They don't think I have IBS ....

Pix · 03-09-2008, 11:57 AM

(first off sorry for the long post....)

Ok, back in the 90's my doctor said she would bet her license on the fact I have IBS, but since I wouldn't submit for the colonoscopy she couldn't give me a real diagnosis.

I was discussing that with my coordinator friday and she said that it sounded more like a gluten allergies cause it is controlled by diet. If I avoid white foods I am fine, if I have white foods I am in massive pain and have well .. lets just say I know my bathroom intimately. Now if she was just a civ coordinator I would have discounted her opinion as just that. But since she has been a RN (with her masters degree) it has gotten me thinking. Could she be right?!?! I was talking to a friend of mine with IBS (she submited for the colonoscopy) and she said diet does help, but not on the level it does with me. Also was talking to a friend that has a true gluten allergies and we were discussing my symptoms, top and bottom everything that happens if I eat the wrong things etc. He agrees with the coordinator that maybe it is a gluten allergy and NOT IBS.

I don't want to get the colonoscopy cause it just isn't necessary in my mind because this is all controlled by diet changes and eating carefully. But, I am thinking about making an appt with my allergist and having him test me for the gluten sensitivity/allergy to either confirm or deny that.

Now you may be asking why this matters for LAP-BAND^®, my surgeon's personal preference is to NOT do the band on a patient with IBS/Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis. BUT since I was never "officially" diagnosed I can prolly slide in anyhow ... especially since they are leaning to the sensitivity/allergy at this point.

So for everything that is going so well that is the one hitch that may or may not stop the surgery from happening. *sigh*

**Jack** · 03-09-2008, 12:06 PM

re: IBS vs gluten
A basic question that should be answered before you make your final decision.

re: "I don't want to get the colonoscopy cause it just isn't necessary in my mind because this is all controlled by diet changes and eating carefully"

There is a LOT of clinical information that procedure can illuminate. While I didn't want one either.....the comfort of photos of 'the INNER me' was well worth the anxiety of the procedure.

And there was not one nanosecond of pain involved, I felt like an idiot
overwrought about nothing....just like all of my anxieties have proven to be once I confronted them....

good luck in your journey

Pix · 03-09-2008, 12:16 PM

It isn't the pain that gets me, it is something that has always been controlled by diet changes and the like. So for me, I felt it a unnecessary procedure if it was totally controlled by diet. On one level my doctor agreed with me, but on the other she really wanted me to have to so we could either confirm or deny the IBS diagnosis.

Since my unofficial diagnosis in the 90's diet control has remained true to form, if I avoid white foods I have no issues, if I give in well then like I said, I know my bathroom more intimately then I care to know it. LOL