I feel for you. I remember hearing, in a drug-filled haze, the word "normal" when I was waking up from my colonoscopy. I wanted to cry. I have severe symptoms and nothing has given me much relief. My regular doctor has been treating it (or trying to) for a few months, but I think I'll go back to the gastro to get medicine that only he can prescribe (I can't think of the name right now, but it's on the Mayo Clinic site about IBS). Lomodal has helped a bit. Have you tried it? Also, you could try Marinol for the nausea, though it makes you pretty spacy (or it did me--my doc won't give it to me anymore.) Good luck to you! let me know if you find something that works!

I too have been struggling with IBS for numerous years and I left it unattended and now deal with diverticulitis. Don’t do this… treat yourself NOW!

If not taken care of you eventually will end up with some kind of surgery to remove the pouch’s that is causing the pain and inflammation.

I had what was called hand assisted sigmoid (literally cutting you open and pulling out your colon/intestine and cutting it off) in December 2009. Can I say it was easy? No. Do I feel better? Yes. Unfortunately I was advised after surgery that it wasn’t only in the lower part of the colon as originally thought I have pockets all through the colon/intestine.

I stay on a strict diet of no raw vegetables, no fresh fruit, no peanuts, pop-corn, any thing with a hull, no spice (salt and pepper are my best friend), no hot items, as in salsa, green peppers (any peppers), no salads, the list is endless. Is it hard? Yes. I have sampled a few of the above only to pay a dear price for it and it’s not worth the pain. If I chose to go back to the old habits then I chose to have all of my colon/intestine removed.

Because you seem to be in the early stages, you could follow the above listed for items not to eat a couple of weeks to get our IBS under control. Then you can slowly add an item back. If this item irritates your system mark it off the list for awhile.

Trust me; don’t be as stubborn as I was as I lived on mashed potatoes and baby food way too long. If you can get a hold of it in the early stages life will be so much better.

I wish you luck and surf the net for list of items that can help. Give it a try…..

I suffered from nausea and vomiting which is now under good control. In the early days it was awful, and to begin with no one could figure out what was going on. Mayo Clinic were unable to help me, and all of my tests kept coming back normal.

I found a great physician in NC who has been able to get to the bottom of my issues (which turned out to be motility related). My doctor is an IBS specialist, Dr. Drossman (Chapelhilldoctors.com) - he is excellent. I highly recommend him and he will work with you over time to get to the bottom of things.

I am a Crohn's patient that was discovered 50 years after my problem started when I was about 14. First symptom was acid in my stomach and later many symptoms including headache, pain, and memory problems. IBS have similar qualities. I learned that if you clean the liver all symptoms stops. I was treated in Italy with shots of Methionine, B12, and Vitamin K and had no symptoms for over two years. At the time I was 15 years old and now 67 and dealing with the same problems. The American doctors are uneducated in the nutrition area.
I was in The Vitamin Shop and read the ingredients and purchased a bottle for experiment and it worked great. I had a lot of problems especially lately and I am treating my self in the last few months with Liver Support Factors vitamins by Country Life. I can eat any disturbing foods and the pills makes the symptoms go away. I am looking for a doctor who is educated to know and understand that a clean liver stops most of the problems that the body have. I am also suffering from a lot of muscular pain and these pills are taken them away.

I think you should go elsewhere for a second opinion. My son was not accurately diagnosed at our local hospital. We went to the University of Michigan where they immediately could diagnose him from his colonoscopy slides from the first hospital. Does the IBS stand for inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel disease? If it is the first, you need to go elsewhere soon. If it is the second, I think it is a catch all diagnosis for when they don't know what else to say. So please go somewhere else and get a second opinion so you can get on the road to health 🙂 Oops! Forgot to mention that his diagnosis is ulcerative colitis. He has had one minor and one major flare. The last one put him in the hospital for five days. When he has the flare, his diarrhea turns to blood because the colon is getting rid of its outer layer. He also develops nausea and vomiting. That is when we headed down the road for an hour drive to the university's ER. Please dig deeper for your diagnosis and do not accept fraudulent excuses for a diagnosis!

I have had IBSD for a long time. I have tried everything except the latest medication Verbrizi, I have probably spelled that incorrectly. I have been in the hospital numerous times with vomiting and diarrhea with an added hurricane force panic attack. I finally accepted that it was not just my diet causing the episodes as I call them but stress really did play a major roll in my problem. A couple of weeks ago I started taking Prozac It has kept the episodes from sending me to the emergency room. I still have to watch what I eat and the amount since I also have Gastroparesis, which slows the food that I eat from leaving the stomach as it should but at least the Prozac helps with the panic part of the issue.I take Immodeum Plus every other day to help with the diarrhea. If I have a need to go shopping, which I try to avoid, I take an Immodeum Plus 45 minutes before I plan on leaving. Can't eat anything thing though unless I am really close to home but I usually just wait until I get back home. Trips of 2 hours or more are harder. I have to eat then go to the bathroom before I leave and not eat again until I get to my destination. There are so many of us with this problem you would think that a common denominator could be found.I don't know if any of this helps, I just wanted to share.GLM

Hello @gingerlyn, and welcome to Connect. Thank you for sharing so much about your condition and frustrations; you have found a great place to share your concerns.
I moved your message to an existing discussion, where many fellow members have IBS-D. You will see your messages in Digestive Health, under the discussion, "Severe IBS-D and Pain..." I would sincerely encourage you to to read the whole discussion as it may offer some insight on treatment and therapy.

