What are some of the main medical treatments for IBS-C?

•Last Updated: October 25, 2023

Medications for IBS-C include osmotic laxatives and guanylate cyclase-c agonists, both of which can increase water retention in the bowel and stimulate intestinal motility. Antidepressants and antispasmodics may also be used to reduce abdominal pain.^[1]

There’s some evidence that methane could slow intestinal transit, and antibiotic treatment of methane-positive small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) improved constipation in a small number of studies.^[2]

Last Updated:October 25, 2023

References

^Irritable Bowel Syndrome: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, USA; cited January 2023
^Arjun Gandhi, Ayesha Shah, Michael P Jones, Natasha Koloski, Nicholas J Talley, Mark Morrison, Gerald HoltmannMethane positive small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysisGut Microbes.(Jan-Dec 2021)