IBS-C vs Chronic Appendicitis: My Story

I am writing this in the hopes that my story might help someone else. I was diagnosed with IBS-C in July 2009--against my vehement and repetitive protests. I never felt that this was what was going on, since my symptoms didn't vary with stress and didn't vary with what I ate. I had chronic constipation, intermittent nausea, dry heaving, frequent urination, pelvic pain, and abdominal bloating. My symptoms only improved negligibly with IBS treatments. I tried bentyl, lactulose, ativan, and miralax. I increased my fiber to 25 grams a day and got more exercise. Still only negligible improvement.I had an abdominal CT scan with contrast, gallbladder ultrasound, colonoscopy, and stomach endoscopy, and they all came back normal, as well as about three ER visits that did not find anything either. I kept insisting to my Gastro that I did not have IBS, but he insisted that I did. He felt that I "fit the profile" (i.e. single middle-aged female with history of depression). He ignored the fact that my depression was stable, and dismissed the pelvic pain and dry heaving, which as I understand are not typical IBS symptoms.I gave up on a diagnosis for about 6 months. I was tired of fighting the doctors and being seen as a difficult patient who refused to accept her diagnosis. I did a lot of research online and found that IBS and ovarian cancer have some symptoms in common, so I decided to go to a GYN to try to rule out cancer. My exam was normal. I began to cry when she told me that, as I knew something was wrong. As a measure of kindness, she offered to order a transvaginal ultrasound. I quickly accepted.The ultrasound found what appeared to be a small mass-like structure in my fallopian tube. She said it did not look cancerous, and the usual treatment was to watch and wait. However, since I was so miserable, she offered to do laparoscopic surgery to remove the tube. I said yes. She said she didn't believe that was what was causing my symptoms, but she was willing to do the surgery anyway. She repeatedly prepared me for the possibility that they might find nothing. I was willing to take the risk of unnecessary surgery, as I felt so bad I felt I had nothing to lose.Last Friday, 1/8/10, I had surgery. It turned out that the small mass-like thing that appeared (wrongly) to be in my fallopian tube on the ultrasound, was actually the tip of my inflamed and infected appendix. My appendix was removed and found to be infected with pus. Apparently, I had an atypical presentation of chronic appendicitis. It didn't show up on the ER blood tests for acute appendicitis because apparently it was waxing and waning, and just wasn't severe enough on the day(s) when it was tested.I don't want to panic everyone into thinking that they have appendicitis. But, on the other hand, if the diagnosis you're been given just doesn't make sense to you, and the prescribed treatment isn't working, you might not want to give up looking for another answer because you just might be right!