[13514]

I am so grateful to have found you all - it is making me feel hopeful for the first time in a long, long time! I am brand new to this site and to this bb, so please forgive me if my questions are things that have been discussed previously - I tried looking thru the archives of past posts/threads, but found it difficult to wade through them all. My situation: I am a 39-year-old male, who has suffered symptoms of IBS for as long as I can remember, with symptoms getting increasingly worse and worse. Although I currently take several daily medications for migraine and depression, they have been meds I have taken for a long time (and, in fact, all dosages have been successfully reduced over time). I currently take: Welbutrin (450mg/day); Depakote (1000mg/day); Norvasc (100mg/day); Desoxyn (10mg/day); Remeron (45 mg/day); & Cymbalta (30mg - every other day). I tried taking Zelnorm, but had to stop taking it due to chronic diarrhea. I have tried Dicyclomine both as needed and prophylactically, but to no avail. Librax and Levsin have also been ineffective for me. The only thing that gives me some relief (that is always temporary and that I pay for later) is two Imodium every couple of hours (I try to limit doing this to only once or twice a week). I have had a colonoscopy, which was reviewed by two different GI Specialists, and it was perfectly normal. I requested a Celiac Blood Test (even though my GI Specialist was almost certain I didn't have Celiac Disease) - just got the results back, and I, in fact, do not have Celiac Disease. I guess my primary question to all of you is: what should I do next? Are there additional tests I should request from my GI Specialist (he was reluctant to do the Celiac test, but I pushed for it)? Does anyone have any other suggestions? Please help - any thoughts would be most appreciated! Many thanks for reading thru this long-winded epistle...

Shaun in Baltimore.

 

[17176]

Hello and welcome shaun

 

[Screamer]

Hi! Glad you found us

Well in my opinion I think the most important test is the colonoscopy (as much as it is awful to have to take the prep the test is pretty easy going). That way they can check for any cancers (unlikely but it's nice to know), remove any polyps and make sure you don't have Chrone's disease or some sort of colitis. Other than that you can get an ultrasound to have your gallbladder checked but I don't really think that's too neccessary unless you are having symptoms that indicate it needs checking. Ummm getting your thyroid checked by blood test is also a good one to ask for. Finally if your doctor seems totally uninterested in helping you at all, find another doctor. It can be hard but good one's who will do the neccessary testing and follow ups do exist! Hope some of this helped and good luck