Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hello. I'm new to all this, don't have a firm diagnosis yet, not on the diet yet, nervous about the whole thing. I'm wondering if anybody else is stuck where I am.

I was told by a doctor about ten years ago that I probably had IBS without any tests to speak of and in that "have a nice life" tone of voice. From reading some of the posts here, I think maybe I'm not quite as sick with it as many are, but I wouldn't care to get any worse. I have the diarrhea type of IBS, and you people are the only ones I can tell that to. I find I'm always having to find bathrooms and wishing all bathrooms had a shower or at least a tub. I don't suppose I need to go into any more detail than that. And my husband doesn't always understand when I cry sometimes when he teases me about gas. He's a wonderful, sensitive soul, but I don't think that he really understands the misery of having to hide this problem day in and day out.

One of the reasons I am posting is that just after I got a relatively decent diagnosis, I had a sample done that was much more complex than the ones I had taken before, and this time, a parasite was found. The samples had to go in four different vials, three of which contained colored fluid. The doctor probably would never have done this test just to rule out parasites because of my symptoms. The problem was that I had gotten suddenly and violently sick at the same time as my Seeing Eye Dog, Blossom. So the doctor was afraid we could be passing the bug back and forth.

The parasite was something called blastocystis hominidis. I had never heard of it and didn't get it from the dog. Instead, I had eaten an unusual amount of fruit just before the attack. The regular fecal test, just the smear, apparently would never have shown this parasite.

I have just gotten off a grueling, ten-day course of Flagyl, which I hope was effective. My own cursory internet research showed that this parasite does not always respond to Flagyl, but there is no other effective treatment.

So I guess I'm saying that some of us with IBS may actually be suffering from parasites. I don't know whether this means I don't have IBS. I don't think I'll know for a few weeks when all this poison has left my system. But I don't think that most doctors perform the full monty when doing cultures. Again, that little smear they sometimes do may not be enough.

I feel really weird talking about this to strangers! I hope I'm not out of line.

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