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[spicycarrots]

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My husband suffers from chronic IBS-D, he was on lotronex before it was taken off the market in 2000. It worked wonders for him, we thought that now it is only available to women, based on what we've read online and been told by Dr.'s. However I have been doing more research and in forums like this one have found men who claim to be on lotronex. Did something change? Does anybody if men can now get a prescription for lotronex? Or how these men are able to get lotronex? Also he currently taking an anti-depressant to deal with the abdominal cramps which he does ok on. He was on amitriptyline but it completely wiped out his sex drive, which wasn't good for our marriage considering we've only been married 8 months. He just recently switched over to welbutrin because we've heard it doesn't have the same sexual side effects. I haven't noticed a difference yet, but I think its to soon to tell. It seems to be working to control his abdominal cramping the same though. Does anybody have any other tips on other medications that have helped? I know he has tried a lot of different ones, not sure which ones but we requested copies of prescriptions he's tried from doctors and should be getting that list in a couple of days. So any recommendations you have that I can match up to his list would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

[Rosie19]

My husband suffers from chronic IBS-D, he was on lotronex before it was taken off the market in 2000. It worked wonders for him, we thought that now it is only available to women, based on what we've read online and been told by Dr.'s. However I have been doing more research and in forums like this one have found men who claim to be on lotronex. Did something change? Does anybody if men can now get a prescription for lotronex? Or how these men are able to get lotronex? Also he currently taking an anti-depressant to deal with the abdominal cramps which he does ok on. He was on amitriptyline but it completely wiped out his sex drive, which wasn't good for our marriage considering we've only been married 8 months. He just recently switched over to welbutrin because we've heard it doesn't have the same sexual side effects. I haven't noticed a difference yet, but I think its to soon to tell. It seems to be working to control his abdominal cramping the same though. Does anybody have any other tips on other medications that have helped? I know he has tried a lot of different ones, not sure which ones but we requested copies of prescriptions he's tried from doctors and should be getting that list in a couple of days. So any recommendations you have that I can match up to his list would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Hi Spicycarrots....has your husband tried Welcohl? It's a cholesterol medication used off label for Diarrhea. It helps by binding the overproduction of bile that causes diarrhea. I have had a 5 year struggle with IBS-D with no answers and no real help (tried everything out there, literally). I have been on Welcohl for two years and it has not cured me as I have bad days but it has definitely given me a sense of normalcy in my life again (no more bathroom mapping. etc.) I also didn't notice any side effects. I was just prescribed Lotranex so I am going to give that a go.

[IC-Doc]

Lotronex has undergone a significant change. It moved from selective trained docs for Rx to any GIs.Before, each prescriber had to be specifically trained and had to put a blue sticker on the Rx toget Lotronex. This is no longer necessary. The current issue then is whether your GI doc willprescribe Lotronex off-label and if so, whether your insurance company will pay for it. Currently,a 90 day supply of 1mg BID Lotronex is about $2500. Initially my insurance company would not payfor it due to FDA female only. However, this was based on no data or studies for efficacy ofLotronex in males. I found data that supported Lotronex in males and now have it covered.My co-pay is about $55 for a 90-day supply. I was very fortunate. Lotronex works very well for me.I too have had it in the past and was devastated when it was pulled in 2000. Cilansetron was evenbetter than Lotronex but Solvay dropped it.Has he tried Dicyclomine and/or Hyosciamine .125mg SL? These are not anywhere as good asLotronex but are very low cost and non-confrontational.

My husband suffers from chronic IBS-D, he was on lotronex before it was taken off the market in 2000. It worked wonders for him, we thought that now it is only available to women, based on what we've read online and been told by Dr.'s. However I have been doing more research and in forums like this one have found men who claim to be on lotronex. Did something change? Does anybody if men can now get a prescription for lotronex? Or how these men are able to get lotronex? Also he currently taking an anti-depressant to deal with the abdominal cramps which he does ok on. He was on amitriptyline but it completely wiped out his sex drive, which wasn't good for our marriage considering we've only been married 8 months. He just recently switched over to welbutrin because we've heard it doesn't have the same sexual side effects. I haven't noticed a difference yet, but I think its to soon to tell. It seems to be working to control his abdominal cramping the same though. Does anybody have any other tips on other medications that have helped? I know he has tried a lot of different ones, not sure which ones but we requested copies of prescriptions he's tried from doctors and should be getting that list in a couple of days. So any recommendations you have that I can match up to his list would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!