Your experiences with IBS

It would really be helpful for me to hear from others about what they're going through and how they cope with their IBS issues. I've never had this problem and could always pretty much eat what I wanted without any ill effect. Now if I accidentally eat even the smallest amount of gluten or anything with dairy I am sick for 2 to 5 days and I feel totally exhausted the entire time. First starts belching, then painful bloating and cramping and I become constipated. My upper abdomen hurts as if I had been hit with something hard, my gut feels raw inside and often unremitting nausea also sometimes happens. Once the bloating calms back down, out of the blue I experience urgent diarrhea that can come even if I eat even a few bites of "approved" food. (I've been on FODMAP since Feb). My appetite has gone away and I've lost 19 lbs since I started eliminating foods on the list. The diarrhea can last the entire day and by the time it stops my body is weak, i'm very tired and my abdomen feels tender for the next few days. I've become hesitant to eat, although I'm falling woefully short of calories nearly every single day. Food has lost it's appeal to me and feels more trouble than it's worth. My social life has been totally impacted by these problems and I pass up on fun activities that have been a part of my life forever. Going out to a restaurant is mostly a nightmare now. My GI dr prescribed Bentyl and Omeprozole, which didn't help much, and basically sent me on my way telling me that I need to work on reducing my stress levels. I have dealt with major depression and an anxiety disorder for going on 25 years, which is currently well managed with the exception of the anxiety that being this ill can trigger. I'm getting acupuncture twice a week and that does seem to help. The D.O. that is doing this for me also has me on a regime of Digestive Enzymes. He's also given me a recipe for a "gut healing smoothie" that contains several holistic ingredients, including probiotics with acidophilus/bifidus. I'm currently waiting for these things to come in the mail so I can't speak to its effectiveness yet. At this point I'm willing to try just about anything to get my life back. I feel that I am constantly complaining to my friends and family when they ask how things are going, The only thing that I can point to as what brought this all on, although my GI dr wouldn't agree, is that I had two colonoscopies within 6 months (March and August of last year) as a result of numerous polyps, one of which was difficult to fully remove in one session. None were cancerous but all were of the type that will eventually turn into cancer. Because of this she now wants to start doing colonoscopies every 3 years, which I totally dread just it case it triggers my IBS to become worse. If its not related to those procedures and their prep, can and did your IBS just come on suddenly with no warning and nothing particularly prompting it? Do you feel, or have you been told that this illness will be something that you have to live around forever? Have you ever heard of it going into remission and/or going away entirely? I've done a lot of reading on this subject but really need to hear from those of you who understand and can relate to what I am talking about. I feel alone in this and am afraid that this is my new normal. Thank you for reading this and for hopefully sharing a bit about your experience with IBS.