Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Posted on February 10, 2009 |
Irritable bowel syndrome IBS is one of the toughest disorders to diagnose
and treat. Your belly aches, you’re bloated, and you have constipation or
diarrhea (or both), but tests show there’s nothing wrong. Is it all in your
head? No. It’s in your gut, and it’s not going away quietly. “Sometimes tests
rule out other possibilities, but increasingly we make the diagnosis based on the patient’s description of symptoms,” says Colin Howden, MD, professor of medicine in the GI division at Northwestern University.
Sometimes IBS begins after an infectious disease like traveler’s diarrhea. Once you’ve been diagnosed, your doctor may suggest dietary changes, such as eating more fiber or taking supplements (increase fiber gradually, since an excess can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea). Keeping a food diary to figure out what triggers symptoms, and then avoiding those foods, helps some people. Doctors may also prescribe antibiotics (to reduce bacteria in the intestinal tract) or probiotics (to shore up healthy bacteria).
Zelnorm, a drug that offered relief to many, was pulled off shelves by its
manufacturer earlier this year after it was found to increase the likelihood of
heart attack and stroke in people with a history of heart disease or those at
risk for the condition. But in July, the FDA said women under 55 with chronic constipation or IBS and no history of heart disease can still get the drug. And there are other medications on the horizon that seem to work in a similar way. Some doctors are prescribing the constipation drug Amitiza as a replacement.