Colonoscopy to find out about IBS???? - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Message Board

marpham · 12-15-2005, 06:10 PM

Has everyone had a colonoscopy to find out they have IBS? A few months ago my GP told me she wanted me to go get one done, but I was then laid off my job and lost my insurance. I know that a colonoscopy is going to cost alot of money, so until I get insurance I can't do this. I am 98% sure that I have IBS (My GP stated she thought this also because of my "D").
I am still concerned/worried about my BM's. After eating anything I am going to the bathroom within 45 minutes (unless I have taken Imodiums). If I take 2-3 Imodiums I am fine for a day or two, but after that, I am back in the bathroom miserable again. All I eat is plain turkey/chicken sandwiches, bagels with a little bit of peanut butter, baked lays, rice, basically a very bland diet. I have been doing this for 6 months now and am worried that it is taking a serious toll on my health. I know that stress is my biggest problems and recently being laid off has not helped.
Any advice from you all would be greatly appreciated! I am depressed/angry/drained, etc because of this!

hoping4best · 12-16-2005, 11:38 AM

Nope, I haven't had a scope yet. But I've been referred to see a gastronologist to see if its IBS that I indeed have!

Uff-Da! · 12-16-2005, 10:05 PM

I haven't had a colonoscopy yet, either, but I'm scheduled for next week. I think there is a good chance that what I have is IBS, but at my age (64), since I've never had a colonoscopy, it isn't safe to just assume.

You didn't say how old you are. The younger you are, the greater the chance that it is just IBS and not something more serious. But it still would be good to get that colonoscopy as soon as you can.

I did a food record/BM record for nearly a month and was able to identify two foods (wild rice and soy milk) to which I have an allergy or other food intolerance. I also have several foods identified which are "suspicious" at this point, and I'll have to test them again to be sure. One thing I did to help identify which meal's "output" I was looking at was to eat a food like corn, beets, or red tomatoes with skin with my meals on an alternate basis. Those foods will normally leave enough fiber intact in the stool so you can judge transit time and see if there might be some other foods that give one particular problems in those same meals. Though I haven't eliminated my diarrhea problem, eliminating those two serious "allergy" foods and the ones of which I'm suspicious has at least calmed the problem down a lot.

I've also been taking a psyllium product, Wal-Mart's Equate, which is like a generic for Metamucil. That, too, has calmed things down a lot, but hasn't eliminated the problem. You might want to see if that is more effective for you than the Immodium. The funny thing is that though I was always a person who had to eat a lot of fiber or I'd get constipated, since about the first of August, if I eat a lot of fiber (veggies, fruit, beans, whole grains), I have diarrhea. Yet the psyllium (another source of fiber) seems to allow me to eat more of the other types of fiber. Strange, but for me it works, and I'd rather take psyllium than a drug.

BTW, if you have a home blood pressure monitor, you might want to see how you are doing on your low-fiber, bland diet. I tried using a lot of white bread, white rice, meat, etc. instead of my normal high-fiber near-vegetarian diet for a week or two, but found that it raised my blood pressure about 15-20 points.

becca112 · 12-19-2005, 02:27 PM

I was diagnosed with IBS through a colonoscopy. BTW, not a big deal to have one of these done. My PRECIOUS gastro doc put me asleep and I didn't feel a thing. Even afterwards no pain, just a little gas. I slept for the rest of the day. I would say though that it is very important to get the colonoscopy done, it is your health! I also take the WM equate version of Metamucil, horrible taste. I haven't seen that big of a difference though while taking this.

RetiredDirector · 12-21-2005, 03:55 PM

I, too, have IBS and have had it for several years. I'm 60 and I have had five colonoscopys, two since August, 2005. Mine is so bad and painful, I have to take opiate pain meds for it. The medication not only works on the pain problem, but also tends to slow the bowels down. If you have the diarrhea type, it's great. If you need to or your doctor wants you to have extra fiber, I have, in the past used the pills instead of powder that you have to mix. Much easier to take than that God awful stuff you have to drink!

I came down with a bacterium called Clostridium difficile. The normal treatment is to take a two week regiman of an antibiotic called Vancomycin. When that didn't work (after three regimans), my doctor (GI doc) did a fecal transfer during a colonoscopy, with my wife being the donor. As gross as it sounds, it worked and I now have good bacteria again. When you have this transfer, they take the donor speciman and run saline over it and through a filter, which looks a lot like a large coffee filter. It's coned shaped. The liquid is then inserted into you during the colonoscopy. I had "twilight meds", but I definitely wasn't asleep. They're enough for a regular colonoscopy, but I will never have something like this done again, without being totally asleep. It was quite painful having this cool solution inserted into your bowels! It did work however, but it is still a experimental procedure in this country (US). I guess it's done quite a bit in Europe.

I would urge anyone who has not had a colonoscopy, especially those over 40 to have one done. It could save your life. They really aren't that bad to have a regular colonoscopy, in fact the prep is sometimes worse than the actual procedure.