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I was prescribed Amitiza some years ago, the first time I ever tried a prescription treatment. It worked well with no side effects, but only for a few months. I may have tried higher doses, and also tried stopping for several months and restarting to see if that would get things going again. It did, but for even less time. I finally gave up on that and since then have tried Linzess twice. I hated it but stuck with it on the second try for about a year until that drug, too, just stopped working. That was two years ago, and I've been relying, with mixed results, on occasional Miralax. After a recent bad spell, my doctor suggested retrying Amitiza. I took the first pills just a few days ago, so it's probably too soon to draw any conclusions. Any bowel activity I had the first day or two was more likely already "in the works," since I doubt the Amitiza produced instantaneous results. But I'm not clear I'll be able to tell if it's working. I'm sure Amitiza causes all kinds of different reactions, positive and negative, for different people. I don't want to wait too long for anything to happen but alternatively don't want to jump the gun and take a dose of Miralax in the next day or two. It takes about 2-3 days for that to have an effect, and I wouldn't know which product was responsible for the bowel activity, or whether it was a combination.

I had the pills for several months before I actually decided to use them since I'm dubious that they'll be useful. Maybe my low expectations will result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of a negative placebo effect in that the pill won't work because I don't think it will work. So I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has tried Amitiza lately as well as suggestions on how long it might be advisable to wait before I can determine if it's actually working. 

[annie7]

i tried amitiza--both dose strengths.

 

it didn't work very well for me--small bms only plus i had bad side effects. 

 

it really should work right away, though--within 24 hours.  that's what my doc told me.  good luck.

[GJMody]

I tried amitizia. Gave me pain and small bowels so I stopped it.

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I gave up on it after three or four days. It didn't seem to be doing anything. I contacted my GI doctor by email on Friday but didn't expect to hear from him at least until Monday. At this point, I don't think he'd recommend that I keep using it if it was supposed to work fairly quickly. So much for that; at least I won't have to pay hundreds of dollars every month (my insurance plan covers it, but at a level that makes it extremely expensive). Back to Miralax. At least that works, even though it isn't ideal.

[annie7]

sorry it didn't work for you.

 

i forget--have you tried Motegrity  (prucalopride)  or zelnorm (tegaserod) ?  they are prokinetics and stimulate peristalsis--unlike amitiza and linzess which just add fluid to the colon. 

[jza]

I was having issues with Linzess after being on it a couple years (I kept getting very bloaty and feeling like I was having an incomplete evacuation) and my doctor switched me to Amitiza. She said a lot of people cycle through those two and Trulance because their bodies get used to them and they're not as effective. I was on the lower dose of Amitiza for about a week and it wasn't doing anything (I had a BM within 24 hours but then struggled the rest of the week) so my doctor switched me to the higher dose. It made me feel kind of nauseous and like I was cramping.. and I only had partial BMs at that point. I gave up on Amitiza after about 3 weeks and went back to Linzess, and now I'm having fewer side effects on the Linzess. I also take Atrantil for bloating. Not sure if my body got less "used to" Linzess that quickly, but it seems to be working fine again. Still I wish there were a better options to treat my SIBO than just figuring out which meds are the best to force a BM out (Linzess gives me a lot of diarrhea but it's better than the alternative for me). I've done rounds of antibiotics multiple times, and the SIBO always comes back. I've had SIBO for about 6 years now.