I'm taking a new mood stabilizer, Trileptal, for bipolar disorder and one of the benefits is that is has helped my IBS trememdously. I have IBS-C and where I was having bad C, stomach pain, and bloating almost every day, I rarely have a bad day now. I have taken the SSRI's in the past, and I would like to encourage anyone who tries one of these or a mood stabilizer to please give it enough time to work. Many of these take several months or more before you will notice a difference. I think many times people start them and when they don't have immediate results, they give up on them! In my case, the improvement was very gradual (2-3 months.) Side effects? None, except in the beginnning, it made me very drowsy, but now it doesn't. And I sleep very well at night, which has been great.