IBS or IBD? Help!!!

Hi, new member here. Sad to find myself trying to figure out what's wrong. I do have a GI appointment coming up on Tuesday, after a long wait but I've been suffering with my mystery illness for 2 months now with no relief. I did get tested for C Diff and other bacteria/parasites, and it came back negative.

Sorry for the graphic descriptions to follow. Generally, I've always been on the constipated side. I'd poop a large well-formed log once every 2-3 days, and that would be the end of it. I'd had diarrhea maybe 4 times in my life (I'm 30). My symptoms started suddenly 2 months ago with a bad bout of diarrhea. Chills, explosive poops, dizziness, the works. Since then, the diarrhea returns every 2-3 days. It starts with some lower intestinal growling (not loud-more like creaking, if that makes sense) and then I get cramps, and loose watery stools. Sometimes I have hard well-formed balls of stool coming out with the watery stuff. No blood, and it's mostly a greenish or orangish color. Oh, and there's a ton of bad smelling mucus coming out, which is light orange/yellow/clear. It doesn't even smell like poop; this is completely evil smelling stuff. That lasts about a day or two, then it's back to nothing. Repeat over two months. When there's no diarrhea, I don't feel any discomfort, pain, etc. When there's diarrhea, I spend all day on the toilet. Having just started a new job, it's a real bummer. Har har.

I'm terrified that this is Crohn's. I'm so sad that this is happening to me. I've never had any issues. This started so suddenly. Does this sound familiar? Is it IBS? Is it Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis? I don't trust doctors, cause I feel like I'll be put on medication and ignored for six months.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

It could be that you're constipated, and the diarrhea you're having is what's called bypass diarrhea. Those hard balls of stool could be created a blockage that makes it hard for your colon to work properly. While it might seem counterintuitive, you might try a few days of miralax to see if you can get more regular.

Has anything changed in such a way that your bowel habits became different 2 months ago? Are you pregnant? New desk job? Change your diet?

Oh, and whenever I eat, it triggers my intestines to "growl." Is this typical?

I have had alot of your symptoms,I  went to dr did lots of test and ultr sounds and everthing you can think of,My stomach sounded like you said sometimes it would embaress me in public because it would get so loud,but after all test i was told IBS and was given some med for bacteria and told what foods to stay away from.I since than had to go back to DR and it wa ssaid it is now Moved to Diverticulitis which is IBS but i have what they call not pilops in the intestens but pouches,that is where when food passes its like an indention in tubes and the food gets in theose area and than thats when it causes the most problems ,but to make you feel better you can change you diet and i do a good clean out at least one time a month i have to and i do not eat out any more if i do it is maybe once every 2 to 3 months and when i do i pay for it.I was told main thing is to stay away from stringy green veggies.I use olive oil and no other oils to cook with ,i cut out sodas ,one cup of coffee every morning that helps me to go if i dont than i wount go for 4 to 5 days that not good at all.So if you need any other info give me a shout.Good luck

Thank you all for your responses!

So I finally went to my long-awaited GI appointment.  The doctor listened, ordered some tests that I've already done for my GP (and everything already came back normal) and scheduled a colonoscopy 2 months away.  Seems like an incredibly long time to me, especially where I'm in so much discomfort.  Anything you guys can suggest for maintenance in the meanwhile?  I started taking Citrucel and Align, just hoping to regulate the D a little bit.  It's been really bad lately.  And is 2 months a typical waiting time?  Seems like forever away

Did your doc order stool cultures? you want to make sure you don't have a bacterial infection causing all the trouble