# Do I have IBS? Don't know where to turn.



## Fudgemunk (Oct 15, 2009)

Hey everyone. I'm a 24 year old male from England.I've been having diarrhoea, constipation, chronic pain and a general feeling of weakness for 6 months, I haven't been able to work in this time or doing anything much at all really, I can't exercise because of the pain and weakness and really don't feel like going out.I wake up in pain every morning without fail, it usually subsides after I've moved about and gone to the toilet. When it is at it's worst I will go to the toilet between 3 and 5 times within half an hour of getting up and then I won't go again until the following morning. The smell is horrendous, I have had mucus in my stool a few times and blood on one occasion, but I'm am not sure if that was from my anus where I've been going to the toilet so much.Up until about a month ago the worst symptom from my point of view was total weakness. It's not regular tiredness. It feels as though I am infected with something, that is the only way I can describe it really. For example, I would get up, go to the toilet and then have a shower and then my day would be finished, I would feel so "ill" that the only thing I could do was lie on my sofa. I would feel extremely light headed and that I might pass out if I exerted myself too much. This feeling of "weakness" and "illness" has subsided recently, and now the worst symptom is pain.Initially it started with pain in my stomach and I was put on Lansoprazole, I didn't think it was working so I stopped taking it, the pain in my stomach increased dramatically so I went back on it. Since then I haven't had much pain from that area, it seems to have moved lower and that is now where I get all my pain, especially in the morning as I said before.I have had numerous blood tests, stool samples and an ultra sound, all of which have come back negative (I am yet to have a endoscopy or colonoscopy). I saw a gastroenterologist in September and he suggested to my GP (he didn't tell me anything) that it was IBS. I have another appointment in December but I phoned up this morning to see if I could have the appointment brought forward as I don't think I can take any more of this, I'm waiting to hear back from them.I think it is important that you know I have a history of depression, but this had nearly gone, I was doing a lot of exercise and feeling pretty good. I then put my shoulder out and went on Ibuprofen, my abdominal problems seemed to start soon after taking this but I don't know if it is related. I put it past my GP and he seems to think that any damage caused by the Ibuprofen would have subsided by now.As is to be expected I am quite depressed again, I would say it's an effect of the abdominal problems rather than a cause. But I feel as though I am not being taken seriously, I feel as though it's almost a disadvantage that I've had depression before, it is all the doctors seem to go on about and it's very frustrating. I know for a fact I wouldn't be depressed if I could get on with life and do the things I want to. It's like they are almost suggesting it's in my head and that worrying about it will make it worse, I try to tell them that I'm not really worrying, I just want to know what is wrong with me and get treated for it, which I think is a pretty normal reaction.I have been on Mebeverine which didn't seem to help so my GP told me to stop taking it and put me on Amitriptyline which also doesn't seem to do much good either. So to sum up, at the moment I am on 30mg Lansoprazole and 10mg Amitriptyline. I am running out of ideas and finding it difficult to see what's best for me.Also I guess it's important that you know my Mum has Crohn's Disease. So, does this sound like IBS? What should I do next?Thanks for taking the time to read and thanks for any advice or suggestions you can give.Daniel.


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