IBS??

[chelsealouise33x]

I haven't been diagonsed but have been suffering since I was about 15 I am now 23. I get loose type stools everyday. Sometimes I get this awful pain in my stomach and I know I have too rush too the toilet and my stool is very loose (sorry if too much detail) sometimes the pain even makes me sick, the pain goes down as soon as I go to the toilet but when the pain starts I can be on the toilet for over 30mins. Is this signs of IBS OR IBD? I have had blood tests which have showed inflammation but doctors are not sure why as yet. I am waiting ona doctors appointment and will explain this to my doctor.

[patientj]

Pain, loose stools and the relief of pain once you've been to the toilet are all signs of IBS but you're right to get all the possibilities checked out. Sometimes IBS can be associated with low-grade inflammation so your doctor might want to do some additional checks to see if it isn't IBD - this could involve a stool test, looking for some protein markers of infections in your faeces, or a colonoscopy - but see what your doctor says. Do you know the difference between IBS and IBD?

You say you've been suffering since you were about 15. Did anything significant happen in your life around then. IBS can sometimes be caused by anxiety, and in our mid-late teens there can be a lot of things happening in our lives that could be a trigger for that. Even minor things we might not think bother us can add up and start to cause problems.