New to IBS - Need Advice

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself here. I am a 26 year old male who has been dealing with an assortment of stomach related issues since around November of 2015. The issues started with bloating and gas and developed into full-on uncomfortable abdominal pain.

I went to the hospital in December and CT scan and blood work turned up completely negative.

I finally had an endoscopy done at the end of February, which revealed that I had a small antral ulcer and a small hiatal hernia. I was given 20 mg of omeprazole to take in the morning. Unfortunately after 7 weeks (including switching to 40 mg Omeprazole and then Protonix) I saw no results at all. The pain was still there, if not worse.

I received a second opinion from a Dr. Lewis in NYC last week. He is supposed to be one of the top gatroenterologists in the city. Aftr examining my endoscopy results, he said the ulcer was barely an ulcer (it looked like muccous to him and even if it was an ulcer it is too small to do any damage) and should not be physically affecting me. He also doubted that I even had a hiatal hernia. By this point I had already stopped all PPI's and was feeling a bit better. Dr. Lewis then told me my symptoms - pain in the lower abdomen, bloating, gas, globus - sound like classic IBS. He prescribed me Xifaxan to take, which I still haven't taken yet.

I want to make it known that I don't have constipation or diarrhea.

I have been taking Konsyl for 2 weeks but recently have found myself getting terrible stomach pains, especially after eating. Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe I should stop taking it? I was taking it for IBS, thinking that it would benefit me at the recommendation of a doctor.

I have taken the following drugs with little to no effect: hyoscamine, omeprazole, protonix, antacids, Zantac

I have also taken Align and Ultimate Flora Probiotics.

My diet is pretty strict as well. No dairy, no alcohol, very little red meat, no tomato sauces, no spicy foods, no citrus juices, etc.

I was 165 lbs in December. I'm 147 today and I lose weight without even trying. I am actually trying to gain back weight but to avail. I don't know what else to do.

I am starting to come to grips to dealing with this for the rest of my life but I have no idea how I can relieve these nagging abdominal pain/cramping symptoms from my life. Hope someone can give me some advice. I would greatly appreciate it!

Maybe not all that funny, but I used to joke that a diagnosis of IBS should be renamed GOK (God only Knows)

If not already you might try keeping a food journal, recording what are eating and how you feel.

I've found different doctors can have different opinions on a diagnosis of celiac. I've come back negative as a celiac on tests. Other times I was positive. The best way to find out is avoiding wheat and most other grains. I'll eat rice from time to time without problems, but avoiding other grains such as wheat helped improve my GI issues (I have an IBD condition a type of colitis.)

Best of luck in finding out what is going wrong. It can be frustrating.

Well, I started on Elavil. I'm assuming I have to give it a few days before I see any effects.

I am on Elavil 10 mg and I take it at night before bed.