# What Now



## 16210

I have been diagnosed with IBS for over 10 years now. I had issues in my childhood that I now know were IBS but at the time were called many different things. I was always considered a picky eater or finicky but I now realize that I just knew what made me feel bad.What lead to my diagnoses was a good doctor and a worsening of symptoms. In my 20's I was typical, I went out a lot, I drank and ate badly and I started to feel bad. By my mid-20's I had gone vegan and while that made me feel better, by 24 I was doing less and less, missing work, losing weight and sleeping a lot. My friends and family convinced me to go to the doctor, where I was finally diagnosed. It took a while to get back on track. I was on medication for the nausea for over a year and I struggled with keeping up with the fiber and medication intake. I've had to switch medications a few times since then and while I've never gotten back to "normal" I did feel better for a long while. Now with Zelnorm off the market and other trigger's I haven't pinpointed yet. It has all gotten bad again. I'm bloated, constipated, and nauseous; I have sharp pains in my right side, heartburn, gas, the inability to pass gas. . . I've been through a CAT scan and Upper GI and they have ruled out everything else. I did find out that my system moves very slow when digesting and it takes me over 24 hours to pass something liquid completely through my system.At this point I'm back to sleeping all the time, having no energy and constantly worrying about my bowel movements. My libido is suffering (because who feels sexy when you are bloated and gassy?). I keep catching colds. And most of the time my entire body aches. I have heard that there are links between IBS and some disorders such as Fibro Malaysia but I'm almost afraid to talk to my doctor about it. I'm tired of being told there is no hard answer to explain my pain. I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm a hypochondriac. I'm tired of going through test after test, just to be told there is nothing that can be done because nothing can be found. I like my doctors and I know they are trying everything they know and they try to be helpful and encouraging, but that doesn't give me the energy to get out of bed, it doesn't help my symptoms or make my friends and family really understand how I feel. Sometimes I feel like they get tired of it. I mean I'm not dying, I don't have cancer so what could be so wrong. But I feel awful most of the time and even when I feel ok I have to wonder if eating this is going to cause problems tomorrow or do I have to pass on that because it might upset my system. Sometimes I wish just for I second I could show them how it feels to be me, so they would understand.So now I am working on the next round of what will make my symptoms livable again. Hopefully I can find something that will work for more than just a few years.


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