Quote: It would help if you say in your signature you have FM and not IBS. As you know, IBS is an exclusion diagnosis
Fortunately, I like many others on this board have been officially diagnosed with both. I would have thought you might have known from reading the FODMAP literature that FM and IBS can co-exist. Over 50% of individuals diagnosed with IBS have FM too (See the reference below) so you can assume that a high percentage of individuals with IBS have FM too. This is one reason the FODMAP approach is used to manage functional GI disorder symptoms.
Quote: In the past three decades, medical opinion has changed regarding how to diagnose IBS. The older view emphasized that IBS should be regarded primarily as a "diagnosis of exclusion;" that is, diagnosed only after diagnostic testing excludes many disorders that could possibly cause the symptoms. Because many medical disorders can produce the cardinal features of IBS, in particular abdominal discomfort or pain and disturbed bowel habit, this approach often led to extensive diagnostic testing in many patients. But there is no end to the studies that can be done to exclude other diagnoses. The perceived need by both physicians and patients to pursue other diagnoses rests in part with their limited understanding of IBS. It is a real condition with well defined clinical features and specific diagnostic criteria; this recognition can reduce unneeded testing.
This is partially a result of the Rome III diagnostic criteria used to diagnosis functional GI disorders such as IBS. In a naive sense any procedure that involves a differential diagnosis could be consider a diagnosis by exclusion.
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