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Unsure diagnosis of IBS? No tests done

Posted , 4 users are following.

t1986
t1986

Hi guys, i've read a few of these and was hoping anybody could share if they've had a similar experience of what i've had for the past 2 months.

So started with a pain in my shoulder blade that went down into my arms, phoned the doctor who guessed a trapped nerve and prescriped diazepam and co-codamol.. Came off diazepam and upped co-codamol to 30mg. Took this for another 4 weeks to try and manage pain when one night I took a turn with it and had burning stomach pain. Doctor said to come off co-codamol and gave me something a bit gentler.

Kept going back as pain was persisting and had moved in my lower back on both sides along with the stomach pain (shoulder and arm pain had now gone). Doctor then passed me off to a nurse with suspected UTI (never had pain when going to the toilet so i wasnt convinced) who prescribed 2 rounds of antibiotics, stomach settlers, acid reducers - i think in the space of 2 months they tried 11 different tablets before they saw me face to face due to the covid situation. When the nurse finally saw me she noticed some tenderness in my abdomen on the right side, just below my bellybutton so suspected potentially kidney or gallbladder problems (this is consistent with the shoulder pain i started off with). Blood, stool and urine tests have all come back fine so they havent offered to do any scans.

Fastforward to 5 days ago - back pain has gotten worse significantly on the right side just below my ribs, i can barely eat anything due to the burning pain in my stomach, i've had a high heart rate and a temperature for weeks. Had to phone 111 as resting heart rate was sitting between 120-140 and felt generally unwell. Saw an oncall doctor 4 days ago who rushed me to hospital with suspected bleeding in my ovary which turned out to be fine. Now just off the phone with another doctor (i havent been able to contact my own gp since the start of this as he's been away for weeks).

This doctor has pretty much just told me to stop calling and wait until my gp is available again. He has looked over my notes and says its IBS and I should get used to it and has offered to prescribe me with 2 tablets that should help my symptoms - 1 of which i have already tried and didnt work.

I've looked at the symptoms for IBS and i just don't fit a lot of them. Pain doesnt go away after going to the toilet, i dont have any stomach cramps, there is no mucus in stool and i'm not passing gas more than normal. I do have mixed bowel habits and i haven't noticed any triggers with food or anything as i simply haven't been able to eat enough due to the burning pain in stomach and nausea. The burning pain does get worse after eating though.

I just dont know if i should accept the IBS diagnosis considering i've been offered no other scans so feels much like a way to get me to stop pestering them. Some times the pain is so bad i cant walk normally - i'm 20 years old so im also scared i just dont want to accept that this will be me with this pain for the rest of my life. Any help/guidance or even just your own experience would be appreciated x

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • sam18386
    sam18386 t1986

    Posted

    hi ti,, just a quick stupid question maybe? have you spoken to your chemist about this and specifically have you ever tried gaviscon? this will settle your stomach (we hope) and should shift some of the acid. i think you may have IBS? you need to stop asking for any medication and stick to simple ones. the doctor's have given you tonnes of drugs in 2 months. your stomach WILL burn, all the acid is conflicting in your stomach,! good luck, it may ease off.

    • t1986
      t1986 sam18386

      Posted

      Hi! I haven't spoken to the chemist specifically but the last couple of doctors i've seen were shocked at the amount of tablets that have been thrown at me! My local gp surgery has a bad rep for doing this and they've certainly done it with me. Each time I asked for anything but another tablet and they just kept coming! I've bought some gaviscon today so hopefully this will ease the burning and let me get a good nights sleep. Thankyou!

  • Marina_Dee
    Marina_Dee t1986

    Posted

    Yes, do try Gaviscon as Sam has suggested. What are the 2 tablets that dont work? Were they meant to be taken together? Did this all start after an accident of some kind or an unusual activity? Lots of lifting or something like that?Your symptoms could be due to all sorts of things and if they continue you need to keep talking to your GP.Could you afford to pay for a private scan?

    • t1986
      t1986 Marina_Dee

      Posted

      I was given Omeprazole and Mebeverine by a nurse when it was really juet back lain and nausea I was dealing with, they made no difference. the gp offered to give me them again even though I had said they didnt work but managed to settle with getting Buscopan so i'll see if that helps any. I've not been in any accident/ lifting heavy things. I've got a phone consultation with a private gp next week as I got little to no information from the gp who thinks it's IBS - he actually told me to go and google it instead of discussing what it is with me. I'm willing to accept the IBS diagnosis but I don't think it's fair to just say I have IBS and not give me any help on what makes my symptoms worse/better etc. Maybe i'm expecting too much! Thankyou!

  • sam18386
    sam18386 t1986

    Posted

    blasted meberevine, you ask people on here, that drug is awful. doctor's have a standard thing they follow - give out and never mind if they don't work. i only take gaviscon, everything else upsets me. your chemist knows you best trust what they say. omeprazole isn't for everyone.

    • t1986
      t1986 sam18386

      Posted

      Yeah I wasn't a fan of it. I've tried taking gaviscon as suggested but it doesnt seem to be helping so far. Just have to wait for the gp appointment on tuesday I guess!

    • sam18386
      sam18386 t1986

      Posted

      check the dosage and take the maximum amount!

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