Hyospasmol contains hyoscine butylbromide, an antispasmodic. It is used for cramping pain caused by spasm of the gut, bladder or bile ducts — the colicky, gripping pain of stomach cramps, irritable bowel syndrome and period pain. It relaxes the muscle causing the spasm. It does not treat nausea, infection or the underlying cause.

What is Hyospasmol?

Hyospasmol contains hyoscine butylbromide, 10 mg per tablet. It also comes as a syrup, which is the form usually dispensed for children.

Hyoscine butylbromide is an antispasmodic, more specifically an antimuscarinic. The smooth muscle in your gut, bladder and bile ducts contracts in waves. When those contractions become intense and uncoordinated — a spasm — the result is the gripping, wave-like pain people describe as colic or cramping. Hyoscine butylbromide blocks the nerve signal driving that contraction, so the muscle relaxes and the pain eases.

A useful feature is that it acts mainly in the gut and does not readily cross into the brain, so it does not cause the drowsiness or confusion associated with related medicines used for travel sickness. Hyoscine hydrobromide, used for motion sickness, is a different salt that does cross into the brain — a similar name, a different medicine.

The same active ingredient is sold in South Africa as Scopex and Buscopan among others.

What is Hyospasmol commonly used for?

Hyospasmol is used for cramping and colicky pain, specifically:

Stomach and abdominal cramps, including the cramping that accompanies gastroenteritis.
Irritable bowel syndrome, where cramping is a main symptom.
Period pain, where uterine cramping is involved.
Renal and biliary colic, alongside other treatment.
Before certain medical procedures, to relax the gut.

The key word is cramping. If your pain is a gripping wave that builds and eases, an antispasmodic is aimed at the right thing. If it is burning, constant, or accompanied by nausea as the main complaint, a different medicine is more likely to help — an antiemetic such as Adco-Contromet for nausea, or an acid-reducing medicine for burning reflux.

It is also worth being clear that it treats the symptom. In gastroenteritis it eases the cramps while the infection runs its course; it does not shorten the illness, and it does not replace rehydration, which is the treatment that actually matters in diarrhoea.

How Hyospasmol fits into this medicine category

Within digestive and stomach medicines, Hyospasmol is in the antispasmodic group, and the category divides fairly cleanly by what each group targets:

Antispasmodics — hyoscine butylbromide, mebeverine — relax gut muscle and relieve cramping.
Antiemetics — metoclopramide and similar — reduce nausea and vomiting.
Acid-reducing medicines — antacids, H2 blockers, proton pump inhibitors — treat reflux and heartburn.
Bowel medicines — laxatives and anti-diarrhoeals.
Rehydration products, which matter most in diarrhoea, especially for children.

Matching the group to the symptom is most of the work. You can see the whole range on the digestive, stomach and nausea medicines hub.

What to check before using Hyospasmol

Check whether you have the tablets or the syrup, and note that the syrup is the form intended for children. Follow the dispensing label for how much and how often — this page does not set doses, and children are dosed by age and weight.

Speak to a pharmacist or doctor before use if:

You have glaucoma, particularly narrow-angle glaucoma. Antimuscarinics can raise pressure in the eye.
You have an enlarged prostate or difficulty passing urine. These medicines can worsen retention.
You have myasthenia gravis, or a condition affecting gut motility such as paralytic ileus or megacolon.
You have a fast heart rate or a heart condition.
You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
You take other antimuscarinic medicines, including some antidepressants, antihistamines and bladder medicines. The effects add up.

Be clear about what the pain is. Antispasmodics relieve cramping; they are not appropriate for undiagnosed severe abdominal pain, and taking them can mask something that needs assessment.

Possible cautions and when to ask a pharmacist or doctor

Expect dry mouth, and possibly blurred vision or constipation. These are the usual antimuscarinic effects and are generally mild at normal doses.

Do not use it to keep going through severe or persistent abdominal pain. Cramping that is severe, that does not settle, or that comes with other symptoms needs a diagnosis rather than a stronger antispasmodic.

In diarrhoea, prioritise fluid. Oral rehydration matters more than symptom relief, particularly in children and older adults.

Seek medical attention promptly for:

Severe abdominal pain, or pain with a rigid, tender abdomen.
Blood in vomit or stool, or black tarry stools.
Persistent vomiting that prevents keeping fluids down.
Fever alongside abdominal pain.
Signs of dehydration in a child — fewer wet nappies, no tears, unusual drowsiness.
Unexplained weight loss, or a change in bowel habit lasting more than a couple of weeks.
Eye pain with blurred vision or halos around lights, which needs urgent attention.

Related medicine guides

Frequently asked questions

What is Hyospasmol used for? Cramping and colicky pain caused by spasm in the gut, bladder or bile ducts — stomach cramps, IBS and period pain among them.

Will it help with nausea? Not directly. It targets cramping. Nausea needs an antiemetic, and a pharmacist can point you to the right one.

Can it be given to children? The syrup is the form usually dispensed for children, dosed by age and weight. Ask a pharmacist rather than estimating, and do not give adult tablets to a young child.

Does it stop diarrhoea? No. It eases the cramping that accompanies it. Fluid and salt replacement is the priority in diarrhoea.

Is it the same as the hyoscine used for travel sickness? No. Travel sickness products use hyoscine hydrobromide, which acts on the brain. Hyospasmol contains hyoscine butylbromide, which acts on the gut and is not sedating in the same way.

Why does it make my mouth dry? That is a normal antimuscarinic effect from the way the medicine works. It is usually mild and passes as the medicine wears off.

What Is Hyospasmol Used For?