I learned something new at my GI appointment yesterday and wanted to share the info...
If any of you have experienced severe, watery, chronic D, abdominal cramping, and weight loss; have had bacterial and/or viral infections and IBD ruled out; and have been told you have IBS, you may want to consider asking your doctor about getting a 5-HIAA test. This is especially necessary if you have "flushing" symptoms, such as severe reddening of the face for minutes or hours at a time or facial swelling. The 5-HIAA test is very simple - you collect all of your urine for 24 hours in one container - and can tell you if you may have a carcinoid tumor. Carcinoid tumors are relatively rare, slow-growing neuroendocrine tumors that cause symptoms such as those I listed above.
I am doing the 24-hour urine test tomorrow. I'm kind of freaked out, of course - but I'd rather know than not know!