Hi Minnesota,
I am an 18 year old male from the United Kingdom. I am hoping I can shed some light on your condition/s. I suffer from IBS, now all three of what you mentioned can all come under the same sort of categories symptom wise. Coeliac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome are extremely alike, the only difference being is that Coeliac is a gluten intolerence and IBS is a functional problems of the bowels.
Let's start with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.. as this is what section you're in..
The main symptoms of IBS are as follows:
Pain or Discomfort in any part of the abdomen, The abdomen is divided into four sections, (Upper Left, Upper Right, Lower Left, Lower Right). Pain is generally spasmic or colic and can be dull or achey to severe and extremely painful. Pain generally comes and goes, but can sometimes last for weeks or even months on end without going.
Bloating or swelling of your abdomen may occur and you may find that you belch or pass wind more frequently. Your stomach may gurgle or make noises much more frequently and can sometimes be very loud and feel like a bubbling sensation in your abdominal region.
You might have bouts of Diahrea and/or Constipation. You might have a feeling or urgency that comes on very suddenly or sporadically.
You might feel nausious from time to time, however sickness is not generally assosiated with IBS and you should consult your GP if you experience sickness.
Headaches are common with IBS and can be just as severe or dull as the abdominal cramping pains.
Backache and muscle pains are extremely common in people with IBS, you may experience pain in the rib cage as well, which is generally localised either under the left ribs or right side rib pain may be felt. If you experience pain under both sides of ribs at the same time with other symptoms, consult your GP.
Porr apetite which might also leed to tiredness caused by lack of essential vitamins.
Also bladder complaints are often assosciated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is called Irritable Bladder. ( Which is what I have, you see I suffer from both D: )
Now for Coeliac Disease (or Celiac if you're American :D)
I must stress, it is extremely important that you know the difference (even though slight) between IBS and Coeliac, the longer you leave Coeliac the worse things can be in the future.
Abdominal Pains that come and go. If the pains are persistant and constant for several weeks or months on end, it's generally NOT Coeliac.
80% of people with Coeliac have Iron Defficiency Anaemia, however the other 20% may not necessarily have this type of Anaemia and you may need a biopsy of the small intestine to rule out Coeliac for good.
Most of the Symptoms of IBS are also extremely common in people with Coeliac Disease.
You may feel weaker then normal, due to lack of iron (anaemia) in the blood. Pins and needles or numbness in the hands or feet is often common for Coeliac Sufferers, but not always.
Mouth Ulcers (Aphthous Ulcers) which are big white ulcers with a red halo surrounding may occur frequently. These can be painful, however i'd advise checking your tooth paste if you do get these type of ulcers, as some toothpasts contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate which also causes these types of mouth ulcers.
Weight loss can be due to Coeliac, if you do not have weight loss.. it is most probably nothing serious and not Coeliac Disease. In saying this, most adults who hace Coeliac, do not lose weight and are at their normal weight even with the disease and without knowing that they have the disease.
Occasionally and itchy skin condition called Dermatitis Herpetiformis occurs in people with Coeliac.
If you have any of the symptoms of Coeliac Disease which are NOT present with Irritable Bowel Syndrome then please consult your local GP, ask for a blood test that includes an FBC (Full Blood Count) and EMA, an ESR and IgA and IgG antibody testing. Tell the doctor all your symptoms and why you feel the need for a blood test. If they come back negative then it is possible that it still could be coeliac, thus more tests will need to be carried out (an Endoscopy will be needed to take a biopsy of your small intestine to check the villi of the small intesting to see if they're normal or abnormal). However, once again it might not be Coeliac so we shall now move onto Crohn's.
Again, Crohn's causes abdominal pains, that can be mild or severe. However diahrea or loose stools are the most common cause of Crohn's.
If you're generally feeling unwell all the time (a constant feeling of being ill like having the flu or cold all the time) then this is highly linked to Crohn's if you're not currently suffering from an illness or flu.
Again, unintentional weight loss can occur, your doctor might need to take your weight every few weeks, or of course you can do this at home.
An ulcer can occur in your gut, which might rupture and cause you to bleed from your rectum. Blood in the stools might be visible (old blood may look tar like or black in colour, new blood will be bright red and vibrant in colour). Even a small spot of blood might be cause of Crohn's.
If you're loosing a lot of blood a lot of the time, you might have anaemia, however most people with Crohn's don't have iron defficiency anaemia. And also in people with crohn's they're platelet count is slightly below average in most cases, but not in all.
Again not to be confused with Coeliac, mouth ulcers can be common, so please get some blood tests if you get mouth ulcers.
You may experience anal fissures, these are small lumps and/or cracks around the anus, these can be extremely painful when wiping after passing a bowel movement and be located inside the anus or outside, they should also not be mistaken for haemorroids or piles, which is also likely in these cases.
I suffer from IBS, I have had it for 2 months now. I am not a qualified doctor and you should not take my word for it. Please do not use this as a self evaluation, your GP knows best, trust me. A blood test can rule out Crohn's and/or Coeliac Disease, which might ease your mind. Don't forget it is easy to be mistaken for having either of these two and the easy option is to say it is IBS. Trust me, all three are bad. My Nan suffers from Crohn's and she's had it bad the last few years. My cousin suffers from Coeliac, and my late granded had Type 1 Diabetes, these are all auto immune disease that can be heredatory or they can come on at ANY point in your life. If you have any relative, even if it's just one with any of these three (Coeliac, Crohn's or Diabetes, especially type 1), there is a chance that your more likely to have one of these diseases. Like I said, get it checked out, see your GP, have a blood test and any other tests that you feel comfortable having to rule out any other possibilities. I want to ask you one thing that is worrying me though, How long have you been seeing black spots in your stools for and how frequent are they?
This could indicate that there is something else wrong with you large or small intesting and it is best to rule out disease that can cause gastrointestinal bleeding and such.
I hope you found this substantial, and I hope you feel better soon. IBS can be a pain but so can Coeliac and Crohn's and it is best to get it checked out by your GP. I am only an 18 year old male from the UK, however as my family has a history of these disease I am knowlegable on these issues/subjects and I know my stuff. But, once again don't take my word as gospal, it's true and valid but only your local GP can fully test you for these diseases.
Kind Regards,