What is wrong?

[JustUnlucky]

Well,
I'm 20 nearly 21 years old.
I'm a male.

Since 9th Grade I've had stomach issues.
I've been to the doctor once and he said it was IBS...
Lately most days I've been feeling decent... up and out of the house or at work...
But, on some days I feel sick...
My stomach hurts... I'm gassy... Sometimes I'll get a quick urge to go to the bathroom...
Sometimes its normal other times its teary... other times its almost like its mucusy...
It's never been pure dhiarreah except for a few rare times (prob because I was sick with something else at the same time)...

Does this sound like something other than IBS? Could it be a food allergy?
If it is IBS, what would spark it? What foods/drinks should I stay away from.

I'll add this before I post:
I don't drink alcohol (never have).
And I've never smoked anything of any sort.

-E

[FurballsMom]

I have IBS that tends towards constipation.  Have your doctors run the usual tests to rule out any other colon issues?  If they haven't, they should.  Likely, at your young age you don't have anything more than IBS, but the doctors should definitely rule other issues out to be on the safe side.

Your symptoms do sound like IBS.  IBS is usually food related.  I have more symptoms when I eat certain foods.  For each person the food sensitivities are going to be different.  You can figure out food sensitivities through a process of elimination and the best way to do this is to see a naturopath to get the proper guidance on how to do this correctly.  A knowledgeable nutritionist would be my second choice in getting proper guidance, but not my first.

You can ask for a referral to see an allergist, too, but I do believe that figuring out your food sensitivities through the process of elimination is the best way.  Then, when you figure out which things cause you to have a reaction, you can follow through with seeing an allergist.  The reason you want to do it this way is because the igE tests will not always show positive that you have an allergy to the foods that you react to.  I'll get nausea and even vomiting with lettuce and spinach, for example, but the tests show negative for allergy.  So, it doesn't mean that my body isn't reacting to these foods in a negative way.  It just means that eating these foods won't kill me, they'll just make me sick.  Some schools of thought refer to this as hidden food allergies.  A good allergist will explain to you that a person can have an igE test show negative for the food allergy, but the person can consume the food or drink in front of the allergist and still have a bad reaction to the substance.

With IBS you need to supplement with dietary fiber.  Make sure you are eating whole grains.  And, make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids, preferably water.  Too much fructose (juice) can cause some people to have problems with their GI symptoms.  My GERD will react badly before my IBS does in a lot of cases if something is going to cause me to have problems with my GI tract.

So, the short anwer is that you should at least have the colonoscopy done to rule out other issues.  I can't answer about the Chrons issue in any more detail, because I don't know enough about it.

[JustUnlucky]

I will also add that I am moderately healthy.
I don't drink much water (usually juices and a soda on occasion (as of a month ago I stopped drinking soda)).
I'm 5ft 9.
135lbs. I linger around 135, I don't go much higher or farther below.
I've been this size for 4 years now.
I eat... sometimes more than other days... but there isn't a day where I'm not hungry at some point... And I've only thrown up one time in 6 years and it was due to being sick.

Sometimes I get random stomach pains with very small bowel movements...

Should I be worried about Chrons? Or, is that more advanced then what im facing?
Sometimes what I have comes for a day or two, then vanishs for a while.