Buscopan: Uses, Side Effects, Dosage, Precautions & More

Buscopan is a tablet for cramping pain in the stomach, bowel and bladder. It relaxes the muscles that squeeze too hard, so the cramp eases. The active ingredient is hyoscine butylbromide, 10 mg in each sugar-coated tablet. In India the same tablet is often sold as Buscogast - take it only on a doctor's advice.

Buscopan is an antispasmodic, a medicine that relaxes muscles going into spasm - in the digestive system, bladder and biliary tract. It is not the same as hyoscine hydrobromide, a different medicine taken to prevent motion sickness.

The tablets are sugar-coated and contain titanium dioxide as a colour; the Indian pack is a strip of 10 tablets. Check the exact strength and spelling on your pack, because names and packing can differ between countries.

Nerve signals inside the wall of the gut, bladder and biliary tract make these muscles squeeze in waves. Too much squeezing is what you feel as a cramp. Buscopan blocks those signals at the muscle itself, so the wave-like contractions calm down and the pain eases.

Because the medicine barely passes into the blood or the brain, it acts mostly where the cramp is. Side effects linked to the brain are therefore not expected.

Doctors usually prescribe Buscopan for:

• Cramping pain in the stomach and abdomen, the kind that comes and goes
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), where the bowel squeezes too hard and causes cramps
• Spasm and dyskinesia of the biliary system, where the bile duct cramps
• Spasm of the genito-urinary tract, which includes the bladder
• Period pain, cramping of the womb's muscles — some doctors suggest it (not on the Indian label)

Buscopan relaxes the muscle, but it does not treat what is causing the spasm or kill germs. An infection behind your pain needs separate treatment from your doctor.

A cramp-relief tablet can quiet a signal your doctor needed to hear — never use it continuously without finding the cause.

1. Swallow the tablet whole with a drink of water.
2. Do not break, crush or chew it.
3. Take it with or without food — it does not usually upset the stomach.
4. Take it when the cramps come on, or at the times your doctor told you.
5. Keep to the dose your doctor set.

For the Indian 10 mg tablet (sold as Buscogast), adults and children over 6 years usually take 1 to 2 sugar-coated tablets, 3 times daily. Your doctor sets your exact dose based on your age, weight, symptoms and other health conditions.

Never increase the dose on your own. A bigger dose does not relax the muscle faster; it raises the risk of dry mouth, blurred vision and urinary retention.

For children, use only what a paediatrician advises, and never give the adult pack to a small child.

If you or someone else takes far more than the recommended dose, go to the nearest hospital emergency department. Carry the tablet strip or pack with you. Emergency number: 112; ambulance: 108.

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember, unless it is nearly time for the next one. In that case skip it and take the next dose at the usual time. Never take two doses at once, and never take an extra dose to make up.

Buscopan works fast — most people feel the cramp ease within about 15 minutes. If symptoms have not improved after 2 weeks, talk to your doctor.

Store below 30°C, protected from light and moisture. Keep out of children's reach, and discard tablets past their expiry date.

Most people take Buscopan without any trouble. When side effects happen, they are usually mild and self-limited.

Common and mild:

• Dry mouth
• Constipation
• Blurred vision

Rare but serious (stop the medicine and see a doctor right away):

• A fast or pounding heartbeat that does not settle
• A painful red eye with loss of vision - pressure in the eye is rising
• Urinary retention, where you cannot pass urine
• Breathing difficulty, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat, or hives with fainting - an allergic reaction needing emergency care (call 112)

The dry mouth, constipation and blurred vision come from the anticholinergic action of hyoscine butylbromide itself. Skin rash, itching, hives and changes in sweating are also reported, less often. All these effects are more likely at higher doses, or in people prone to glaucoma, gut or urinary obstructions, or rhythm problems.

• Anyone allergic to hyoscine butylbromide or to any tablet component
• People with myasthenia gravis
• People with mechanical narrowing (stenosis) in the gastrointestinal tract
• People with paralytic or obstructive ileus, where the bowel stops working
• People with megacolon, a very enlarged bowel

Tell your doctor before taking Buscopan if you have:

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding — ask your doctor first (data is limited)
• A tendency to narrow-angle glaucoma (it can raise pressure inside the eye)
• Urinary outlet obstruction or an enlarged prostate (risk of not passing urine)
• A fast heartbeat or rhythm problems, or an overactive thyroid (it raises heart-related risks)
• Heartburn, acid reflux, severe constipation or ulcerative colitis
• Recent surgery or surgery planned soon
• Use of other antispasmodics or IBS remedies at the same time

Always tell your doctor about every medicine, supplement or home remedy you are using. Alcohol is not known to clash with Buscopan, but stay within moderate limits — and skip it if the tablets make you dizzy.

Buscopan only relaxes cramping muscles — see a doctor urgently if you have:

• Severe, unexplained or worsening abdominal pain
• Pain with fever, vomiting, or changes in bowel movements
• Blood in your stool
• Severe bloating or tenderness with fainting or a drop in blood pressure
• No improvement after 2 weeks, or symptoms that keep changing
• After a dose: a painful red eye, blurred vision that does not clear, or when you cannot pass urine

Buscopan is a fast-acting antispasmodic for cramping pain in the gut, biliary tract and bladder, including diagnosed IBS. Use the right dose, swallow it whole, and do not stretch it into weeks of self-treatment that hide the real cause. Most side effects — dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision — are mild and settle on their own; a painful red eye, inability to pass urine or allergy signs need a doctor immediately.