Just been diagnosed

Hi all,

  Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with IBS, the doctors have been very vague with me. These last 3 months have been the worst in my life and it seems my family does'nt understand (they think it's all in my head).

  I'll be as brief as I can but I feel I have a lot to get off my mind.

       I went on holiday in Sept to Gran Canaria and fell ill with what the doctors think was Samonella, I lived only on a drip and couldn't eat or even sip water for 4 weeks (in total ive lost 2 stone). I had bad D with awful pains that made me feel like I was going to faint. I had a colonoscopy and the doctors said they thought I had Chrones as my bowel was very ulcerative but the biopsys showed I didnt.  I eventually got flown BK home to UK were I spent 2 more weeks in hospital. I have been out of hospital for 6 weeks and have just been told I have IBS, but still feel awful and all my boyfriend can say to me is why can't he have a normal girlfriend?

 I get very sick and dizzy I wondered if this is normal? The Doctors have not explained anything to me they put me on buscopan, omeprazole, codiene phosphate and painkillers.

   I still get bad pains and am scared to go out, I just get

really upset and find it hard to eat because i'm worried that i'll have a bad reaction.

  Help!

Thanks for the advise, it's nice to know there are people to talk to. about the ulceration the doctors confirmed it was probably due to the samonella and that it wasn't UC. I had symptoms of IBS for over a year before any of this happened. Currently i'm not taking probiotics or multi-vitamins but will try and i'll keep you posted of any improvements.

Thanks again

How can your family think it's in your head when you have ulcers in your colon and have pictures of them to boot?? Maybe you should use the toilet at their house and "forget" to flush so they can see hey, that's not normal poop coming out of that girl! Or get really sarcastic and say, "Oh yeah, I'm making all of this up. I don't really have ulcers in my colon; the doctor faked that picture. I haven't really lost 2 stone; I'm just wearing clothing two sizes too big for me. I'm not really pale and wane; that's just makeup. I'm not really in the bathroom a dozen times a day pooping my guts out; I just wanted a quite place to read. That's not really stinky diarrhea in the toilet bowl; that's just rotten food I threw in there so I wouldn't have to take the trash out. I didn't really need that stay in the hospital and IV drip to replace lost fluids; they were just doing that to me so they could get more money from the health system. I haven't really lost my appetite; I'm just dieting like every other girl. I'm not really dizzy; I'm just drunk. I'm not really doubled over in pain; that facial contortion that looks painful is just my way of laughing." I think if you listed out all of your problems that way, they'd start to realize that you couldn't possibly have all of that "just in your head."

As for being a "normal" girlfriend, tell Mr. Significant Other right now that that's a pipe dream. There's no such thing as a "normal" woman, period, lol. He might get one that's healthy, but she'll probably have some neurosis like she's insanely jealous or talks incessantly about her weight. Dealing with you being sick is better than dealing with a woman that rings his mobile constantly just to see where he is, and who hates his friends, and who thinks football is stupid and won't let him watch it on the tele. (Of course, I assume you don't do that yourself, lol.)

If you get mad with people who dismiss you and your problems, I think you'll find people take you more seriously. Don't ask me why you have to do that, but I think sometimes people are just naturally somewhat dismissive and unkind without thinking about it. To no think about something is easier than to have to deal with it. When you get mad, you draw attention to yourself and people start to actually think about things and figure well, maybe, you really do have something wrong with you. Why else would you be mad? At the very least you may get some stress relief by venting on family.

Good luck, Samantha!
I suggest writing down some questions you may have and taking the list with you. Don't be shy. You are paying top dollar, you should not leave there with questions unanswered.