Traditionally, an old antidepressant, amitriptyline, has been used for irritable bowel at doses far lower than its antidepressant level, as an aid to stimulating endophin system etc. Now it appears that more up to date SSRI’s work better. This was determined in children with functional abdominal pain.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2017 Jul;65(1):16-21.
doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000001416.
Treatment of Functional Abdominal Pain With Antidepressants: Benefits, Adverse Effects, and the Gastroenterologist’s Role.
Zar-Kessler CAM et al
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28644344
” SSRI therapy provides a greater response to treatment than do the TCA medications, even when correcting for mental health interventions and psychiatric comorbidities, and thus encouraging increased emphasis on the use of SSRI treatment.”
Comment – trick question – where are the most serotonin receptors? Most would think the brain but the real answer is the gut. So it would make sense that SSRI’s could impact gut. Finding new SSRI antidepressants work better gives one the option of getting up to anti-depressant doses in cases that have dual depression and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).