Amitriptyline

[heartmatters1]

Hi

Saw GP yesterday for my ongoing IBS type symptoms (not officially diagnosed) I have diverticulosis though. He has prescribed me a low dose of the above medication, which I’ve yet to start taking.

Has anyone on here taken them for IBS? I would love to hear your thoughts & experiences.

[Johny334]

Hi , will be interesting to hear replies, iv just been prescribed the same ( 10mg) yet to start them , my symptoms are ibs d with Tenesmus , be good to hear other people take on this medication

[Iggls in reply to Johny334]

it entirely depends on whether you have IBS D or C. Amitriptyline is known to be very constipating, and as I have severe IBS C, my GP wont risk it although it would certainly help with my pain. I tried it many years ago and my bowels were paralysed after 3 days!

But useful if you have IBS D ?!

[Edgar77]

I have IBSC and was put on amitriptyline for fibromyalgia. First 3 days knocked out and just wanted to sleep, but made big difference to the pain. It worked too well bringing everything to a stop but regular fibogel has settled that down.

[Harley1020]

Hello 👋 I’ve had really good results with Amitriptyline for IBS D by taking two 10mgs Amitriptyline in the evening, about 7.45pm.

It helped my nervous stomach after having my gall bladder out and they really do settle the stomach. Initially, I started on one tablet but found two tablets more beneficial.

It can cause constipation but I take 6 prunes a day for this issue.

Hope this helps.

[Fmkhan]

just prescribed the same medicine for same issue by my GP.

Now waiting for replies on this post

[Hidden]

There has obviously been a paper distributed about using the tranquilliser for IBS!!! Too much of a coincidence that several GP's prescribed it recently!!🙄

[heartmatters1 in reply to Hidden]

Interesting - I didn’t know that.

[Speedwayfan]

I have been taking just 10mg Amitriptyline for IBS-D since July 2022, it definitely has helped with the pain and cut down on bowel movements which is a big help, I have been advised a few times by my GP that I could increase to 20mg as I still have days when nothing seems to help the constant cramps but up to now I have resisted doing this, reason being is that I have really weird vivid dreams every night, I sleep find for the first 5 hours then I wake up in a panic and then struggle to get back to sleep. This is the reason why I have not increased the dosage, maybe I should? I also tried to wean off the 10mg and cut the pill in half but around day 13/14 the IBS-D symptoms I had before all came back then it was back to imodium again!!! Hence I am now back on 10mg and looks like I will be taking Amitriptyline for as long as they keep prescribing it!!! Don't want to put you off as it does help IBS-D, I have also been advised by a well known IBS consultant that I could increase to 30mg.

Hope this helps, my conclusion is that the weird dreams are more preferable to the daily struggle of IBS-D

[Johny334 in reply to Speedwayfan]

Hi , started my trial on Amitriptyline 10mg , the pros -they definitely help with Ibs d , calming down a windy stomach and slowing the bowel down , never had anxiety before this Ibs journey, they definitely helped with that as well , to a small extent , the cons - I felt like I’d been hit with a train ! Could not get up in the morning , just could not lift my head of the pillow ,vivid dreams / verging on night terrors , the dry mouth wasn’t to bad , when I came off them ( slowly) had a couple of panic attacks, so not for me BUT they are a wonder drug for some

[Sleepymoley]

I was prescribed an initial dose of 10mg for pain relief by my Consultant Gastroenterologist in November last year as I was struggling with debilitating pain. I have been diagnosed with IBS-C although, as I'm also coeliac, it can go either way. He explained that for the first couple of weeks it could make me "foggy" and I'd say that the first month was a struggle, but you do get through that zombie feeling eventually. In February this year I increased to 20mg as I was still having a fair amount of pain. There was another week of adjusting, but I've been in that dosage since and it's been life changing.

I had been in constant pain for almost 2 years prior to this prescription and within a fortnight of starting the increased dose it has almost completely gone.

My Consultant was absolutely lovely and very apologetic that they couldn't find a cause for my IBS, but this has made such a difference to my quality of life.