Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Anti-Depressant Boomerang?

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and put on Betaseron, a self-injected interferon medication, to combat it. Within a few months of going on the interferon I suffered a massive depression (very common). My neuro put me on Lexapro, and I was a very happy person for about a year. The next 6 months saw a reduction in the "anti depressant" effectiveness of the drug, and the side effects were taking their toll (especially the sexual side-effects common to AD's), so I went off about a year ago, just to see if I could manage my moods on my own.

A few months later, I started having severe D attacks, which my regular GP diagnosed as IBS. She said pretty much everything I've subsequently learned on this website... no cure, only maintenance, diet, SFS, etc.

Well, things have steadily gotten worse, despite the fact that I've tried to do Heather's diet, take the SFS, etc. I only just started to piece together the idea that maybe coming off the AD's sent me into a weird IBS-D phase? MS is supposed to cause C, which I did have a little of while on the Lexapro... but it was far preferable to this out of control D!

I'm seeing a GI on Monday to rule out any real serious problems (though my GP has done lots of tests herself which is why she thinks it's IBS), and also going back to my neuro to get back on AD's. But I was just wondering if anyone knows of a correlation between going off ADs and having IBS attacks. I did a search of the boards and couldn't find anything other than discussions about ADs helping IBS in general.

Thanks in advance, I'm new (but have been lurking for a couple of months). And I'm sick of being sick, especially since I already have #%$^ MS.

Maddy

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