User Reviews for Amitiza to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome

"After reading all of these negative reviews I decided I need to give my 2 cents in. I have suffered with constipation and stomach aches my entire life and recently it went from bad to worse and I finally told my doctor that I needed to do something. He originally prescribed Linzess but my insurance would only cover that after trying Amitiza. I have been taking Amitiza as a laxative for a week and it is a miracle, it works so well! I take two MCG pills a day. I have found 1 at night after dinner and 1 in the morning after breakfast works great. I am having normal and complete movements for the first time in years (usually I have diarrhea from taking laxatives or rocks)...it was never normal or complete. I do get a little nauseated sometimes after I take Amitiza but it does not compare to the nausea I get from other laxatives I have tried or being backed up. I have been drinking mint tea and it really helps. This drug is a miracle."

SP May 9, 2019

"After Linzess quit working for me my GI prescribed me Amitiza. The first few weeks of taking it twice daily with food were pretty rough with the unbearable side effects. I was unable to work after taking the medication due to the overwhelming fatigue and nausea. It even got to the point where I would have to vomit after taking the medication to get rid of the side effects. But after experimenting with how often and when I take the medication the side effects became bearable. I now take the Amitiza once daily on an empty stomach which helps with the nausea but the fatigue that subsides with in 2 or so hours is still there. In my opinion, I'd rather deal with the fatigue than not having a bowel movement. I do recommend!!"

E (taken for 1 to 6 months) April 3, 2019

"Day one on Amitiza and my stomach was no longer distended and I was able to have a very small movement. But by day 3 the never ending pain that I told my GI was my chief complaint. Was so unbearable that it was making me also become light headed. I quit by day 7 because there was no longer any bowel movements, gas or anything. Just a constant amount of pain and inability to think from the pain."

Nevyn (taken for less than 1 month) March 30, 2019

"I did not get nauseous or have any bad side effects. This pill just didn't work at all for my IBS."

Judge Truth (taken for less than 1 month) March 30, 2019

"Day 4 on Amitiza and still nothing. No cramps. So much for the miracle drug. Called doc’s office and I’m still waiting for a response."

Dee (taken for less than 1 month) March 12, 2019

"So far so good. I started this med due to my first IBS-C flare that went on for a week and showed no signs of going away. I’ve been on 8mg samples, morning and night, for three days now. This medication is so amazing for shortening my time in the restroom; I’ve gone to 1-2 hours from 10-15 minutes. I had some nausea the first day, but that’s gone now. The only negatives with this med are that I get stomach cramping if I eat vegetables until I “go”, and sometimes simple gas, which has increased, feels like it’ll be a BM."

Fembot (taken for less than 1 month) December 28, 2018

"I took amitiza for 3 days. I had blood pressure spiked, sweats, severe jaw pain ,sick to my stomach, headache. I called called doc on third day he told me to stop it immediately and if the symptoms don't go away go to the ER. Oh and it didn't relief my constipation AT all."

nick (taken for less than 1 month) November 18, 2018

"I took my first dose of 24 mcg about 11pm and had ate about 1/2 hour earlier. About 30 min later, I had severe cramping, my tongue started getting numb. So I went to the bathroom and had severe diarrhea. I threw up, my feet and hands started going numb, I broke out in a huge puddle of cold sweat. I thought I was going to pass out. Neither the doctor or pharmacist told me about these types of side effects. Needless to say, I will stick to miralax."

BC (taken for less than 1 month) October 18, 2018

"It is horrible I have nauseousness,vomiting and it doesn't work."

Cindy September 30, 2018

"When I started out taking Amitiza it worked great at 24 mcg twice a day, but after 1 week I started to get very sick every time I took it. My symptoms were syncope, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, loose stool, heart palpations, rapid heart rate, chills, sweating, headache, and tunnel vision. I tried taking it once a day, still had all the same effects. After talking to my Dr we decided to go to 8mcg twice a day. I didn't take any for 2 weeks, and started taking the 8mcg twice a day. After the 11th dose (1st dose day 6) I started experiencing nausea, syncope, dyspnea, headache chills, skin stinging, and cold sweats."

AllanPoe (taken for 1 to 6 months) August 25, 2018

"Doc prescribed this medicine to me for my IBS problem. Sure, it did help with my bowel movement, but I ended up spending close to an hour in the bathroom due to the persistent pain! Into the 3rd day of taking it, it has caused me multiple horrible side effects - bloating, nauseous, giddiness. The last straw came when the following day, it even resulted in vomiting! Would not recommend this due to the strong side effects."

coolios (taken for less than 1 month) July 23, 2018

"I have IBS with constipation. I take amatiza twice a day. I lost 52 pounds in one year. It has been wonderful! No bloating anymore."

linds (taken for 1 to 2 years) April 12, 2018

"I’ve been on Amitiza 24mg for 2 years. At first it was 2 pills a day, but the side effects were horrible. The doctor then reduced it to 1 pill a day and at first it worked great. But in the last year I’ve had constant, explosive diarrhea with constant stomach pains. Last Saturday was the last straw and I stopped taking it. Now I’m a little constipated and have some stomach pain but no explosive diarrhea. The medicine they give you to stop the diarrhea, while on amitiza, constipates me for a week and makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and full. I’ll take IBS constipation over that any day."

