Chronic diarrhea, anxiety, and IBS Posted: 04-30-08 08:52am
Shouldn't the Levsin start working
immediately? I took one yesterday and one
this morning and still had diarrhea. I
have taken Lexapro before and it gave me
diarrhea. Celexa and Lexapro are in the
same drug class so maybe my stomach doesnt
tolerate an SSRI? Or the Levsin doesnt
work? Is there an SSRI that has a side
effect of constipation? And is there an
alternative to Levsin?
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DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
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Anxiety and Stress Answer A4046 Posted: 05-05-08 12:58pm
Chronic diarrhea could be due to IBS but
certain other disorders that also cause
diarrhea should be excluded first. Such
disorders are intestinal infections,
malabsorption syndrome, ulcerative
colitis, Crohn’s disease etc.
IBS is a functional disorder (has no
organic issue) that can be diagnosed when
all the organic possibilities are
excluded. You need several diagnostic
procedures to find the real diagnosis but
most valuable in your case would be a
colonoscopy and microbiological
examination of the stool.
Chances for you to have IBS are good
because IBS is related to stress and
anxiety and you already suffer from
generalized anxiety disorder and panic
attacks. It doesn’t seem likely to me
that medicines caused your diarrhea. I
believe that if you treat your anxiety the
IBS will also calm down.
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