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I was told I had IBS for two years and was treated with all kinds of IBS meds during that time, none of which worked for very long. Librax gave me blurred vision and made me very drowsy. It messed with my short term memory too. I made tons of mistakes at work on it. My co-worker was concerned that I was actually driving to and from work every day on that stuff. The Lib in librax is librium, so be careful when operating heavy machinery and with alcohol. It reduces spasticity of the colon. I did better on a different medication called nulev (I think that was the name), which was a tiny pill that you absorb under the tongue. It had less side effects for me but helped the colon spasticity a lot.
Anyway, my point is.. until I lost 65 pounds in 5 months, and was too far gone for meds to help, I didn't get a colonoscopy. Had they done one earlier, I may not have needed the bowel resection that I ended up having.
So many people on alt.support.crohns-colitis were told they had IBS for a long time before finally getting the Crohn's or UC diagnoses. Colonoscopy is really the only way to know for sure.
If you start to have problems passing gas or moving your bowels, get to ER to make sure there is not a blockage there. I had a palpable mass in the area of inflammation (terminal ileum for me). You may be able to tell if it's hard there.
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