Irritable bowel Syndrome Diagnosis

Irritable bowel Syndrome Diagnosis

IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome is somewhat hard to diagnose. Although in recent doctors have come a long way in the way of saving a typical patient time and money. A few years back a doctor would tend to use a elimination routine with IBS being the last illness taken into consideration. This testing could span a large amount of time and end up costing a patient a pretty penny.

The new practice is that your main MD SHOULD refer you to a specialist. This gastroenterologist will then listen very carefully to what you have to say, especially the way you describe your symptoms. Based upon what he hears he will most likely tell you you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He will recommend some diet and lifestyle changes(I write about these in depth in another article) to try and then schedule a checkup and go from there.

Now that being said IBS is not always the case. The following list is a group of things that you should ask your doctor about to see if they have ruled them out and why.

• Inflammatory bowel diseases
• Bowel obstructions
• Diverticulitis
• Food allergies
• Intestinal parasites
• Bacterial infections
• Celiac Disease-I thought I had this allergy to wheat and ate gluten free for one year. I did feel relief from some symptoms but not all. I now know that this is not the case.
• Ovarian cancer
• Endometriosis

I want to stress that the diagnosis of IBS should be left to a trained professional. Self diagnosis is not an option.

Please feel free to leave comments and i will be happy to answer any questions or concerns. Thanks