IBS symptoms are highly variable. Some people experience flare ups with fairly normal bowel symptoms in between. Some people experience symptoms for the most part every single day and rarely, if ever, have days that are without symptoms.There is some discussion in the medical community that seems to be along the lines of reducing the number of invasive testing proceedures in IBS patients as these invasive tests (like colonoscopy) can for some individuals make their IBS significantly worse. You may be one of those unfortunate individuals. Gall bladder disease pain is typically severe pain in the upper right quadrant close to or under the ribs that often radiates to the back and under the shoulder blades. You may want to try increasing your water intake. High fiber without increasing water is sometimes problematic and can make some problems with constipation worse (you now have big hard, dry hard-to-pass stools rather than small ones). Antispasmodics such as Bentyl often have constipation as a side effect, which may be problematic for you. Stool softeners or Magnsium supplements at the USRDA (like most vitamins and minerals too much is as bad as too little) of 400 mgs/day may be helpful for the constipation. Stimulatory laxatives, either herbal (senna, cascara segunda) or chemcial should be used sparingly, but sometimes may be needed to provide relief (once or twice a month is generally OK, more than once a week may set you up for dependance).Some individuals with constipation have transit problems. For these individuals a High Fiber Diet may make things worse. Transit can be tested in various ways often by swallowing something that shows up on X-rays and seeing how many you have passed at certain times.Two other tactics for pain management are antidepressants (often at doses too low to effect mood). Tricyclics can be constipating, but some of the SSRI's are more likely to loosen stools. Mind-body approaches (for example: hypnosis, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) can be quite effective for treating pain and other symptoms of IBS.
