IBS or something else?

[Deanne2007]

Ok this is going to be kind of long, sorry in advance. Back in March of 2007, I started feeling nauseous about once a week and I could not explain what was causing the problem. Over the next couple of months, it started to get worse, occurring more often and for longer periods of time. The only over the counter medicine that would help was Alka Seltzer. I went to a regular physician and he referred me to a gastroenterologist to check me out. Since Alka Seltzer was relieving my problems, obviously acid was the cause. The general physician prescribed me Nexium to help with my stomach problems initially until the gastroenterologist was able to be more specific after running tests and finding me better medicine perhaps. I got in touch with him and he ran tests to see what was going on. Before I talk about the tests, I don't have pain in my stomach to indicate ulcers or any bleeding. First, he did blood work, it came back normal, next he did a sonogram, that came back normal, and finally he did an upper endoscopy, all he found was that I had some inflammation at the upper part of my stomach (there were 2 round circles of inflammation). He biopsied this inflammation to see if it was being caused by bacteria or something like E.Coli but the tests came back negative. He diagnosed me with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). However, I have been reading about IBS and based on my symptoms, it doesn't match up? I have been taking the generic medicine of Bentyl twice a day and it helps but not enough. Lately, my nausea has been pretty bad and it is affecting me from living a comfortable lifestyle. I plan to go back to a doctor for this. Should I get a new gastroenterologist? Does it sound like I have IBS or that I have been misdiagnosed? I just don't know?

[fariasgirl]

Ive had IBS for 11 years now and until i started having gallbladder problems, i had no nausea whatsoever... I could sit on the toilet for two hours, that was nothing out of the ordinary for me lol... but never once had nausea from it... If you want a good test, try peppermint... I drink peppermint tea when my stomach acts up... So when you start to feel nauseaus, pour yourself some peppermint tea or even suck on a peppermint losenge and see if you feel better... Peppermint is known to help IBS tremendiously... Also, if you like strawberry daquiris, i have a wonderful IBS-proof method to making one lol Just PM me on here and ill send it to you, if you want it lol...
Good luck...

[scaredinboston]

im sure the doc would have a difficult time obtaining a test that would be positive;  many people deal with these functional bowel syndromes for long periods of time.

There is some thought regarding bacterial overgrowth and IBS, and often a short trial of antibiotics may help.