Right sided pain and "IBS" diagnosis... not convinced, need advice

Hi all,

Coming to the forums after reading many threads on here via Google, need some input into my current situation...

I've been ill one way or another for the best part of 7 months now, which seemed to start around the time I was suffering from high levels of stress at work.

Started the year needing a root canal, which was a rather unpleasant experience and took weeks to settle down (more on that later). Was given a 7-day course of antibiotics in case of any residual infection. Before the root canal was done my neck tightened up so much my shoulder was pretty much up by my chin such was the discomfort.

Following that around March I caught some sort of bug which caused fatigue, nausea etc. and took the best part of 3 weeks to go. During that time suffered from indigestion, getting up in the middle of the night to pee as well as shaking and pins & needles in muscles when walking.

After lots of physio and personal trainer I managed to get muscles back to some sort of normality and did some light exercise, although any physical activity did come with much longer recovery times in terms of muscle soreness etc.

A few weeks later I felt my neck start tightening up again then the sensations went into my jaw, chin and cheek. Upset stomach returned along with shortness of breath, muscle spasms and dizzy spells. Went to the GP to get a blue inhaler and also some antibiotics as the doctor agreed that it was likely a sinus infection.

Unfortunately said GP didn't read my notes and gave me antibiotics (Amoxicillin) that I was listed as being allergic to (I've never been told which paticular ones so didn't know what I was being given). Within a few hours I had a bad reaction to them, woke up in the middle of the night doubled up in pain with stomach cramps and severe pain in the middle-right section of abdomen.

Called 111 and went to A&E where reaction was confirmed, only treatement was to use water to flush the antibiotics out and Gaviscon to settle stomach.

Carried on feeling unwell for a week or so, using the little bit of sport I could do as distraction from the dizziness, twitching and upset stomach. Went back to see another GP who attributed some symptoms to severe hayfever (levels are very high right now) and advised antihistamines.

At this point neck glands were also sore but not visibly swollen. Fatigue continued, along with inflamed feeling all over body. Continude to notice pain in my right side, made worse when bending down. 

Carried on for a few more days until again being woken in the night by pains in the right side. Went to GP who noticed my temperature was up so sent me to A&E with suspected appendicitis. Had blood tests, UTI test etc. and a doctor at hospital pressing various parts of abdomen who then came up with a diagnosis of "non specific abdominal pain". Said nothing serious and take painkillers.

The day after I came down with the symptoms of flu, which then really came over the course of 2 weeks. Massive amounts of yellow mucus from the left side of my head along with sore throat, stomach upset and all the other nasty fatigue effects of the flu virus. Never had anything like this as the flu jab usually keeps it at bay but I'm guessing my immune system was shot from the previous bug and antibiotic reaction.

Bowel movements were a bit constipated so initially was given Mebeverine, which helped restore some normal function and I hoped that would be the end of it.

However once the flu finally went it left me with bubbling, twitching sensations in my stomach, right side and into legs. I also noticed that when sitting down e.g. at a table to eat I could feel a strong pulsing sensation coming from the stomach area. Got quite scared by this (aneurysm) so went back to the GP to get it checked out.

Had another examination pressing on stomach etc. and the diagnosis was "IBS" due to stress. Was given Omeprazole 40mg and told to come back in 2 weeks. Those pills seem to have made me 10x worse as when I take them I get acid reflux (never had that before), raised anxiety, dizziness and recently migraines. Also since going on the pills now suffering with extreme muscle fatigue after pretty much any physical exertion and even vision problems (blurred vision, floaters etc.) 

Want to get off this medication asap as reading threads on here the side effects do seem to outweigh the perceived benefits. Also seems they're mostly prescribed for GERD rather than IBS? Qutie ironic given they've caused reflux in my case.

Based on various threads I'm trying some more natural options like Slippery Elm before meals (seems to help), having probiotics such as Kefir and also tried the low FODMAP diet on GP advice.

What's worrying me is the fact the right sided pain is still there, along with the feeling that something is pressing on my insides if I bend over or sit up in bed etc. The tightness in the right side almost seems to go into my back and leg as well.

I'm getting scared by some of the links I'm reading about misdiagnosed IBS and some of the serious illnesses it can most (big C included) then see this one just after signing up, terrifying...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/irritable-bowel-syndrome-not--521868

I'm going to ask for a referral to go private when I next see the GP this week as I feel the NHS are happy to go with this almost guesstimate diagnosis of IBS without running any tests to prove otherwise or try to treat the root cause.

What I'm not sure of is if all this is a complication of the various illnesses I've had over the past few months or if it goes back further. Thinking back I can remember having a strain feeling in the right hand side for over a year now but blamed it on a sports-related muscle strain as I was very physically active prior to all this happening.

Apologies for such a long post but so much has happened over the past few months and I'm still trying to figure out what's going on

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