Just diagnosed with possible IBS

Hi.  I'm new to the IBS forum but have been at the Lyme Disease one for several years.  I have some questions about IBS because just yesterday my regular doctor said he thinks that may be what is causing my GI problems.   Please, if anyone has information that could help, respond to this.  I'm getting really depressed with all the pain and symptoms.

I've had intermittant pain and pronounced spasms just beneath my ribs on the right, accompanied by chronic constipation and bloating since November.  But I'm not sure the problem is IBS because I've thought IBS was more of an all-over abdominal pain (and loose stool).  My pain is definitely always in one spot and shoots through to my back when it's really bad.  Like some other posters here I've wondered if I have a partial obstruction, but every GI test I've had so far shows nothing except for some bleeding stomach erosions and possible celiac disease.  Tested negative for chron's disease and gall bladder issues. 

I've been totally gluten free for several years, and don't eat nightshades.  I saw on another post here that dairy can be a trigger so I'm stopping that now too.  Is there a recommended diet for IBS on this website?  I'm wondering if nuts are bad to eat.

So far I'm using Miralax every day, taking probiotics, and eating a high-liquid diet (veggie smoothies, brothy soups, etc) in an effort to clear this up.  Whatever this is, I get attacks of it where it lasts for a week or two and then goes away for awhile.  The pain ranges from mild to really bad.  Today I picked up some medication the doctor wants me to use twice a day whether I'm having symptoms or not.   At this point, as much as I hate taking meds, I'm willing to try it.  It will be tricky, though, because I take carafate for the stomach erosions 3x/day, and doxycycline for Lyme disease twice a day and none of this stuff can be taken with the others, and the carafate must be taken 1 hour before or 2 hours after food.  And I'm supposed to be taking another antibiotic also for the Lyme, but backed off of it to give my stomach a rest.  So if I can find some ways to naturally control this, assuming it is IBS, I'd rather do that than add another medication. 

Thanks for reading this and sorry for how disorganized it is.  Late, tired, can't sleep.

Rose

 

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I have had the hyda (hida?) scan for gall bladder and it was normal. I've had a CT scan and an ultrasound with no issues noted. I will ask the new GI doc when I finally get an appointment about the small bowel test (sounds pretty scary). That is not something I've had and if it's on the right it could be the site of my pain.

I've been doing research and printed off the fodmap and gaps diets. I started the regular gaps diet today. Hope it helps. I'm still deciding whether to start at stage 1 instead; that's a pretty restrictive diet and I'm heading into a very, very busy week. I'm sure the long-term antibiotics I've been on for Lyme play a role in the IBS symptoms, too, so I've stepped up probiotic intake.

Do you have any info about which of those two IBS diets is most effective for most people with IBS-c? Thanks!