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HOME > About LOTRONEX® > Symptom Improvement

Can LOTRONEX® help improve control of bowel urgency?

Fewer “now means now” moments with LOTRONEX

Bowel urgency is a term that doctors use to describe the feeling of needing to go immediately. Women suffering from bowel urgency may do some of the following:

  • Keep a change of clothes in the car in case of accidents
  • Map out bathrooms before leaving the house
  • Stay home to be close to the bathroom

A 12-week study was done to see how well LOTRONEX improved control of bowel urgency*

Study results at week 12.

At week 12, women reported 6 out of 7 days with satisfactory control, versus 5 out of 7 with sugar pills.* *In this study, 532 women took Lotronex and 269 took sugar pills.

What can LOTRONEX® do about stomach pain and discomfort?

LOTRONEX may help relieve stomach pain and discomfort

Painful stomach cramps can be one of the most unpleasant symptoms of IBS with diarrhea. If you’ve tried treating your symptoms and are still suffering, it may be time to consider LOTRONEX, which works differently from other medicines.

Can LOTRONEX® reduce the frequency of diarrhea?

LOTRONEX is proven to reduce the frequency of bowel movements for some women

Does it seem like you’re in and out of the bathroom all day sometimes? Unlike bowel urgency, which describes a feeling, the frequency of bowel movements means the number of times you go in a day. LOTRONEX is proven to lower the number of bathroom trips for some women.

Figure: As early as week 1, women taking Lotronex had fewer daily bowel movements.*

IBS is about one-and-a-half times more common in women than in men.* Three in ten with IBS have diarrhea.* One in four cases is considered severe.*

*In this 12-week study, 177 women took LOTRONEX and 176 took placebo.

LOTRONEX may also give some women less diarrhea and more firm bowel movements.

Can LOTRONEX® help me get back to the things that matter most to me?

Women taking LOTRONEX may report less interference with these specific daily activities

No matter which specific symptoms you are suffering from, IBS with diarrhea often gets in the way of normal daily activities. If you feel like you are missing work or skipping social events, it may be time to talk to your doctor about LOTRONEX.

In a review of two 12-week studies, women taking LOTRONEX reported:

Less interference with work and social activities, less difficulty sleeping, less tiredness, and fewer eating problems.

Women who took LOTRONEX, when compared with women taking sugar pills, did not report additional benefits in their IBS symptoms with regard to emotional and mental problems and physical and sexual activity.

Learn more about
bowel urgency
See if you have severe
IBS with diarrhea

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

LOTRONEX can cause serious side effects:

Some patients have reported serious intestinal side effects while taking LOTRONEX. These include:

  • Serious complications of constipation
  • Reduced blood flow to the bowel (ischemic colitis)

These can happen suddenly and may lead to a hospital stay and, in rare cases, blood transfusions, surgery, and death.

Stop taking LOTRONEX and call your doctor right away if you have problems clearing your bowels (are constipated) or get new or worsening pain in your stomach area or blood in your stools. If your constipation does not get better after stopping LOTRONEX, call your doctor again. If you stopped taking LOTRONEX, do not start taking LOTRONEX again unless your doctor tells you to do so.

People who are older, who are weak from sickness, or who take other constipating medicines may be more likely to have serious complications of constipation with LOTRONEX.

Who should not take LOTRONEX?

Do not take LOTRONEX if any of these apply to you:

  • Your main IBS problem is constipation or you are constipated most of the time.
  • You have had a bad problem from constipation. If you are constipated now, do not start taking LOTRONEX.
  • You have had bad bowel blockages.
  • You have had blood flow problems to your bowels, such as ischemic colitis.
  • You have had blood clots.
  • You have had Crohn’s disease, sores in the colon (ulcerative colitis), swelling of a sac in the intestine (diverticulitis), or severe liver disease.
  • You do not understand the Medication Guide or are not willing to follow it.
  • You are taking a medicine called LUVOX® (fluvoxamine).

What are the possible side effects of LOTRONEX?

The most common side effects of LOTRONEX are constipation, stomach pain and nausea. Some patients have developed serious bowel side effects while taking LOTRONEX. These are not all the possible side effects of LOTRONEX. Your doctor or pharmacist can give you a more complete list. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.

You are encouraged to report side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Before using LOTRONEX® for the first time, you should:

  • Understand that LOTRONEX has serious risks for some people.
  • Read and follow the directions in the Medication Guide.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

LOTRONEX is a medicine only for some women with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) whose main problem is diarrhea; whose IBS symptoms have lasted 6 months or longer and have not been helped enough by other treatments.

You can tell if your IBS is severe if at least 1 of these is true: you have lots of painful stomach cramps or bloating; you often cannot control the need to have a bowel movement, or you have “accidents” where your underwear gets dirty from diarrhea or bowel movements; you cannot lead a normal home or work life because you need to be near a bathroom.

Enough testing has not been done to confirm if LOTRONEX works in men or children under 18.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

LOTRONEX can cause serious side effects:

Some patients have reported serious intestinal side effects while taking LOTRONEX. These include:

  • Serious complications of constipation
  • Reduced blood flow to the bowel (ischemic colitis)

These can happen suddenly and may lead to a hospital stay and, in rare cases, blood transfusions, surgery, and death.

Stop taking LOTRONEX and call your doctor right away if you have problems clearing your bowels (are constipated) or get new or worsening pain in your stomach area or blood in your stools. If your constipation does not get better after stopping LOTRONEX, call your doctor again. If you stopped taking LOTRONEX, do not start taking LOTRONEX again unless your doctor tells you to do so.

People who are older, who are weak from sickness, or who take other constipating medicines may be more likely to have serious complications of constipation with LOTRONEX.

Who should not take LOTRONEX?

Do not take LOTRONEX if any of these apply to you:

  • Your main IBS problem is constipation or you are constipated most of the time.
  • You have had a bad problem from constipation. If you are constipated now, do not start taking LOTRONEX.
  • You have had bad bowel blockages.
  • You have had blood flow problems to your bowels, such as ischemic colitis.
  • You have had blood clots.
  • You have had Crohn’s disease, sores in the colon (ulcerative colitis), swelling of a sac in the intestine (diverticulitis), or severe liver disease.
  • You do not understand the Medication Guide or are not willing to follow it.
  • You are taking a medicine called LUVOX® (fluvoxamine).

What are the possible side effects of LOTRONEX?

The most common side effects of LOTRONEX are constipation, stomach pain and nausea. Some patients have developed serious bowel side effects while taking LOTRONEX. These are not all the possible side effects of LOTRONEX. Your doctor or pharmacist can give you a more complete list. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.

You are encouraged to report side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Click here for complete prescribing information, including Boxed Warning and Medication Guide, for LOTRONEX®.

This site is intended for US residents only.

LUVOX® is a registered trademark of Abbott Laboratories Corporation.

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