Advances in Irritable Bowel Syndrome treatment has brought us many pharmaceutical products such as Zelnorm by Novartis. As we are finding now, sometimes the treatment of IBS has risks that outweigh the benefits.
Myibsstory had reported that Zelnorm by Novartis was a very popular treatment of IBS with constipation. This no longer holds true. Novartis, the maker of Zelnorm, had agreed in March of 2007 to stop selling Zelnorm in the United States.
What prompted Novartis to cease selling Zelnorm in the United States? The Food and Drug Administration made this request after Zelnorm was linked to increasing the chance of heart attacks and strokes and also worsening chest pain which can become a heart attack. But is Zelnorm still being sold in other countries?
The answer is yes. But it appears that other countries are now following in the footsteps of the United States. China has just announced that it will halt the production and sale of Zelnorm by Novartis for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. This decision came after the Chinese Food and Drug Administration had received 98 reports of adverse reactions relating to Zelnorm being used in IBS treatment.
Since Zelnorm by Novartis was thought of as a wonder drug when treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome it comes as no shock to find that hundreds of thousands of patients in China were currently using this drug. So what are all of these Chinese and American sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome supposed to do now?
There are other pharmaceutical products available for treatment of IBS that are worth trying. Education about IBS symptoms is your best bet for finding a treatment that works for you. Finding an IBS diet that works for you is also a very important step in the treatment of IBS.
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You are ignorant of the good Zelnorm has done for thousands and the pain many are suffering without it. Get into the research findings and you will see all of those that had heart problems had a pre-existing heart condition. If Zelnorm didn’t work for you, then fine. Maybe you have found what works for you and, if so, good. But your rambling against Zelnorm will keep many others in continued pain from IBS. Being a fellow IBS sufferer, you should understand this pain and seek whatever you can that will help them. Maybe your IBS hasn’t got bad enough yet, but it will, maybe. Then Zelnorm may be the only thing that could help and it won’t be available. Then you’ll understand. In the meantime, consider yourself fortunate.
my website and my opinion but I do appreciate you coming by and commenting.
True we are all entitled to our opinions but there’s also ‘hard reality’ to face – like it or not. While I’m not going to argue that Zelnorm helped some people, it is not accurate that there were always ‘pre-existing’ heart conditions.
Talk to the people who had the heart attacks and find out if the ‘data’ is accurate or not. Not only do I have about 1000 pages of research, with about 300 of those being directly from the FDA, I also had a heart attack. Age,36 with no pre-existing heart conditions or risk factors that should have prevented me from taking the medication. Add to that the fact that in my research I have found the family of another woman who should not have been at risk and she died on the medication, another in Quebec had a serious stoke with no predisposing risk factors.I have 2 more I’m researching and they are both in their 30′s, died and as far as we know had no pre-existing risk factors. If that truth isn’t frightening enough, I found these total strangers in the space of 24 hours and the lady in Quebec found me. I fear the ‘real stats’ are going to be much worse than the study data.
And from a young mother with little kids, I have to say it isn’t worth the risk. I can find more creative ways to make my tummy work than to pay big bucks to kill myself.
Last but not least, google tegaserod and 5ht receptors, or simply research the various 5ht receptors in our bodies and you will find an explanation as to ‘why’ we had heart attack and stroke problems on the drug. Cisipride (also a 5ht4 receptor agonist) that was a previous headache for the FDA (as well as the sponsoring company, and Alosetron (worked opposite to Zelnorm with the 5ht3 receptors) and other medications are worth researching to find how dangerous these medications really are.
At the very least, you should have to sign your life away – quite literally in this case – to have the drug prescribed. Accutane has strict controls and that is wise. The warnings should be played up rather than played down and then the public can decide if they really want to take that risk.
I have tried many, many different products to help with my IBS with CHRONIC constipation. It has almost become debilitating for me. I was what I eat, drink lots of water, exercise, have lost 35 pounds, with 15 more to go. I can’t tell you all the meds and stuff I’ve tried. I was devestated when they took Zelnorm off the market.
I just recently went to my GI doctor. He said if I continue to go this route, I could face having my colon REMOVED!!! Wow, what could I say to that!!!
I’m praying something will come about to safely return Zelnorm to the market. Otherwise, I’ll continue to do what I’m doing and pray it won’t get any worse for a long time!
Of course Zelnorm is dangerous. It’s not tested on humans like it’s supposed to be. Novartis just cares about money and not helping people.
I commented a few months ago regarding Zelnorm. As I said, I went to the GI dr. who didn’t offer any hope or help. So I started trying different things on my own that would help me. I did find a place where I could get generic Zelnorm. I take one tablet a week along with stool softeners throughout the week — along with diet and exercise. I am so happy to say that that is the formula for me. It’s just enough to help with my SEVERE IBS w/severe constipation.
Thank you God…We did it together!!!
It’s a recurring theme in modern medicine. Drugs have different effects on people, in both the good and bad. In the good way, certain drugs work for certain people. Case in point may be Mayday who commented here, for Mayday Zelnorm worked like a charm. But in the bad way, drugs can also not work or even have harmful side effects. These differing effects are not surprising at all, given that we are all genetically different. Why should we expect a single formula to work for everyone? I hope changes in big pharma will start to take these genetic differences into account in the near future.