annoyed with gp

[mousymouse]

dh has had tummy trouble for some time. of course he googled and put going to the gp off for nearly a year now.
went in, took 5 min. the gp basically said to him that it is probably ibs and handed him a handfull of leaflets. all of which basically say to do some blood and stool tests to rule out other sinister things.
so annoyed.
he booked himself another appointment with a different gp, because he is worried (and I am, too).

when you say tummy trouble do you mean frequent diarrhoea, pain, wind, what?

how old is he? does he have any family history of bowel disease, osteoporosis or ever had anaemia? if so he could ask for a coelaic blood test - this (gluten intolerance) is ofen misdiagnosed as IBS - look at coeliacUK site for symptoms which are many and varied.

he could try keeping a log of what he eats and symptoms

also dairy intolerance can cause quite long term problems following a bout of gastric flu which destroys the enzymes you need to digest milk products.

the Gp is not much good though - thesedays IBS is supposed to be used as a last resort when they know its not anything else, not a "fits all" label for tummy problems.

yes excactly that ashamed on and off pain/cramps, diarrhoea, general uncomfortable. he tried eliminating gluten and fibre but without much result.

ironically, the leaflets she gave dh say that first other things have to be ruled out before it should be "labeled" ibs.

do ask for another opinion, as i said IBS or stress etc, should be a last resort, and his symptoms do sound like coeliac disease. MIL was told for 30+ yrs she had IBS, before we discovered she was really coeliac!! we did not discover this until DD, her granddaughter, was ill and diagnosed - initially we thougt DD may be intolerant to milk, taking her off dairy products DID help, but only because it gave her poor gut a break - the real culprit was gluten. MILs own father sufferd "tummy trouble " for years too, but was of the generation who did not discuss bowels with doctors, he died of bowel cancer, we are sure he was also coeliac

when you say DH tried cutting out gluten, how long for and how stricly? it can take several months on a fully GF diet to notice an improvement in bowels, energy levels etc

any way, coeliac disease is one of many things it could be, and it should be investigated fully before they shrug it off as irritable bowel