Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: do I really need a dr.?

Hi - It is really important not to self-diagnose IBS, and it is equally important to receive the diagnosis from a doctor who is knowledgable about this disorder. I think it is impossible for a doc to diagnose IBS by just listening to the patient's symptoms but without running one single test.

At a minimum, there is blood work that should be done to check for celiac, Crohn's, and ulcerative colitis. Depending on age and symptoms, a colonoscopy may also be indicated. There is detailed info about this at http://www.firstyearibs.com/day1learn.html

If you feel confident with the diagnosis of IBS and are managing your symptoms on your own, you might just ask your doc about running the blood work - if everything comes back negative he'll probably agree that there is no need for further invasive testing.

I was actually in this situation myself. Although I had symptoms starting at age 9, I wasn't diagnosed until age 16. And at that point, the diagnosis came without a single diagnostic test. I didn't realize this was unacceptable until another ten years or so passed. At that point, I'd had the same symptoms for going on twenty years, and was managing things quite well on my own. But, I was also a little alarmed to think about the fact that I'd never had any more serious disorders ruled out.

Given the fact that so much time had passed it was clear I couldn't have a bowel obstruction, and I obviously hadn't been living with colon cancer or ovarian cancer since the 4th grade, and my symptoms had never varied or worsened over the years. But I saw a GI doc to run the situation by him and see what he thought. He agreed that the odds were overwhelming I "only" had IBS but he still thought it was a good idea to have the blood work for inflammatory bowel diseases and celiac. They both came back negative, and that was where we left things.

Best,
Heather

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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!

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