Few questions, doc is narrowing down to ibs

I had a boatload of tests that ruled out everything else that could cause my 5 months of straight diahreah and how much I go a day (9-12 times).

The only thing that showed positive was inflammation and higher white cell count in stool sample. Now I've got a surgical consult on June 10th to either diagnose Crohn's or ulcerative colitis which is what my doc suspects I guess.

Two questions
1) is prednisone the only thing that controls either condition? I declined his offer to go on it proactively before colonoscopy because my mother has been on it for 35 years and it has seriously, seriously messed.her.up. I cried when he suggested it as its the only medication in the world I do not ever ever want to be on.

2) has anyone ever had a colonoscopy and not gotten a positive for Crohn's or UC? what happened then?

My doc says that he wants to do a colonoscopy because he suspects the Crohn's or UC. He vaguely mentioned a GI specialist but said the colonoscopy was what could ultimately get the diagnosis. Untrue?

My mom has a rare auto-immune disease so that's why she's been on it for 35 years. I've just grown up with the side effects in my face for all 32 years of my life so I'd rather avoid it entirely.

Is a GI a specialist for stuff like ibs? What do they do in winnowing down what could be causing this since so much of my tests came back negative?

Don't confuse IBS with IBD. IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion. It is Irritable Bowel Syndrome. A syndrome is not a disease. You have problems but no diagnosable condition.

IBD is Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Tissue damage is found upon scope or via biopsy taken during scope. GIs are the specialists who work on IBD, but not all GIs are familiar enough with IBD to be good at treating you.

Your DR is an idiot for saying that only prednisone will treat IBD. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

When you say you have a surgical consult in order to get a colonoscopy, I guess that means you'll be scoped by a surgeon? That seems like a poor use of a surgeon's time. Get referred to a Gastroenterologist. Preferably two or three that you can look up and see who might fit your needs best. Ask around your parents, your parent's friends and your friends to see who knows who's good. about 2% of the population has an inflammatory bowel disease so if you know 100 people then there are probably 2 who have experience. Or ask on the Crohn's and UC boards for recommendations in your city.