about 3 days ago. I was really fed up with feeling so drowsy and also putting on weight. Already I feel much more alert and much more energetic. I'm now trying Lomotil and I just hope it works for me. Unfortunately I cannot get Motofen in the UK but my doctor is trying to find its equivalent.


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