# Fear of the Known and Uknown



## indyibsguy (Feb 17, 2012)

Years ago I was blessed after several tests and all sorts of instruments being stuck down my throat and up my rear only to be told I have IBS. My symptoms have always been mostly severe abdominal pain that seems to migrate around abdomen. I never quite felt like I was really IBS-D or IBS-C. Really my primary complaint is the severe abdominal pain and cramping, and the occasional urgent bathroom breaks. Over the years I came to recognize that I do have some trigger foods, in the sense that if I am having an IBS "flareup" there are certain foods I MUST absolutely stay away from or I will be spending more time in the bathroom than not. My flareups, even with prescription meds to combat, seem to last weeks and months with daily abdominal pain, bloating and all the good stuff that goes with that such as anxiety and depression.

I guess what I've always feared is that I just never felt like I could be classified and that the information about IBS seems to vary greatly from resource to resource, and I'm talking about major hospital/university websites on the topic. And while I know that IBS cannot cause more serious illnesses, I fear that when ever I have a pain in my gut, I will be told that it is just my IBS flaring up. So I've been very keen to what my typical symptoms and pattern of IBS are. And I've seen in numerous publications that a red flag to watch for is if your symptoms change.

Then recently, about three weeks ago, another flareup started but this time my symptoms changed. The pain was much lower in my abdomen, like pelvis area. I also was now having a VERY loud gurgling stomach and burping a lot after eating or drinking. I told my doctor about this and he ordered another CT Scan with contrast. As you can guess, the results were negative. Since my usual gastro doc is like a rockstar or something, I can't see him unless I schedule 6 months out, so I met with his nurse practitioner. As a straight man, I don't find too many things more awkward than explaining my bowel movements and stool consistency to a lady who could pass as Rose Bryne if she wanted to. Anyway, she went over my scan results with me and refilled my prescription of Levsin.

My current flareup is going on three weeks and is daily, constant stomach pain and bloating all day, with the burping after eating and my stomach performing an opera. My stomach is louder when laying down with all the gurgling. It is my nature to always doubt doctors and the scans, because of all the horror stories I read about things being found much later or other tests needing to be performed to find what has been ailing you but all too late.

My symptoms changing this time after almost 10 years of being told I have IBS threw me for a loop and like a circle, it increased my anxiety and fuels my IBS. I have to convince myself that the radiologist who did my report and interpreted my scan was the head of his class and was having a great day when he saw my scan. I think like many IBS sufferers it is difficult for me to accept there is nothing seriously wrong with me when my body is always in pain.

That is my story.


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## Noca (Oct 24, 2015)

indyibsguy said:


> Since my usual gastro doc is like a rockstar or something,


Haha I find that really funny sorry.



> It is my nature to always doubt doctors and the scans,


It is very wise to not trust doctors in my experience. They have missed so many serious diagnoses in my life including a severe infection of intestinal round worms which was repeatedly dismissed and ignored as "just IBS" over a period of 8 years by dozens of doctors. Even 4 tests tested recently tested negative for worms. I had to bring a worm in a bottle and drop it on my doctor's desk for him to believe me. Apparently mulitple photographs of them in my stool or my severely deteriorating health was not enough. Doctors tend to over rely on their tests instead of using rational or critical thinking, and suffer from various biases that cloud their judgement.

I have had doctors misinterpret/over rely on tests for unrelated conditions before and clearly were wrong. I have bone tumours on my ribs from a bone disorder I have, and despite the fact that you could see the tumor in question with the naked eye or feel them with your own hands, or even rely on past doctors reports, this one thorasic surgeon was convinced they didn't exist because she couldn't see them on an x-ray. Funny because that exact tumor was how I was originally diagnosed with the condition at 3 months of age, and since the tumors are made of bone, and bone does not ever disappear, this doctor was clearly wrong, but she refused to be reasoned with. It just goes to show that doctors and diagnostic tests can easily be wrong, and I suspect they are both wrong much more often than most people are aware of.



> I've seen in numerous publications that a red flag to watch for is if your symptoms change.


Yes, IBS is not a degenerative condition. Deteriorating health is most likely a sign of some underlying problem that isn't being addressed.


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