Control IBS without putting your life in danger
Did the FDA approve a risky IBS drug that may work no better than an OTC med for diarrhea?
That’s just one of the important questions that every patient who gets an Rx for Viberzi, a heavily promoted drug for IBS, it should be asking.
In fact, the med has so many dangerous side effects that it just made a consumer group’s “Do Not Use” list.
And while millions risk serious and possibly even fatal side effects by taking this drug, they could instead be using some proven ways to manage this painful condition that won’t land them in the hospital… or worse.
They feature the prancing, red-headed Viberzi girl named Irritabelle, who follows an IBS sufferer around while wearing a beige jumpsuit with her intestines printed on it.
The latest ads show a woman dragging a toilet behind her, hyping “a different way to treat IBS-D.” That’s IBS with diarrhea, one version of this frustrating, painful condition that also comes along with two other varieties — IBS with constipation or IBS with alternating constipation and diarrhea!
But calling it “different” is a little off target. Because many of the Viberzi side effects sound a whole lot like the symptoms IBS patients suffer from, such as abdominal pain and distention, gas, and constipation.
On top of that, this spring, the FDA put out a safety warning for the drug, alerting doctors and patients that anyone who has had their gallbladder removed should stop taking it “right away.” Of course, with hundreds of thousands having that surgery done every year (it’s actually one of the most common operations there is), that means a lot of Viberzi users were at a big risk of being put in harm’s way — and they didn’t know it.
And when experts at Public Citizen gave the drug a careful going-over, their conclusion was simple: “Do Not Use.” The “serious adverse effects” that can come along with Viberzi “outweigh its limited benefits,” the group warned.
Those adverse reactions include some of the worst of the worst when it comes to dangerous meds, such as:
- severe constipation and intestinal blockages,
- acute pancreatitis, which “can be fatal,”
- spasms in a muscle called the sphincter of Oddi, which can block the tubes that drain bile and pancreatic juices, damaging the pancreas and liver, and,
- allergic skin reactions, asthma, wheezing, and trouble breathing.
Even the FDA has said that life-threatening pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) has been seen after just one or two doses of Viberzi.
But despite all the risks that come along with this med, some with IBS-D might say they’ve had enough and are willing to try anything that might bring them some relief.
And that brings me to the most bizarre part of the approval of this drug, one that sets the bar even lower than usual for the FDA.
During the clinical trials for the med — the ones that produced the “evidence” the FDA used to make its decision — patients were also allowed to take loperamide, a cheap, old OTC drug more commonly known as Imodium A-D.
Public Citizen notes that the relief that was seen from symptoms during the trials may very well be because of that, not Viberzi. And in a similar oddity, when the FDA warned those without a gallbladder to stop taking the Rx med, it recommended they instead use Pepto-Bismol and Gas-X, as well as Imodium!
I wonder what Irritabelle would say about that?
But there are also some other ways to “dramatically improve” IBS that don’t involve using any drugs!
For example:
#1: Taking high-dose vitamin D3 every day — up to 10,000 IUs, which you can also get by exposing your skin to a short amount of sunlight during the summer months.
#2: Acupuncture, which has been found to help with bloating and pain.
#3: Fish oils, along with evening primrose and borage oil supplements, plus a daily dose of probiotics.
And if your doc tries to start you up on Viberzi, the answer is easy. Just say, “No thanks!”
