I've had IBS-D for about 15 years now. I can't remember exactly when it started but I've got a good approximation. It was more of a nuisance than anything else in the beginning as it wasn't that serious. However, over the years it got progressively worse and of course that's when and how issues of it being psychosomatic arise and what's the real cause and why I'm now in hypnotherapy even though I still feel it is a physical, not psychological issue.
So here goes...
- IBS starts around age 19 or 20. consult doctor. does tests and tries prescriptions that don't work
- see GI who in turn sends me to out of town specialist - more tests - no resolution.
- at this point, feel my only option (especially since it's what I'm also told)is to just "live with it."
- years go by with it getting worse so decide to try again - consult with naturopath - tinker with a lot of different "medications" and eating wheat/yeast free -no resolution (and costs $ out of own pocket). I do start/continue with EFI diet however.
- back to doctor - resorts to anti-anxiety medication - doesn't work.
- back to GI and at my prompting due to aggressive research exploring things like Habba Syndrome, try Questran. after some fine tuning with dosage, works great for one week. GI can't explain why it worked or why it stopped working and makes no effort to explore further. leaves it at he can do another colonoscopy if I want and to take Immodium.
And this brings me up to date where I am waiting to consult a dietitian to discuss the FODMAP diet and any intolerances I may have but I'm on such a restricted diet as it is, I can't see what I could still be eating that would be an issue. And also going to hypnotherapy. I am still caught up in why the Questran worked initially and if there's more to possibly having a dysfunctional gallbladder. Or I've wondered about another issue that I've read about being Pancreatic Insufficiency which I also brought up with my GI. He said however, as with a dysfunctional gallbladder, there would be other/additional issues (such as weight loss in the case of the pancreas) which I'm not suffering from so again he rules it out. And I inquired about having excess bacteria (SIBO) but he said that would have been detected in a stool ova and parasite test I did so that was out too. And I'm fine with that - I'm not looking for a diagnosis just for the sake of it even though it's wrong but how about putting some effort into it...tell me what's the next step not me telling him.
So if nothing else comes up or works, I've got a prescription for Lomotil (one in the seemingly endless list of potentially helpful medications) that I've been holding off on. And who knows if that will even work?
Anyway, while this probably just comes across as a useless ramble, I'm putting it out there to of course get any feedback or suggestions as to what else I could do from anyone (and I imagine there's a lot of you) who's been down this road.
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IBS-D. Or so a doctor says.
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Typical timeline of IBS?
