IBS or Ovarian Cysts?

I am 26 years old and have been having noticeable issues for the last 12 weeks. They are now getting progressively worse. The first symptoms were severe fatigue and tiredness, unexplained heartburn/indigestion (i.e., before eating, after eating... whilst I’m sleeping?!) and constant dull pelvic aching (no bleeding; I’m on Depo Provera). I had a LLETz procedure 4 months ago following an abnormal smear; they removed dyskariosis severe, CIN 3. I had had no symptoms (aside from tiredness - but who doesn’t?! I also have a 10 month old and am working full time, so chalked it up to that.) Docs were confident I was all clear after procedure, as was I, all healed since, with no infections. Anyway, I’m waffling, sorry. So, doctor monitored my heartburn and gave me omeprazole when it persisted for 3 weeks. Omeprazole worked great on my heartburn/indigestion (haven’t had it since!) but I completely lost my appetite, and felt stuffed to the point of feeling sick after eating around a fist sized amount of food. I am the yet undiscovered champion of polishing off portions twice my weight usually, so this has become concerning. But not for my GP. In addition to that, despite eating a drastically reduced amount (and losing 9kg in 3 months; from 72kg to 63kg) I am watching my stomach grow at an alarming rate. I’m not exaggerating, work colleagues asked when I’m going to announce my pregnancy, as I must be almost half way now. I am wearing my maternity leggings, granted, but you don’t need to point that out, Susan. All joking aside, I have measured a steady increase of 11cm across four days, from 81cm (which I thought was pretty bloated!) to 92cm. This bloat is constant, but not gassy, I wake up with it and eating/going to the toilet/fondling it has no effect on it. Probably worth mentioning that I have had absolutely no changes to my bowel movements, stool samples have all come back clear, no pain or problems when it comes to the loo. I have been weeing more but it has been hot (in England, I know - I swear this post is serious) and my muscles aren’t what they used to be since childbirth. Anyway, if you’re still with me. Thank you. And I’m getting to the main event now. My doctor has decided that I have IBS. What’s worse, so has another doctor who I had faith in and was going to consult for a second opinion. I don’t dispute their medical knowledge but I have had no issues with digestion, apart from the heartburn (gone) and ‘bloating’ (I am sceptical of this as I have no gassy side effects, it isn’t affected by me eating and it isn’t going away). The bloating is the ONLY common symptom of IBS that I have, and that’s also a grey area (no flatulence, and I’m not just being demure for my dignity). I have provided 2 stool samples, all clear. I have had blood tests to test for fatigue (basically, tested everything) and all clear, except for CA125 and red cell folate, which they retested as they were high. CA125 came back as 32, normal range. Folate still high, decided that this was too complicated to investigate further I suppose, I don’t know. I also had an upper abdominal scan (ultrasound) that showed that everything was working exactly how it should be. Interesting. I had never complained of upper abdo pain, poo pain, poo problems anyway but here we are, maybe my GP has a fetish. I was told it was IBS because my CA125 was normal. I asked about ovarian cysts (as mentioned by the go previously, albeit fleetingly) to just be reminded that it wasn’t ovarian cancer - but I didn’t say it was that? I was advised to look at websites detailing more info on IBS, to follow the FODMAP diet and then prescribed tablets beginning with M that I can’t remember the name of (sorry) which will help me go to the toilet. Which I need no help with. I am still having symptoms and my current ones are getting worse. I am now getting breathless, started bleeding yesterday and am blacking out everyday, with dizzying spells in between (previously it had been every few weeks). I still don’t have, or have ever had, any really painful cramps or shooting pains, it has just been a persistent dull ache in my pelvis(?), which is stretching round to my lower back and giving me a dead leg/bum. I can’t pick my daughter up because of my back and because the bloating is painful to touch if she were to kick against me. I would also never forgive myself if I were to black out and I dropped her. What I’m getting at is, are these common symptoms for IBS? Should I challenge my GP(s) using my newly acquired Google doctorate? Should I have a private ultrasound for peace of mind but potentially wasted money? Or have I gone mad? Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings, any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks x

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