IRRITABLE BOWEl SYNDROME????

What medical history would make a doctor think you had IBS? Would bowel obstruction as a baby be part of it? Thanks. (I'm 14.)

Umm, having a bowel blockage as a baby could explain IBS, seeing as how you'd having narrowing of your intestines. To be sure, ask your doctor to do a CT Scan or a small bowel follow through. I thought I had IBS for about 2 years and was treating it and nothing worked..so saw a new Gastro and found out I have Crohn's Disease. Have them rule out Crohn's...IBS and Crohn's signs are VERY COMMON to one another. A lot of people are told they have IBS when it is not. Hope this helps.

Pharmacy & Vet Tech

yes, so would colic im 14 n i have it n its vertially untreatable u'll probley have 2 live with it. go 2 the doctor

Well, that's not an easy question to answer, because IBS is what we call a diagnosis of exclusion, it's what we label GI complaints when we just can't seem to find a cause for them, but we can't make them go away either, and it is probably describing a group of illnesses with common symptoms, rather than a single one.
But the symptoms of IBS (and you need not, and really cannot have them all) are diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and occasionally vomiting, for starters, but it can be almost any abdominal complaint. The people who get diagnosed with IBS come in with symptoms like that, undergo a workup, often have some treatments prescribed for specific ailments, but fail to get better, until eventually they end up with this diagnosis.
I know that's not terribly helpful, but it's really not a good diagnosis (not as far as prognosis, it's pretty benign); it basically says that you have GI complaints and we can't quite figure out why.

Cramping stomach pain and alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation. I've had it since I was about 8 years old. It's worse when you're under stress. Sometimes certain food can trigger symptoms. See your doctor. He can help.

Woah!! Too much information.

The the thing with IBS is that it's just a clinical diagnosis. You can't really look at a list of symptoms and say "There! Those two things plus that thing - definitely IBS!". No, if you tell your doctor you have to do the number two a bunch of times per day, that sometimes it wakes you up at night, that you get cramps all the time and can't sit still.... that kind of thing, then they'll call it IBS and say "Next Patient!".

Here's the bright side: it's quite possible that in a few years, maybe even in your early 20's, it'll all go away and your bowels will be peaceful and fancy-free. For now, consult your doctor about what kinds of changes to your diet you can make to try to minimize how much your colon hates you.

Hope this helps!