Hi - I'm new to the message boards, but this spiked my interest a little bit. I was finally diagnosed just last month with IBS-D after going through all the tests that needed to be done. I've had symptoms for around 8 or so years - and my medications have fluctuated from the beginning.
Initially I was thought to have a parasitic infection, so I took something to fight Giardia (I think). It helped for oh, about a month... at most. After that (up until a year or so ago) it was thought to be a mental disease - something I could control and brought on myself. Since then, I've been on Paxil, which made my symptoms completely intolerable and leaving my home was not an option. Next was Lexapro. That helped for a spell. The nice thing about Lexapro was that it calmed the frequency of attacks, and made the pain associated with them virtually disappear. However, it didn't work for longer than about 6 months (so much for the thought of it being stress related). And I still had the night pains, tho they were less frequent.
So currently, as a result of the tests... I'm taking Amitripdylene (sp?). I've not had attacks since I started it. Admittedly, I've only been on them for about 3 weeks, so I still have a long road ahead of me, but I'm really hoping. I'm also hoping the scatterbrained feeling subsides, as well as the head rushes. But most importantly... the closest thing to IBS symptoms I've had since starting is 'gurgling' (I'm not sure how else to describe it). A good start I think for the new drug.
There's a good first rambled post from the new girl.