Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I've never found anything I can take once an attack starts that will shut it down immediately. For me, the trick is to follow the EFI Diet - that means attacks will be few and far between. If I'm having a bad tummy day and need to get out and about, I'll take Imodium and/or Donnatol (an anti-spasmodic). I found both those medications to be far more effective once I started watching what I ate.

Nortriptyline is a tricyclic anti-depressant, like Elavil (Amitriptyline). Some people have good luck with these in treating IBS-D. I tried Elavil and found it worked for a while, then the effects wore off and the dosage had to be increased. As the dosage got higher, I got spacier, so I stopped taking it.

I definitely recommend the EFI Diet. If you haven't read the information outside the Message Boards, do look through it - you can click on "Home" in the column to the left to get started.

While you're stabilizing on the Diet, you can try taking Imodium preventively, perhaps one a day or one in the morning and one at night. You can also take Donnatol (or any other anti-spasmodic) regularly for a while until you've been on the EFI Diet for long enough to calm things down.

The good news for an IBS-D is that you should get some relief really quickly. You can start with the Break The Cycle Diet, although when I first started I simply stopped eating trigger foods and irritants and started eating lots of Soluble Fiber. I also found an SFS (I take Acacia) did me a world of good.

As for your family, you can take a look at this brochure and see if you think it will help them understand what you're going through.

HTH. Welcome to the Boards.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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