Anonymous150 (taken for 2 to 5 years) December 4, 2017

"I'm a woman who's had IBS for 50 years. A male GI was no help—his notes said I was "too concerned with my bowel movements". Apparently a skeptic about IBS. I saw a PA, who prescribed Amitiza. I took 24 mcg 2x daily more than a year, which worked well until I started having episodes of thin diarrhea without warning. I discontinued Amitiza and my bowels worked normally for a couple of months, but the old familiar constipation is back. I will try 24 mcg once a day. I have no idea if that will work, and realize that my PA would prefer monitoring me. However, I feel at this point that I have enough sense about my own body to make this decision myself. Just be aware: even if the drug works well, your response to it may change."

Aniche (taken for 1 to 2 years) November 18, 2017

"I started taking Amitiza 8mcg twice a day about a year ago. At first I didn't notice anything. I have really bad bloating issues due to slow motility in large intestines. He then increased my dosage to 24 mcg twice a day and that's when my bloating decreased. Im able to eat foods I couldn't eat before. It does give me diarrhea badly at times but it doesn't bother me. I would give it a 10 but I still feel like there is something in my low intestines. Like it's not completely moving everything out of me. If I don't take it for a few days I do notice the bloating get worse. I definitely feel a whole lot better taking it than if I don't."

Atlantissummerset (taken for 1 to 2 years) May 27, 2017

"Amitiza contains tiny hard, white spheres. I was told by my doctor that their purpose is to rub against the walls of the bowels for stimulating movement of the bowels. My problem is that these tiny spheres never dissolve and get stuck in diverticuli. I stopped taking Amitiza 3 years ago and am still passing these tiny white spheres. It is my belief that they are causing irritation thus adding to my discomfort with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I do not want to have my bowels flushed, because I have establish a great culture of friendly bacteria and do not want it washed away resulting in a need to start rebuilding this culture all over again."

Lilarose May 9, 2017

"I was forced to take this medication by my prescription coverage. It has by far been the worse experience of my life! It doesn't help with going and leaves me in horrific pain and so bloated I can't breathe. If you have IBS-C run far away for this drug! I am impatiently waiting to get the over ride on my old medication."

Athena83112 (taken for 1 to 6 months) March 27, 2017

"Update: I told my doctor about all of this and his worry was that my acid reflux was so severe that it was causing these symptoms. In conjunction with omeprozole and amitiza he added a bedtime zantac. It's been a few days and my condition has improved some. I'm not sure if this will solve it but it's worth a try!"

My friends think I'm Dramatic March 27, 2017

"I'm a 25 year old woman who has struggled with IBS-C for about 5 years now. I started off taking linzess but it was too strong and I would just have to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes for hours. So my doctor put me on the 8 mg dose of amitiza and my life has changed for the better. It still takes me an hour to go to the bathroom in the morning but I'm not waiting to go anymore. The medication works. I take it before bed and 2 hours before I wake up to give it a chance to work in my body and then drink a glass or 2 of water to kickstart it when I get up. And I don't have to worry about constipation anymore. I've been on it for 4 months and I love Amitiza."

Dt192509 (taken for 1 to 6 months) March 19, 2017

"Took this medication for one day, that might had painful diarrhea and a lot of gas. This is not a solutions for IBS if it just gives you more pain. Do not recommend if you are able to have semi regular bowel movements. It's just too strong. Gave me heartburn and nausea too."

Kate P February 15, 2017

"I'm a 70 year old woman who was prescribed Amitiza by my primary care physician for IBS with constipation. I was given the standard dose of 8mcg, to be taken twice daily. Initially, the medication worked without incident, but about a month after I started taking the medication, I started having too frequent bowel movements and anxiety. I also started losing weight which made me happy because I was about 20 pounds overweight, that is, until I saw my endocrinologist for my regular checkup. The blood work I had showed that I developed a hyperactive thyroid, which was why I was losing weight. This also me wonder if the Amitiza CAUSED the hyperthyroidism. I don't think I'll ever find that out, but I had to stop taking Amitiza."

GenieP January 29, 2017

"I was kinda shady to take this pill cuz of all the bad reviews on it. I have IBS so I thought what do I have to lose? So I took one pill and within 10 minutes this terrible nausea hit me. I even ate before I took it and that didn't help, I was nauseous all day long & I thought scew this I ain't taking it again so I didn't. 2 to 3 days later I started having terrible stomach cramps to the point where I wanted to cry. I had diarrhea & also somewhat of stools. So does the drug make you go? Yeah. Are the side effects worth it? No! This is a really powerful drug with way too many side effects. It also gave me a bad headache"

Pauly Janes December 10, 2016

"I started on just 8 Mcg and noticed no change at all in a month so my GI decided to up it to 24 I believe. I'm on a lot of medication for chronic pain and tumor damage to my brain so juggling all my meds it took me almost a month to figure out the higher dosage was causing me to throw up every morning. I wake up and take all my morning pills so obviously my stomach is kinda empty and 40 minutes later I'm vomiting with little warning. I thought it was associated with another brain tumor as when I took the pill again at 6 I didn't get sick but by then I had a meal in me. It has helped somewhat with my bowels but I'm still on miralax and stool softener and the copay is pretty high so with all considered and how lousy the side effects are"

OTT on the toilet (taken for 1 to 6 months) November 22, 2016

"Amitiza is the best if you have ibs!"

Acaramel2006aol.com July 13, 2016

"This drug had no effect on me except for a very strange taste in my mouth. I stopped taking this after 3 weeks. I was on a low dose. Will go to specialist soon to discuss."

Ibsanxiety (taken for 1 to 6 months) February 21, 2016