I dont know which one!

Hey everyone!

Okay. I am torn. I am gonna see what you guys think about my little situation. I'll list my symptoms, and I'd just like to know what you guys think is wrong with me...gallbladdder disease, or plain old IBS! ready? okay! haha

So, my symptoms are: *TONS and tons of gas, usually feels like my intestines are being twisted around by a giant hand!*sometimes my D is in a yellow, burning liquid, it is usually random. it can come after eating or just like, out of nowhere*slight acid reflux that ive had my whole life*pain behind my breastbone that usually accompanies the reflux*alot of headaches*gas pains that go in a horseshoe around my stomach and up into my ribs*usually, after i go to the bathroom, it burns me*intolerance to milk and ice cream, but not yogurt or cheese*that stupid constipated diarrhea, where you feel like your going to have D but then its like constipation, hard to get out*sometimes mucus in D*sugar and high fat foods absolutely KILL me..and preservatives*back pain, usually lower back and in between my shoulder blades* random nausea, comes with a gnawing feeling around the top of my stomach.*

okay. i think thats pretty much it. I take acidophilus once or twice daily, and im on an estrogen birth control pill. whew. sorry about the long post..I just dont know which doctor to go to if i can convince my parents to take me to one...my gastroenterologist that ive been to once is like, a jerk so. gahh i just wanna figure out what is wrong with meee. thanks guys for readin all this..yall are the greatest!!

Well nausea isn't very common in IBS, at least not to the degree that you have it. And the pain in the shoulder blades is similar to the pain I had in my right arm, although gas can always become trapped up there (Lord knows why) and it not be a bad gall bladder. Bile can also happen with IBS, but I have never gotten the impression that it's real frequent or there's a lot of it present in the stool.

I'd see if you can't get the hida scan done. It's really not a bad test. They inject you with some mild radioactive stuff and then, when that's settled in your gall bladder, they inject you with something that makes it empty, as if you've just eaten. That's a bit uncomfortable and somewhat nauseating, especially since you're laying flat on your back while the camera takes pictures, but it goes away before the end of the test and you basically just lay there for 30 minutes while it takes pictures, then afterwards a radiologist will read it and determine whether you're emptying too slow/incompletely or way too fast. My only suggestion is to make sure the test is scheduled for when you are in the middle of having problems (if your problems come and go). Mine came back fine when I had it done when I wasn't having problems. When I had another one done when I was sick everyday, it came back bad. I have been known to suggest to people that the night before the test to eat things that they know will make them sick just to make sure they will be sick and it shows up on the scan. If you're good and sick when you have it done and it comes back fine, then you can be reasonably certain you have IBS.

Fat is the biggest cause of GB attacks, because the GB has to release bile in order to digest fat. I don't know of any sugar-GB connection, but everyone is a little different. Of course the bile may have you irritated and the sugar is futher irritating your intestines, but I don't think it in and of itself should trigger an attack. Of course it's hard to find sugar outside of fat. Candy, cakes and ice cream all have fat. Cokes have carbonation and caffeine, both bit no-no's. In fact, the only non fat, non carbonated, non-caffiene thing I can think of is Kool-Aid. I'm not even sure about the fat content of pure honey--I don't think it has any, because I wouldn't know how bees would make it, but don't quote me on that.

But fat can also bother people with IBS, thus why it can be tricky to distinguish the two.