(RxWiki News) Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can be difficult to manage. Some IBS symptoms can limit your social and work activities. Some medications may enable patients to live a fuller life.
A recent study found that women with IBS who took Lotronex had better daily life style, without reduced functions.
These women reported that IBS symptoms did not get in the way of their activities as much when they were taking the drug.
"Ask your doctor about how to better manage IBS."
The study, led by Filippo Cremonini, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, asked women to take Lotronex .
They enrolled 705 women with IBS with diarrhea. Women took either 0.5 mg once-a-day, 1 mg once-a-day, 1 mg twice-a-day or placebo, a pill with no drug in it.
The study lasted 12 weeks. Researchers used standard measures to ask women about how their symptoms got in the way of their quality of life, social activities, and ability to work.
Women who took the 0.5 mg once-a-day and 1 mg twice-a-day rated that their symptoms interfered less with social activities and work productivity. They had better scores for social activities and their ability to work after taking the drug for 12 weeks.
Constipation was most common side effect.
Lotronex was taken off the market in 2000 because of life-threatening constipation or blockage in some patients.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings that some women taking the drug needed surgery to fix injury to the bowels from extreme constipation.
In 2002, the FDA re-approved Lotronex with a new warning label that urged doctors to carefully follow patients who were taking it.
Lotronex is approved for the treatment of IBS with diarrhea. It is approved for use in women and only when other treatments have not worked.
The study was published July 10 in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Funding for the study came from Patrice Ferriola, Rebecca Watson, and Anthony Stonehouse.
The maker of Lotronex, Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., also provided funding for the study.
