Has anyone been treated for ibs succesfully with 10mg amitriptyline?

The amitriptyline has helped stablize the IBS and I have had much less problems with it unless I am stressed. If I am under stress then its full blown and I'm off to the bathroom. What has helped me the most is Peppermint oil. It is very strong and I don't recommend it for anyone with stomach problems or ulcers, but for relief from IBS it is the best. Faster than anything else I have taken and lasts longer too.
I recommend a few drops on a spoon with some sugar to start as it can really take your breath away and you need to figure out how to breath but everything settles down so quick. For a really bad attack I take 10 drops but I have been using it for 4 years and know what to expect.

And the more time I spent worrying about what to eat and what not to eat, would it make me sick, where was an available bathroom in absolutely every place I was going to be, was there a bathroom in every place I was going to be, etc... well, I finally figured out I was sabotaging myself into flares. So my best advice would be to calm down. With ibs you're going to have good days and bad days. If you know that a particular food irritated you, don't eat it. I don't have particular food irritations. Sometimes I can eat anything I want and sometimes eating dry toast will set me off. Like I said, the best advice I can give you is to calm down and try not to let your ibs rule your life. Ask your Dr about adding the dicyclomine (generic for Bentyl) to your regime. It's helped me immensely. Learn to carry some Imodium with you. The less upset you allow yourself to be, the better off you'll be!
Lisa

OK- You said that you have 2 food triggers-lets go over them. A trigger that I wasn't counting is eating table hot food and drinking ice water or something cold. IBS stomachs are confused, and they can't handle this conflict. #1 sugar, #2 grease-fat, #3 alcohol, #4 spicey foods, #5 raw fruit and vegetables-some artificial sugars are made from dried ground apple peels and cut the stomachs of people with IBS, Crohn's disease, and ulcers-it's also bad for cancer patients, #6 caffiene, #7 carbonated things can set it off, #8 Bran--a grain of wheat has 2 covers. The outer cover is called wheat shorts-and even though it's milled-ground- it's like glass and cuts up the stomachs of horses and cows-mine too. The inner cover is bran. Bakeries cheat and use wheat shorts. I went out to my feed shed and made bran muffins, bread-never got sick. I bought bran products at the store and I was doubled over. I got into an argument with some AF doctors and brought in some bran and wheat shorts- They went to the FDA about it-so many doctors don't say to eat bran--- Another thing is that some doctors believe that milk is to be completely avoided-milk doesn't bother me, but I surely can't eat a donut. I call it the 'No C diet"- no cerveza, no cabbage, no cupcakes or crullers, no colas, no cookies, no cocktails, no cabbage, no chicken fried anything, for me, No citrus-the acid can tear up your stomach-try to avoid peels-one patient got worse because she ate canned peas-many people with IBS can't handle peels. I eat rice, take a whole sweet potato and bake it til it's really soft and eat it. I eat baked, grilled, or roasted chicken and other meats. green beans, cooked carrots, broccoli cooked tender are OK- I eat canned fruits and rice. I have peach and apple trees- sometimes I'm doing OK and can eat them- sometimes I eat 2 bites and know it's a mistake. It took me about 6-8 months for the Citracal to work- But now I don't need any. I do have 1-3 BMs a day. The medicine that works for me is Librax. The military told me that I'd be dead by 50-or eating a liquid diet. See if you can find out what causes it. I have areas of bowel and intestines that are super active-and the Librax relaxes my gut so it doesn't spasm and keeps moving. If you have soft stools, and they're pencil thin, then your bowel is having spasms. If you get these-tell your doctor-so he can make medication and diet changes for you. Good luck- I'll friend you and you can ask me what you want. I know about the weakness-I had 3 months of diarrhea and cramps in 94. that's when the AF put me on Librax. I hope that this helps you a little-but try the Citracal-even when you have diarrhea- it stops the cycle and makes your gut happy.