Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a group of symptoms—including pain or discomfort in your abdomen and changes in your bowel movement patterns—that occur together. Doctors call IBS a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. Functional GI disorders happen when your GI tract behaves in an abnormal way without evidence of damage due to a disease.

Does IBS have another name?

In the past, doctors called IBS colitis, mucous colitis, spastic colon, nervous colon, and spastic bowel. Experts changed the name to reflect the understanding that the disorder has both physical and mental causes and isn’t a product of a person’s imagination.

What are the four types of IBS?

Doctors often classify IBS into one of four types based on your usual stool consistency. These types are important because they affect the types of treatment that are most likely to improve your symptoms.

The four types of IBS are:

  • IBS with constipation, or IBS-C
    • hard or lumpy stools at least 25 percent of the time
    • loose or watery stools less than 25 percent of the time
  • IBS with diarrhea, or IBS-D
    • loose or watery stools at least 25 percent of the time
    • hard or lumpy stools less than 25 percent of the time
  • Mixed IBS, or IBS-M
    • hard or lumpy stools at least 25 percent of the time
    • loose or watery stools at least 25 percent of the time
  • Unsubtyped IBS, or IBS-U
    • hard or lumpy stools less than 25 percent of the time
    • loose or watery stools less than 25 percent of the time

How do doctors treat IBS?

​Though irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) doesn’t have a cure, your doctor can manage the symptoms with a combination of diet, medicines, probiotics, and therapies for mental health problems. You may have to try a few treatments to see what works best for you. Your doctor can help you find the right treatment plan.

Changes in eating, diet, and nutrition

Changes in eating, diet, and nutrition, such as following a FODMAP diet, can help treat your symptoms.

Medicines

Your doctor may recommend medicine to relieve your symptoms.

  • Fiber supplements to relieve constipation when increasing fiber in your diet doesn’t help.
  • Laxatives to help with constipation. Laxatives work in different ways, and your doctor can recommend a laxative that’s right for you.
  • Loperamide to reduce diarrhea by slowing the movement of stool through your colon. Loperamide is an antidiarrheal that reduces diarrhea in people with IBS, though it doesn’t reduce pain, bloating, or other symptoms.
  • Antispasmodics, such as hyoscine, cimetropium, and pinaverium, help to control colon muscle spasms and reduce pain in your abdomen.
  • Antidepressants, such as low doses of tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, to relieve IBS symptoms, including abdominal pain. In theory, because of their effect on colon transit, tricyclic antidepressants should be better for people with IBS with diarrhea, or IBS-D, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors should be better for people with IBS with constipation, or IBS-C, although studies haven’t confirmed this theory. Tricyclic antidepressants work in people with IBS by reducing their sensitivity to pain in thegastrointestinal (GI) tract as well as normalizing their GI motility and secretion.
  • Lubiprostone (Amitiza) for people who have IBS-C to improve abdominal pain or discomfort and constipation symptoms.
  • Linaclotide (Linzess) for people who have IBS-C to relieve abdominal pain and increase how often you have bowel movements.
  • The antibiotic rifaximin to reduce bloating by treating small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. However, experts are still debating and researching the use of antibiotics to treat IBS.
  • Coated peppermint oil capsules to reduce IBS symptoms.

Follow your doctor’s instructions when you use medicine to treat IBS. Talk with your doctor about possible side effects and what to do if you have them.

Some medicines can cause side effects. Ask your doctor and your pharmacist about side effects before taking any medicine.MedlinePlus maintains the latest information about side effects and drug warnings.