hi all, just to let you know, my gastr is sending me for another Gastro and colonoscopy on the 23rd August,and also a upper abdo scan as he now thinks i have gall stones, So here goes again, he went into a bit more depth yesterday with the symptoms and signs of colitis, and he said he hoped that was mine was colitis has he can help me with treatment , but unfortunatley if the biopsies come back normal he will put it down to IBS, and in this instance it will be worse because i have no control of my bowel and he said that IBS can not be treated, he said it will be me having to change my life around my bowel habits, how daunting. im not sure how i feel anymore, as before yesterday i was hoping it would be IBS has ive always been lead to believe that IBS wasnt so bad, although if it IBS then i know now thats not true, Im in severe pain now as im writing this and ive been the loo 4 Times already in the last 3 hours. Any advice from you all would be extremely grateful xxxsuexxx TCCCCCCCCCC

Poor you Sue, still no answer to your pains and your grief.  The only tip I have is to not eat on the day you want to go out.  I work fulltime, so I have no breakfast, and then maybe a packet of quavers and a glass of milk during the day, and then a main meal in the evening.  Now I know some will say that's not a good way and not a healthy way of living, but it means I have some control.  I have Crohn's and the combination of drugs certainly help, and for me things are much better now than a year ago, but I'm still mindful of the old days.  I have been told I also have some IBS symptoms, a sensitve large bowel and have been prescribed Amitriptyline which reduces the pain, and also a further 10mg to help with the diarrhea, a lot of folks with IBS take this drug, I don't know whether you are already taking this, but if not it might be worth asking your doctor about it and seeing if it's suitable for you.  So yes, you may find that you have to change your life around the toilet, but at least you're not the only one!!