# Recent Diagnosis, Many Doubts and Fears



## antlerflax (Feb 4, 2018)

Hi all,

I'm new to this site and this is my first post, so I'm a little nervous and forgive me if I make any mistakes or talk too long-winded about everything. Just getting a little desperate.

I was diagnosed with IBS last month but have been suffering with symptoms (constant nausea being the worst, then wind, general large intestine discomfort and really inconsistent and unpredictable bowel movements i.e. they're different every time I go and are at random times of the day every day) since last October.

It all started when I went to university and hit rock bottom mental health-wise, I really just felt suicidal about the whole situation and the few weeks I was there were a living hell. So far away from home doing a subject I didn't want to do, at a uni which was my second or third choice, it was all just like I'd screwed my life for the next three years, possibly after that too.

So it was obviously a stressful time, and many of the physical symptoms I'm getting can be caused by anxiety, and they all started just before I went to uni, which would make sense. But I dropped out of that uni and am now going to a different one this September, in a much better city and doing a much better course. Even so, the physical symptoms haven't gone away, and the stomach problems have only gotten worse, leading to the above diagnosis of IBS.

My problem is that I am starting to seriously doubt this diagnosis due to the unpredictability of my symptoms. There's a different problem every day, be it constipation and nausea one day, headaches and three loose stools the next, wind and one normal BM the next, and so on. Plus, no food or drink seems to trigger or help the symptoms, especially the ones you'd expect to make it worse like alcohol. I went to a family gathering for boxing day and drank all day, five different types of alcohol, and was completely fine. But I tried going out for one drink with friends a few nights ago, and immediately got gas pains in my right and left upper abdomen that lasted all night. This constant changing has made me fear my stomach and I've developed a constant fear that the next time my stomach starts hurting, it will make me throw up, but I think the idea of being sick is worse than the reality. Either way, I know the symptoms can be different for everyone, but the general triggers seem to be consistent, and mine can be brought on by something as mundane as a sandwich and a glass of water, but remain unaffected by a full roast dinner with brandy and wine.

After a particularly stressful few weeks I had not had a BM for about a fortnight, and got the IBS diagnosis after that. I took the recommended Fybogel for a while and this seems to be the only thing that gave me any sort of relief whatsoever, but then the sheer amount of undigested fibre in my stools (plus the size of them, sorry if TMI) really spooked me and the constipation was gone after a few days anyway so haven't taken it since, though might return to this.

I've had a blood test done and everything came back normal, but this was almost frustrating because it just further added to the fact that what I've got will always be here and be untreatable. I've also just started CBT and Psychotherapy, so hopefully these will help.

I've heard so many horror stories on forums like this about the symptoms starting as just a tickly feeling in the bowels then slowly getting worse until people are in their sixties having suffered with constant excruciating pain their whole life.

I'm only twenty and feel like i've been robbed of what's supposed to be the best years of my life. I should count myself lucky I suppose because the symptoms aren't entirely debilitating, but they're just so constant that I don't feel like I've been in control of my body for more than half an hour over the last four or five months. I don't want to have to deal with this, I want it gone. It seems like I had fewer problems before I ever watched what I ate, and this is now just making me angry at the hand I've been dealt, especially when everyone around me is out enjoying drinking and smoking and eating whatever they want, and being able to sleep at night and have regular, satisfying bowel movements.

Apologies for the rant, and thank you so much for reading. I guess the point of this all is to just tell the whole story and see what people's thoughts are. I've recently discovered that IBS is actually just a wider diagnosis and can be lots of different conditions that the normal treatments for IBS don't solve unless you tackle the underlying problem, if there is one. Can anyone relate, and if so what did your IBS actually end up being? Is there any hope, or will I just suffer the rest of my life, and even get worse as I get older? Thanks again!

TL;DR - Started getting symptoms before and during university (obviously a stressful time so the symptoms are probably anxiety-induced), so dropped out and am now going to a different one next year doing a course I enjoy, but the physical symptoms of anxiety and IBS haven't gone away despite the lack of stress. Recently received diagnosis of IBS but nothing is helping and I'm very doubtful that the diagnosis is correct due to unpredictability of the physical symptoms. Life has gone south in the last few months and am getting increasingly desperate. Help!


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