Low doses of antidepressants can provide significant relief for adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome, according to a study published in the May issue of Journal of Pediatrics. IBS affects 6 percent of middle school students and 14 percent of high school students in the United States.
Symptoms of IBS include crampy pain, bloating, gas, mucus in the stool, and changes in bowel habits. Some people with IBS have constipation and others have diarrhea. Some people have alternating constipation and diarrhea.
In the study, which was conducted at Mattel Children’s Hosptial at UCLA, the antidepressant amitriptyline was shown to be effective in reducing symptoms and improving the quality of life for IBS sufferers. “Our results show that amitryptyline signficantly improves overall quality of life measurements in adolescents and should be a therapeutic option for those paients,” said Dr. Ron J. Bahar, the study’s author. “We were actually surprised to reach our conclusion with a relatively small number of subjects.”
The next step in the research will examine the long-term followup of these patients to determine who will continue to stay well on the medication, whose symptoms resolve spontaneously and what other medications can be used as an alternative to amitriptyline for adolescents with IBS.
Researchers have yet to discover any specific cause for IBS. One theory is that people who suffer from IBS have a colon, or large intestine, that is particularly sensitive and reactive to certain foods and stress. The immune system, which fights infection, may also be involved.

Source: University of California – LA