I would also like you to meet @safetyshield, @srobison, @agr205, @Pookith85, @holly5757, @cherriann, who can share their experience and advice about IBS and IBS-D. @srobison, I see that you have tried Viberzi, (eluxadoline); would you let @gingerlyn know how that affected the IBS-D symptoms?

Last but not least, I'd like to invite you to listen to Dr. Kenneth DeVault discuss Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). You can also participate by asking questions; the details are posted above.
You do not need a Facebook account to be able to watch the broadcast. You will also be able to watch it right here on this page on Connect.
You can sign up for the event here: http://mayocl.in/2dBbsAg
By signing up you will receive a friendly email reminder a day before and one hour before the event.

gingerlyn, what have your doctors recommended to try and stop the diarrhea?

You are absolutely right about the diet you discovered. My findings is the liver likes the special diet. The liver loves vegetables I believe because it was originally designed for the jungle. I heard people eating raw vegetables and healing a lot of ailments, but I am sure they don't have IBS. My lower back and neck pain plus Neuropathy is giving me all the signals about what I should eat. I discovered vegetables decreased the pain but bread and sugar increased the pain. I stopped consuming all carbohydrates and loaded on vegetables. Not only my pain went down but suddenly my 50 years of GERD stopped. I learned about the liver and inflammation in 1960. But last year I realized how it worked. Now I can eat some bread and get the pain and load on vegetables and stop the pain. Raw vegetables is where I observe how fast it calms the pain within one hour. I am afraid consuming raw vegetables because of bacteria but the quick effects is teaching me how the system works. I am taking Liver Support Factors pills to help the liver when I eat things out of diet and yes it helps. With the pills and diet I put Crohn's in remission that is a big job. But my stress levels also are much lower because I am not working. Keep up with your diet and avoid any processed foods or drinks. My best wishes to you.

I am sorry to hear about your suffering. I discovered that the liver is in control of our health. I have Crohn's and suffered a lot but more constipation than diarrhea. The most devistating was acid stomach and reflux. In 1960 they were about to remove part of my intestines do to severe pain and five doctors said surgery in a consultation meeting. My mom took me to a doctor in Italy and he knew immediately that it was the liver. He cured me with shots of Methionine, vitamin B-12, and vitamin K. I can't explain this process to any doctor in USA since they don't believe the liver could do such thing and Methionine is not a drug. I never understood the damage bread have caused my entire life. Last year I discovered that diet is the secret to success. The liver loves vegetables but all fresh. Any item that offends the liver all symptoms are back. Most of the available foods are liver offenders. We only learn them when we get very sick. I noticed that bread, sugar, and carbohydrates increased my pain and vegetables decreased the pain on my neck and lower back. For many years I was told it was arthritis but now I know is the liver. Since your system is in more trouble than normal you have to make sure your food is blend and mashed. Including fruits have to be cooked and eat as compote. I remember rice controlled diarrhea but it is also carbohydrates. Just be aware that your stress levels and food diets is causing the problems most likely. Also medication can offend the liver and doctors are not paying attention to it. There is so much new knowledge out there in the cellular level they are forgetting the functions of the liver. Exercise, blend foods, vegetables, protein (fish, chicken, or non fat meat) eating together will improve your health in days. Vegetables should be cooked and put in a blender to mash it. Nothing processed should be eaten. Just fresh vegetables and fresh meals. No soft drinks just herbal tea and water. Avoid coffee until you feel better. I have put Crohn's in remission and you should control IBS. One small wrong item will cause a flare up so be aware of it. I am now using flaxseed to control my intestines and it makes them work perfectly well since it is fiber. You have to wait until the diarrhea stops. Avoid bread and sugars for the recovery duration. Once you are better than introduce them one at the time and check if it is offensive to your system. Vegetables are: zucchini, brocoli, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, and no bell peppers, onions, and garlic until you recover. It is amazing how sensitive the system is and how fast it recovers. If doctors had to pay for medication out of their pocket I am sure they will recommend to eat more vegetables. Please take very seriously what you consume. You have offensive items in your diet plus stress plus lack of exercise. I hope I gave you a direction to understand the source of our health.