I have a question. I am a 38 year old female, in good health, in good physical shape .. but am starting to experience upper abominal pain that travels down the left side .. bubbling and hurting until it becomes diarreha ... Does this sound like the beginning of IBS. In general, my stool is loose ... very rarely constipated .. but in the past few weeks ... usually after eating my lunch (salad) - I get pretty intense stomach pains that eventually pass .... Could this be something to do with the lettuce and not necessarily IBS beginnings ?

Thanks - any input would help.

Age wise, I think it can come on you anytime. I had a cousin that had it as a little girl, mine came on in my mid 20's and my daughter has a friend who came down with it in her mid 40's.

If salads do this to you, or you suspect that is what is going it, keep a food journel. I never suspected food or I would have kept one. I realized later that it took the offending food 3 days to react to my system and cause me a problem. After they told me what it was, they told me to avoid any and all roughage so I did. When the doctor released me from under his care, I thought that meant I was cured. In those days it was called "cololitis" (35+ years ago) and little was known about it. I stayed on that blan diet for a long time and only recenly have I been able to eat what I want again. Somewhere along the line, they chanaged it to IBS.