Changes in Health & Learning to Live with them

So the past month I have been horribly sick! I was having flashbacks of two years ago but much more extreme and with new symptoms. After being confined to my bed and bathroom for 8 days, {that's right, no work= little paycheck}I went to the doctor. He figured I got the stomach bug and because I have IBS my compromised system could not bounce back on its own. I left that appointment with an antispasmodic and 2 anti-nausea medications. Two weeks later I was still so sick and the only reason I could go to work for a couple of hours was because the meds were keeping me somewhat functional. 

After another chat with my doctor and a priesthood blessing, I headed back to see a gastroenterologist. I did not like the one I went to 2 years ago although he is one of the best in the valley. THANKFULLY, I was able to get into another one November 5th. This was much sooner that I had anticipated and then two days later someone cancelled their appointment and I was able to get in on Oct. 29th! 

While I had been sick in bed, I did a lot of research on IBS. My main question was does it ever get this severe for this long??? My new doctor knows what he is doing and he was so good to ask if I had questions and was great about explaining things to me. I did find it funny that specialists sometimes assume that you have already been through all of the hoops before you see them, and others assume you haven't. For example, my first gastroenterologist thought that I was sent to him because I had already had every test run, which I hadn't. Then when I went to my appointment this week, he assumed that I hadn't had tests done and seemed surprised that I had tests done and that my previous doctor hadn't given me information about my condition.

The doctor and I decided that what we need to do is put me back in charge of my body again. As he explained it, if I had a sensitivity dial on my hip, he would just turn it down. Since he can't do that, we are going to try to do it with medication. I am saddened to see my pile of prescriptions and it is hard to accept, but this is what I need to function. Nausea is not a symptom of IBS and because I have had constant nausea for a month now, I am having and endoscopy next week to make sure nothing else is going on. The doctor doesn't expect to find anything since he thinks the nausea is a side effect of my IBS being so out of control and wreaking havoc on my body. I don't know if I want them to find anything or not, but we will see what happens next week. 

Meanwhile, I am under orders to lighten my load and reduce my stress {both of which are HUGE problems for IBS}. Between all my jobs, I am too stressed and not giving my body enough time to rejuvenate and fight against the symptoms. I'm working on that by slowly getting through a list of things I can cut, decrease, or move around to help my load lighten right now. I'm also on 2 anti-nauseas, an antispasmodic, daily imodium,  and a higher dose of anti-depressant to help combat this condition. I will have to deal with this for the rest of my life, or until they figure out why it happens and how to fix it. I'm happy to know that I have a 2 doctors that have the same goal as me: Be in charge of my body again!