Thanks for the encouragement, however, after encouraging to continue to seek help for the last 18 months, I am certain that my mother, who is fed up with the medical profession after seeing 4 or 5 doctors, will not be motivated to a second opinion unless she has something to go on.  She is 74, she is tired, and she is ready to go if this is what is going to take her.  Granted, if she had a clue this could be dealt with, she'd be beating a path to a new doctor's door.  Does anyone have a clue?

I AGREE WITH KOE,ONLY THE PERSON THEMSELF KNOWS THERE BODY AND WHATS GOING ON WITH IT. IF SHE IS GOING TO DR THAT DOES NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO HER THEN SHE DON'T NEED HIM OR HER ANYWAY.DON'T GIVE UP.AND THERE IS ONE THING I'VE LEARNED IS TO ALWAYS ASK FOR COPIES OF ALL LABS AND TEST THAT HAVE BEEN DONE.  EXAMPLE; FOUR YEARS AGO I STARTED FEELING BAD,LEGS AND FEET SWELLING, FATIGUE,AND BODY ACHES. HE RAN ALL THE RIGHT LABS AND HE SAID HE THOUGHT I HAD CONJESTED HEART FAILURE THAT WAS NOT IT. THEN HE TESTED ME FOR BLOOD SUGAR PROBLEMS THAT WAS IT. SO, THEN HE SAID ITS MENAPOUSE   (SPELLING WRONG) SO TIMES GOES ON AND I GET WORSE AND THIS DR MOVES OUT OF TOWN. HE SENT RECORDS TO ANOTHER DR IN TOWN SO I WENT TO SEE HIM. HE POINTS OUT TO ME MY LIVER PROFILE TEST AND COULD NOT BELEIVE A HEP TEST WAS NOT DONE. SO HE DID ONE AND ACOURSE I HAVE HEP-C WITH GRADE 3 STAGE 4 CIRRHOSIS. IF ONLY I HAD ASK FOR THE LABS THEN I WOULD HAD KNOW.NOW HE WILL SEE ME ON CIVIL TERMS! I GUESS THATS WHY THEY CALL THEM PRACTICING PHYSICANS. THEIR A VERY GOOD DOCTORS OUT THERE PUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK.AND ALSO TAKE PART IN YOUR OWN CARE. HOPE SHE IS GOING TO BE OKAY.

I don't know anything about IBS but I could not let this post go without telling you if I could go back and do life over again I would have had my mom go to a different doctor, a hundred different doctors. Her doctor blew her off when she told him of her bowel problems, told her it was just stress and just basically blew her off until she was vomiting everyday, THEN he ran some tests to find out she was in the final stages of colon cancer! Doctors are not as bright (not all of them) as they want you to think to gain your confidence(and money) SO do not take ONE opinion. For us it's to late, she died 3 months after he diagnosis, but for you it's not to late, find another opinion, find a hundred if you have to until you find someone that tells you what it is and fixes it! PLEASE!