[14258]

My Typical Symptoms:1) diarrhea twice per week to once per two weeks2) usually, my first stool (around 8AM) is solid and the second (usually in the morning from 9AM to 11:30AM; very rarely in the afternoon) is loose or watery (rarely now)3) max 2 stools per day (very rarely 3). If I have two stools, then usually the second one is loose.4) symptoms described in 1-3 have become a routine as I have been going through a series of stressful events (kids, grad school, job transition); but I don't think it necessarily justifies stress-triggered IBS since everyone will go through these one point in their life. But could be.These symptoms sound mild compared to many here. But I am an individual with worrisome personality, and I do need experienced IBS-D sufferers help me diagnose. By the way, without much checkup, my primary care doctor said it is IBS-D.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Sounds consistant with IBS-D to me.If you become anemic or see elevated sed rates on routine blood work, have bloody stools, start having a lot of diarrhea while you sleep, or pain that wakes you up from sleep, or lose weight all out of proportion to what you are eating....Then you would have to go back for more tests because those sorts of symptoms indicate something other than IBS is going on.Regular levels of stress can trigger IBS symptoms in people that have IBS. Usually it tends to start after a GI infeciton or other physical insult to the GI tract and after that it will be triggered by whatever things trigger it.K.

 

[23240]

If your doctor didn't give you a colonoscopy how does he know it's IBS? You said this has become routine but how long has this been going on? Try eating yogurt or taking probiotics.

 

[Cherrie]

I may be wrong, but I've seen it somewhere on this website (probably the videos section) that modern diagnosis of IBS does not neccessarily involve a colonoscopy unless the dr. considers otherwise??yogurt/probiotics is a good idea! I'm new to this whole thing, too, and so far my experiences are that many things that are recommended as helpful do help to different extents, but they don't make my symptoms completely disappear. The things that are helpful for me do alleviage my symptoms, but they don't magically restore my tummy back to my pre-ibs days... and i've pretty much accepted it... i didn't think that there is hope to be completely cured... is there...?edit-- sorry, wrong spelling, i meant to write "alleviate"

 

[Jannybitt]

You are correct, Cherrie, in that you do not have to have a colonoscopy to diagnose IBS. You actually can have very non-invasive testing to determine IBS. One, is a series of questions that a dr will ask to rule out possible other disorders. Blood tests, stool samples are the other procedures usually done. Each dr is different. However, if you have a dr. that runs no tests whatsoever, and diagnoses you with IBS, get another dr!!! One of the criteria is a series of symptoms that last 12 weeks or more. It's only my opinion Arthur mu, but it is quite normal to have more than 1 bowel movement a day, and not have IBS. And if your symptoms have not been going on for long, you may very well not have IBS. I do think if you are still concerned about it, because we can't diagnose you here, you need a dr that will not just jump to a diagnosis without some testing done. Hope you feel better, and I hope you do not have IBS, but if you do, this is a great site that has taught me alot on how to cope with my IBS.