So frustrated anyone else?

I know how it is to feel like you're not being tested properly to find out what's going on. It is so frustrating, isn't it?! In your case, though, I wouldn't worry.

Bloating is strongly associated with constipation, and weakly associated with diarrhoea. Less than half of IBS-D patients experience bloating, so I wouldn't worry about it.

It is characteristic of IBS for bowel motions to change suddenly, often and without any obvious trigger. If you had diarrhoea non-stop for 2 days or more, that might be cause to see your doctor.

Too much fibre will cause and/or aggravate diarrhoea.

You can explore the idea of food intolerances to see if they might be causing your symptoms. Ask for a referral to see a dietitian.

I think maybe your doctor doesn't want to put you through a surgery unless there is a strong chance that they will find something wrong. The first oath doctors take is cause no unnecessary harm. The doctors actually are looking out for your welfare. People can have horrid reactions to colonscopies, even as bad as dying.

I am intolerant to lactose, fructose, fructans and galactans. Fructans (which are in wheat and other things) are more likely to cause constipation than diarrhoea. Lactose and fructose are the more likely culprits for your symptoms. You can google which fruits contain more free fructose to see if cutting out fructose helps. Here's a quick list of the worst foods for someone who is fructose intolerant:
•honey
•corn
•mango
•apples
•high fructose corn syrup (common additive in sweet foods)

The main fruits I can have with fructose intolerance are:
•kiwi fruits
•apricots
•citrus fruits

Look up the low-FODMAP diet and trial one food group at a time.

Cutting out wheat may be worsening your diarrhoea, because wheat is a major source of fibre. You may reconsider reintroducing wheat (check to see if it makes a difference) but continuing to stay off of lactose. Lactose is the more likely culprit, then fructose.

Stress may also be playing a role. Have you been majorly stressed out over the last 2 months?

You're welcome.

Actually, I'll tell you how the dietitian did it with me. This elimination diet worked for me but it took a lot of time, motivation and self-control. This is not for the half-hearted. In case you wanna give it a shot, here it is:
1) eliminate all FODMAPs from my diet for 4 weeks
2) for 3 days: keep my diet exactly the same (low-FODMAP) except eat lots of lactose
3) over the next week, back to low-FODMAP, including no lactose, keep an eye out for any reactions to lactose; reactions may not be immediately after the consumption of lactose but delayed by up to about a week
4) fortnight: low-FODMAP again, can add lactose back to diet if observed no reaction
5) 3 days: reintroduce fructose
6) 7 days: watch for reactions
7) fortnight: low-FODMAP, can add fructose back if not a problem
8) 3 days: fructans
9) 7 days: watch for reactions (low-FODMAP again, no more fructans)
10) fortnight: low-FODMAP
11) 3 days: galactans.
12) 7 days: low-FODMAP, watch for reactions
13) fortnight: low-FODMAP
14) 3 days: polyols
15) 7 days: watch for reactions, low-FODMAP
16) 4 weeks: eat a diet as determined by your reactions to the various FODMAPs trialled throughout this elimination diet; watch for any symptoms just in case you made/make a mistake or missed something.

Time to complete: 25 weeks. It took me 9 months because I made a few mistakes along the way and I had to restart some of the trials again.

Keep a detailed diet and symptom diary throughout.

Post Edited (Jasmine Grace) : 7/24/2013 8:14:04 AM (GMT-6)

I'm glad! :)

Use this website to guide you:
http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-information/low-fodmap-diet

Just make sure to have a balanced diet throughout. Use potatoes and rice to make up for wheat and so on.

I noticed you mention several other symptoms (chronic fatigue, joint pain) that makes me wonder if you might be gluten intolerant, coeliac or non-celiac. It would probably be a good idea for you to be tested for celiac before going off of wheat and rye, because if you do then your body won't produce antibodies against gluten, even if you are celiac, and it might not be as simple as reintroducing gluten back into your diet to get tested. I made the mistake of going gluten free for 2 months before speaking to my doctor about it. Then I took gluten in an attempt to damage my intestines so that if I have celiac, it will show up in my endoscopy and colonscopy. Well, I ended up in the ER because the gluten made me so sick. Now I'm stuck being gluten free and I suppose I'll never know if it's celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance.

Post Edited (Jasmine Grace) : 7/24/2013 8:37:39 AM (GMT-6)